Starting those baby plants:

Winterberry Farms blog post for March 2015: Starting those baby plants, so this being our 10th year of growing food for our farm members and my own family, I have made some adjustments to my seed starting adventure, changes that are well thought out and are proving to make our system better and efficient and easier. It all started with Gil and his developing carpentry skills, Gil is my son 14 years of age, he found a pattern for building wood shelves on a u tube video, we picked up the material needed and ta da 2 fabulous seeding benches 8ft long 22inch wide and 7ft tall and a total of 6 shelves to lay the germinating flats of seeds, and under those shelves a perfect place to hang grow lights that are 4ft long each one, I lay my heat mat on the shelf and all is perfect.

It was a decision that took some time to figure out, why don’t I start my seeds in one of our greenhouses, our basement is the home to our wood furnace (this is what I am married too) so the basement is warm and toasty already, the greenhouse are 80 degrees day time and pretty much the same temp inside as outside at night. we would need to figure out a way to heat one of those greenhouses at night, monitor it constantly. The risks of failure are way to great for us to try starting seeds this way.

I find great pleasure in feeling everyone of these tiny seeds, giving them the energy from my hand to start there journey to maturity in the soil. someone on this farm, whom ever is seed starting on a given day, touches every one of those seeds. we silently bless everyone of them. From vegetables to flowers!

Spring is coming Gil will be 15 on the 20th of March also the spring equinox! as we watch the sap flow from the trees into buckets then onto the fire where it is burned to amazing sweetness. we also watch these seeds start there lives into beauty and food! spring is coming everyone….. spring is coming…….. Mary Perry