Starting Seedlings Indoors

Now is the time to start planning your garden. In Maine our growing season is short.

You can use a vermiculite, peat moss or perlite; but, at this point garden soil is too heavy for seeds to germinate in.

Start seedlings using warming mats and/or grow lights for best germination rates.

Seedlings to start Mid-March:

• Celery
• Onions 
• Cabbage 
• Kale
• Spinach

You will want to read the seed packets carefully. You will want to be able to harden (if necessary and) replant seedlings outdoors 10 weeks after germination. Using a calendar and calculating your start date is the best way I've found.

This Map shows the Hardiness Zones for the U.S. For practical purposes most of Maine is considered to be Zones 4 to 5.

You can Google your zone here: Google Search for Growing Zones

Dear Mother Nature: Bring on Spring!

I woke up at 5 a.m. to a robo-dial from our local school to say school was cancelled, then a text message, 2 emails and another phone call. Thank you! I got the message loud and clear.

Playing outside!

Lola, our Pomeranian

Here in Maine we have Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and arguably the fifth season "Mud Season". I thought we were entering mud season as nearly all the snow had gone. This past weekend Renee was riding Dan, an older pony, and a kids 4 wheeler all over the place at her grandfather's.

Her first time riding all by herself. Renee and Dan

Just this past weekend Dan took off at a trot, ending in a bouncy ride with a fall in the mud. Oops!

The winter has been mild and the frost isn't as deep as it has been in past years. My fiancee is a Plumber's Apprentice, working for his Father and they do a lot more than dealing with sewage. When they dig up sewer lines, broken pipes and the like they oftentimes find the frost-line. Some places it's only 4 inches, other places it's been a foot.

We did not get to go ice fishing this year. The ice was too thin and the shacks on the river were pulled off so the shacks wouldn't sink, risking losing them to the waters and their owners being fined. We're used to hearing the neighbors snowmobiling up and down the roads or in the trails behind our house, even that was short lived, as they were limited to a few weeks.

Example of a Robin. Photo credit: www.wivelsfieldschool.org

My mother always said the first signs of spring were when you see the Robins. Today there were over 100 cancellations all over the state. I hope those robins she saw found a warm place to hunker down. When I brought the dogs and my daughter outside to play today, the ground was covered in a blanket of snow and sleet- perfect for snow-tubing; but, treacherous for drivers. The town's snowplows and sanders have been out in force.

Lola and JD love the snow: Playing just like 2 kids!

Dear Mother Nature:

Please bring on Spring! We've had a mild Winter here in Maine, but the shift from 50's and sunny to below freezing the next week and snowy is just crazy! It's hard on the wildlife and the people, especially the small ones who adore you.

Sincerely,
Our Nature-Loving Family

In the meantime we can dream of warm spring days, when the frost and snow are all gone. We're looking forward to a successful vegetable garden and adding a few more perennials to the flower beds that border our house this year.

Update: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts an Early End to Winter!

Good news for those looking forward to an early Spring. Gardening, flowers and all those things that come with spring. Phil Predicted the end to Winter!

Punxsutawney Phil Predicts an early end to winter. (The Weather Channel)

Given the 40% accuracy rate... We shall see if he is right. The weather this week here in Central Maine is in the mid to upper 40's with rain tomorrow. I'm rooting for Phil this year!

It's just not right when kids have to look for Easter eggs in the snow!