Seedlings

I generally like to photograph flowers in full bloom, but Robin at Robin's Nesting Place gave me the inspiration to post seedlings. This is the first year that I have started seeds indoors and I am thrilled. I have tomatoes, eggplant, and chinese cabbage. I've got more to put in this week (cucumbers and I forget what else needs to be started indoors, but I do have a plan for once.) I also started some cosmos and butterfly weed seeds. What a thrill to watch the little green sprouts come up in my sunroom, while the windows still look out on snow. It makes "real" spring seem that much closer for me.

The pictures themselves are nothing to get excited about, except for the tiny hairs visible on the tomato stems. How miraculous is that? I also like to watch the little dew drops collect on the two tiny leaves. There are also some seeds that we must have dropped directly into the tray without soil. They are coming up through styrofoam holes. My daughter finds this fascinating.

I've got 70 tomato plants...is that obsessive? I already have friends claiming my "extras." The good news folks is that I like to share. The bad news is that I don't generally share tomatoes. One has to be very nice to me to get fresh organic tomatoes. And I have plans for these babies too if they can make it off my kitchen counter. We generally keep a tomato bowl on the counter and dip into it all through August for snacking. I only had 6 plants though last year. With 70 I'm counting on extras. Let's see..tomato sauce, salsa, frozen tomatoes to eat with mozzarella...the list is endless really. There is no food more perfect than a tomato. Leave me on a desert island with just tomatoes and I'd be happy. (And so far I haven't developed an intolerance to this food. If I eat too much of any one thing that's what happens to me...but I"ll save that story for another time.)

The anticipation of fresh vegetables will now carry us through until we can move our maturing plants outside. We still have garden prep work to do since we are starting a garden in a new spot this year. We have ground to turn, composting and top soil to add, and a fence to put up to keep away deer. This horrible NH winter (with about 115 inches of snow this year) will be quite faded in our memories by the time tomato season roles around.