Suburban Homesteading – Frugal Living

On Ground Hogs Day, Punxsutawney Phil can out of his burrow, looked into the bright sun and signaled that spring would come early this year. But, with massive blizzards in the northeast and record lows in the west spring seems a long way off. Although the temperatures have been low in my area the sun sits high in the sky shining down like it would on a warm April day. With weather like this I can’t help but wish, dream even that I could get outside and work in the garden, but with the temps barely above 50 gardening outside just isn’t possible. So, like any die-hard gardener I have ways to bring spring to me, in my own way.

I spent last night by my fireside, sorting and taking inventory of my seed box, arranging them by roots, fruits and leaves; making lists of seeds to buy and planning out the garden beds. Many of my seeds can be started indoors, well before spring arrives, and that’s how I can make spring come to me.

Today I spent the afternoon mixing soil, filling starter pots and flats and planting seeds of herbs, cucumbers, peppers, onions, leeks, cantaloupes, watermelons, cucumbers, squashes, tomatoes, head lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and annual flowers.

The plastic lidded “to-go” containers my family saves for me make perfect little greenhouses, keeping the soil inside warm and damp so life can begin beneath the surface.

In a few weeks green things will be growing and by the time the weather changes, for the better I hope, they will be ready to set out in the garden. I can hardly wait.