Spring Planting

I am planting. Not outside, of course, that won't happen for another two months or so. I am starting all my seeds that need a longer growing season than we have here, though. Last year I used the little peat pellets that expand when you put them in water. After two months, the plants were long and leggy with poor root systems. So this year I am trying seed starting soil in 4" pots. Hopefully I will get better root systems this way.
Yesterday I planted until I ran out of pots. Then I called up my Dad, and asked him if he could find me some more in my parents' garage. He thought he could, and this morning Mom showed up with a bagful. Dad's new pacemaker is triggering his heartbeats 97% of the time, and the result is he's feeling a lot better. His brain still isn't as sharp as it used to be, but it hasn't been since he had the bypass surgery five years ago. It's still sharp enough to drive his tongue! So I've been bugging Dad lately about whatever I can think of that he might have input on. I think it's good for him. He likes to have a pity party and feel sorry for himself, and if I treat him normally (or close to), then he can't justify the "Poor me" line so easily.
I've planted two varieties of tomatos, hot peppers, tomatillos, okra, Armenian cucumbers, pumpkins, Kabocha squash, and cantaloupes. I still need to plant the sweet peppers and the eggplant. I think. I've got it all written down, but I'm going from memory here, and my memory is always lousey when I'm pregnant. What's my name again?
One of the tomatos, the Pruden's Purple, is an heirloom. My other tomato is a hybred plum. The difference between the Pruden's seeds and the plum's seeds was quite remarkable. The Pruden's seeds were brown (earth colored) and smooth. The plum had fuzzy white seeds. The plum seeds were easier to see and to hold on to. The Pruden's seeds seemed difficult, until I got to the Tomatillo. The Tomatillo (a relative of the tomato, for those who don't know, the fruits grow in little 'paper lanterns' and are pretty, they are green when ripe and good for salsa) has seeds shaped like a tomato, but perhaps an eighth the size, and just as brown and smooth as the Pruden's. I did get them all planted, and I'm pretty pleased with that.
We're trying an okra, it's a short-season okra, and it might grow here. My husband loves okra, so if it does well, I'll plant a bunch next year. But for this year, I'm just doing one plant. The okra seeds looked very strange after planting the others. They are little round green balls. Hard to hold onto, but not as hard as the Tomatillo.
When I'm done, I will have forty-two pots of seeds. I'm starting to run out of window space already, and I've still got ten to go. The soil I'm using smells just yummy, so I hope the plants will grow as well as the soil smells like they should.
Some of the plants will go into pots on the front porch instead of the garden. A few tomatos, a pepper or two. We'll see how they do there. If they grow well all summer I'll bring them inside in the fall. Mom used to keep cherry tomatos on the south windowsils all winter, and we'd get a few tomatos each week. They have to be hand fertilized when they're inside. I don't buy fresh tomatos in the winter, except for special occasions, so any would be more than we get now. I've also got some cabbage family plants (cabbage, brocoli, Napa cabbage) to grow inside next fall: the aphids are terrible on them outside here, and I don't like pesticides around the children.
Of course, the pickling cucumbers, the beets, the carrots and parsnips, the beans, peas, corn, zucchini, lettuce, spinach will all be planted straight in the ground. They all have less than a 50 day growing season, or can germinate (corn) or grow (parsnips) in cold soils. I'm going to get some Jerusalem Artichokes from my folks, they're a tuber crop from the sunflower family, and should work quite well to hide the neighbors. They grow six or seven feet tall easily, and even flower. I don't care for the taste, but I understand that they are one of the few crops that still produced back in the Year without a Summer. I remember that they are recommended as a carbohydrate for diabetics, but cannot recall why. They'll make an excellent screen, with a secondary use if we should ever need it.
We're planning on adding a Reliance Peach tree to the yard, and possibly ordering some grapes for the back (west) fence next summer. When we're all done, we should have a nice, private, productive yard. Private is a key word in this neighborhood, where the homes are so close together, and I can't wait until we can finish fencing it to keep the feral children out.
Oh, and my tulips are coming up! I'm quite excited. Even snow Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday didn't discourage them. It looks like the little basswood tree we transplanted last fall may have survived, too, at least, its buds look like they're swelling from the window.