Getting growing

Every early spring I aspire to grow all our vegetables from seed and enthusiastically press them into pots of fine soil. I water them and place them in a sunny windowsill. Nearly all of our south-facing windows have an overhanging roof above them, however, and every year I watch my tiny seedlings sprout and reach for a bit of sunlight they never find. They grow ever paler and leggier until they finally collapse in defeat. This year I finally smartened up and set up shelves and lights in the basement. How about that...it really works!

Everything I planted is alive and growing, but the tomatoes are especially robust. We've got Heinz for canning, Sunchocola cherry tomatoes, and Brandywines for slicing. I've transplanted them once into larger pots, but they're almost ready for another size up.

I'm glad they're so happy under the lights because they'll be there for a while. I started them awfully early, and it'll be cold and rainy outside for another two months. Just keep on growing!