Despite my best and okay-est efforts, these frigid temps have drained me of any garden-related motivation. While watching people in their little fishing houses pop up on the lake has been fun, I’m very ready for kayaking, a refreshing swim and warmer weather.
But now that it’s nearly March, here’s what I’ve started for this years garden~
While I used this setup this year, I think I will be readjusting it for next season as the germ rates have not been great due to light height and watering. The following is what was planted in this small setup.
Green Tray
I’ve been using washi tape to mark each tray and to keep track of what I’m growing. I’ve also marked the clear tray dome with sharpie to indicate which rows are what in case trays get moved around.
- Kale (Mamba F1 and Winterbor F1)
- Arugula (Dragons Tongue)
- Comfrey
- Chard (yellow, white, red, orange varieties)
- Lettuce (Merlot, Merveille… ,Butterhead OG MTO, Heatwave Blend, Red Cross Butter
Yellow Tray
- Lavender (realized I didn’t cold stratify these in the fridge some weeks before hand so I don’t think I’ll get much in the way of germination)
- Oregano
- Sage
- Mint (Mountain, Marvelous)
- Dandelion (Pink)
- Dill (Bouquet)
- Parsley (Giant Of Italy)
- Rosemary (Rosy)
- Catnip
- Cilantro (Slo-Bolt, Marino OG)
Purple Tray
- Echinacea (Cheyenne Spirit ;also didn’t cold stratify)
- Bee Balm
- Chamomile (German)
- Calendula (Pink Surprise, Balls Improved Orange)
- Chicory
- Thyme
- Yarrow (Colorado Mix)
- Valerian
- Mini Mint
- Borage
Orange Tray
- Bok Choy (Hedou Tiny)
- Zucchini (Raven F1)
- Watermelon (Yellow; saved from farmers market last season)
- Cucumber (Spacemaster; 2023 garden)
- Squash (Boston Marrow, Blue Hubbard, Medley 2023 garden)
- Broccoli (Purple Sprouting, Eastern Magic)
After this first sow, I started to think about more things I could grow and in turn, sell in my future apothecary. So I bought a much bigger utility shelf and expanded my grow by 12 trays. It has not been fun when it comes to underwatering all 12 of them but this setup has already done better than the smaller one so it will probably be my plan going forward.
At the time of this writing, not every tray or cell has sprouted but some unexpected seeds have been very eager to get out into the world, once it warms up~ This grow is very heavy on the medical plants with very few vegetables and some grains and I’ve never planted any of them before. It’s fun to experiment!
Yellow Tray
- Plantain
- Purslane
- Queen Anne’s Lace
- Self-Heal
- St John’s Wort
- Tormentil
- Tansy
- Skullcap
- Lemon Balm
- Greek Mullein
- Golden Chia
- German Chamomile
- Angelica
- Wood Betony
- Valerian
Lime Green Tray
- Dandelion
- Yellow Dock
- Feverfew
- Evening Primrose
- Elecampane
- Flax Blue
- Gravel Root
- White Horehound
- Noble Yarrow
- Hyssop
- Comfrey
- Lamb’s Quarters
- Thyme
- Chicory
- Common Valerian
Dark Blue Tray
- Mint (Marvelous, Mountain)
- Pink Dandelion
- Plantain
- Rosemary
- Catnip
- Lavender
- Greek Oregano
- Luffa
- Borage
- Calendula (Balls Improved)
- St Johns Wort
- Bee Balm
- Chamomile
- Evening Primrose
- Elecampane
Pink Tray
- Flax Blue
- Dandelion
- Feverfew
- Lamb’s Quarters
- Yellow Dock
- Golden Chia
- Valerian
- Horehound
- Hyssop
- Angelica
- Noble Yarrow
- Tansy
- Skullcap
- Mullein
- Self-Heal
I chose to sow a lot of duplicates as I planned to scatter them around the house in various garden plots and when it comes to a lot of these plants, there’s no such thing as too much~ I am very impressed with my ~5 year old luffa seeds I bought back in Rhode Island. Nearly all the cells I planted have sprouted and are a few inches tall which is great! But it’s only the end of February and Memorial Day is a quite a ways away. I’ll have to get creative with them while temperatures continue to warm up and find something temporary for them to climb.
I’m looking forward to establishing little pockets of plant medicine once the weather warms up and it gets to thrive in a Maine summer~