For some reason, every time we clean the basement we get sick, and this year was no different. It's probably all that dust and dirt that accumulates over the summer and fall, which we stir up as we clean.After a long afternoon of sweeping, vacuuming, rearranging, tossing out old junk, and generally getting the basement in tip-top shape for seed planting, Mike and I both ended up with a cough. Which turned into the flu. With fever, sore throat, stuffy nose, congestion, the works. And it came around a second time for both of us, and a third for him. What we do for our vegetables!
But the place is clean (yay!) and I started right in on planting. I like to make seed pots from newspapers, and bought a groovy tool several years ago that works great. I can make lots of pots in just a couple hours and fill two or three of the trays I use. A bunch of years ago I bought up 25 or so cat litter trays from our local Wegmans for less than $5 apiece. That was one of the best purchases I've ever made for the garden, because they're still going strong 10+ years later. I can fit 35 pots in each tray, and I use them for brassica, corn, squash, melon, parsley, hollyhock, sunflower, and other seedlings that don't much care for root disturbance when planted outside. The trays are really sturdy, deep enough to water the pots well, and withstand the rigors of hardening off. I'd be lost without them!
Another cleaning chore awaited me, though; in fact, it awaits me all spring: cleaning trays. I don't know why I'm so anal about it, because I really do hate this chore. But all my organic resources tell me it's essential to clean—with hot water and soap—all the seed-starting trays and pots, so I do. I scrub the cat-litter trays for newspaper pots, then watch movies while making the pots. I scrub the black seed inserts and trays I've bought over the years (I have stacks and stacks of these things!). And I scrub the three- and four-inch pots for transplanting (more on them later). At least I finally gave in to wearing rubber gloves to protect against scratches from those sharp corners on the inserts.So now the brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts) and kale and bok choy are planted, and all of them have germinated. I talk to my plants all the time, actually, and don't care what anyone thinks about it. Years ago our kids took tae kwon do lessons, and their master would say, "Everybody up!" or "Everybody very good!" They brought those phrases home, and I've been using them on the plants ever since. They seem to like the encouragement!
