In plant-years, we have toddlers

About 86 different toddlers, to be exact.

As Rachel explained, we stared seeds in about 86 different newspaper cups. We used a 1/1/1 blend of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost (mushroom, 4 different types of humus, fully rotted cow manure) and to be honest, I was skeptical.

The idea that permeates Square Foot Gardening is "less work, less space, less waste." Instead of needing a bunch of expensive seed starting cells, lamps, and medium, we just used homemade newspaper pots and our Mel's Mix with a bit of extra vermiculite added. Mel's book reminds you not less than a dozen times that you don't need nearly as many seeds as you think you do (since you're not trying to fill a 20 foot row only to pluck out 1/2 of those plants later), but it was hard to put my faith in the idea of planting only the exact number of finished plants that I wanted.

Truthfully, I couldn't do it. So, while Rachel was carefully filling our newspaper cups, I was sneaking an extra seed into each cup. Which TOTALLY explains why we have nearly 30 Mira green pea seedlings when we only needed 16; I just wasn't expecting it to, well, work.

But boy howdy, did it work! Out of the nearly 100 seeds we started, we have 7 "failed" cups (3 marigolds, 2 Fairytale eggplants, and 2 poblanos). Otherwise, we have multiple plants and can choose from the hardiest ones (which will be hard, since they are all doing REALLY well).

I came home early today due to some stomach issues, and after a long nap, I decided to take the seedlings (and myself) outside for a dose of vitamin D. Rachel came home between her classes, and we decided it was time to transplant the peas. Some of them had a main root that was more than 4" long! We decided since the newspaper cups were already falling apart, we'd just put the plants in the ground and compost the cups.

Unfortunately, I have discovered that putting plants in the ground is addicting. Not wanting to leave the warm sunshine, I ended up planing our Rainbow Blend carrots and replanting the 7 failed cups. Man, that Mel's Mix is downright AMAZING to work with! I hope Rachel can forgive me for putting seeds in without her.

So, of the two boxes we have, our "cold" box now has 2 squares of Ozark Beauty strawberries, 2 squares of Rainbow Blend carrots, 3 squares of Red Sail and Red Oakleaf lettuce (purchased from some AMAZING kids in the ag. class at Brevard High School), 2 squares of Mira green peas, and 2 squares of broccoli.

Once the toddlers are a little sturdier, we'll add the Vital Green spinach and Buttercrunch lettuce to the box, and that one will be done!