Starting Seeds

I am all turned around. Is it April? May? October? This year is so confusing when it comes to timing a garden. The temperature in Minnesota has felt like spring for the past handful of weeks. As evidence, the tulips are up and the trees are budding leaves. While, at the same time, the ground and my garden are dry and covered in messes of fall leaves. The calendar says it is April so, according to that, I am on track for my gardening planning. Yet, all of the other indicators tell me I am late putting in the peas! I need to till the garden first, but the garden center says it is still too early for that. Oh, my!

I did spontaneously decide that I had all the right things to start some seeds indoors, so I turned a blind eye to the timing instructions on the seed packs and stuck them in some dirt. We have this little greenhouse set up in our front porch, which I am sure looks a bit suspicious from the outside. It has been 4 days and I have little kale sprouts! I am also trying to start purple tomatillos, eggplant, swiss chard and collards. I will probably throw some herbs into the mix, too. Getting this step done has really prompted some giddiness about another gardening season. Here's hoping we escape a hard frost until fall!