Preparing to prepare the garden

It's the end of March in Wisconsin. That means...well, it can mean anything. For a gardener, it means "Don't Get Too Eager; We Could Still get Snow!" I can get started thinking about it - planning, not planting.

I ordered plants from a local environmental charter school -- peppers, tomatoes, herbs. I'll pick them up on Mothers' Day, and then I'll wait until the danger of frost is gone so I can plant them.

Another unique source of plants is Free Plants by Mail, and it's an organization that finds new homes for overstocks and extras: plants grown for nurseries and greenhouses and then not needed. Heard of animal rescues? This sounds like a plant rescue to me. It sounds rather tempting, too. Proceeds go to the Nature Conservancy.

In the meantime, it's too early to plant outside, but it is late enough to start my seeds indoors. I have some organic heirloom tomatoes to start now. I have a few herbs I can start, too. As we're boiling and dying eggs for Easter, I'll save the egg containers and use them to start my seeds. If I run out of egg cartons, I'll make tiny seed starters from toilet paper rolls. Then comes the challenge; can I keep them alive in my house? My outdoor vegetable garden grows well, but the green thumb doesn't seem to transfer to house plants.

After all that rambling, here's the current goal summary for late March and early April, 3-2-1 style.

3 purchases:
1. topsoil, large quantity for new tomato bed
2. vermiculite, also enough for one layer on new tomato bed
3. shuffle hoe! Inspired by reading the $64 tomato, I decided to invest in this new tool.

2 indoor preparations:
1. Plant seeds for tomatoes and herbs.
2. Keep tomato and herbs alive.

1 Outdoor preparation:
Spread soil layers on new tomato bed!