Apothecary Inn

You Learn Something New Every Day...

I recently read that when growing cabbage indoors in early spring for transplanting, you should not let the cabbage sprouts get older than roughly 5 weeks of age before planting them outside, otherwise they will not reach their full size. INTERESTING. That explains a great deal of the problems I had growing cabbage last spring! Good to know...

Today I transplanted Garden Sage, Echinacea Purpurea, Boneset, Greek Mullein, Yerba del Lobo, and Heimia sprouts out of their germination trays and into larger pots. I wish that I had the room to give each little sprout its own pot, but sadly, due to space constraints, I cannot. In roughly 2 months (so, about March - possibly early February if the weather stays this warm) I will be able to plant my hardier perennials outside. The weather has been unseasonably warm this January - roughly 20 degrees above average. I am concerned for some of my more difficult germinators (such as the Yellow Gentian), which need cold stratification for successful germination. I planted most of them last fall, and we did have unseasonably cold weather in November and December, so perhaps they are ok? Still, I worry...as much as I would like this warm weather to continue so that I can begin my outdoor gardening early this year, I almost want the weather to return to chilly for a bit more. I'm weird like that, I suppose. I also worry that with this stretch of warm temperatures, I will be tempted to plant everything outside early, and then with my luck get hit with a long stretch of frost - killing all of my lovingly-raised plant babies. So I suppose my desire for a return to colder weather is really my desire not to succumb to temptation. Who knew I was so complex?

After rotating out seedlings, I replanted one of the germination trays with the rest of my Boneset seeds (the seeds have a somewhat short viability, so I wanted to get them all planted before I forgot about them), some peppermint, a great deal of spearmint, and the rest of my clary sage seeds. That being said, I am really hoping I can find some kind souls to accept gifts of mint plants this spring...otherwise, goodness only knows where I will plant all of this. Sometimes I think I have what may be known as "Obsessive Compulsive Seed Planting Disorder." I.E. - If I have a packet of seeds laying around the house, I am automatically driven to plant them. Who knew today was going to be about psychology! Here I thought I was going to be writing about gardening...

Well, enough of my odd sense of humor for the moment. Back to my never-ending list of farm chores!...