The spring peas are twining up their supports, all the citrus are ripening, and the inedible privets are providing branches of decorative berries, so it’s time to start seeds for this summer’s garden. By the time we start putting plants in the ground in May, there will be hundreds of plants raised from seed waiting in the greenhouse.
I’m always looking for ways to keep track of the plants while being able to move them into the sun as soon as possible. This year I noticed that cutting apart paper egg cartons leaves a little peak that accommodates a written identifier as well as providing a handle to move the cups around. The big advantage should be the possibility of taking each sprout out of the dark, heated starting box as soon as it breaks the soil surface.
Eggplants and peppers dawdle the most before coming up so that’s what went in first. The plan this year is for 12 kinds of eggplant, 12 of sweet peppers, and 18 of hot peppers. To see variety tables that I made for reference, continue reading after the break.
