Blockin'

I know spring by its smell. It's the smell of the ground warming, kind of like the smell that follows a heavy spring rain. Maybe it's only in places like southeast Iowa, where the dirt is so rich and loamy that even people who have never gardened before (me 3 years ago) can tell it's good dirt, where you can smell the earth waking. I don't know. The first of our seedlings are up in our greenhouse, and inside there it was over 80 dgrees F the other day when there was snow on the ground. We start all our plants in soil blocks, which are just as they sound--blocks of soil--which creates no trash (no plastic involved) and makes transplanting a snap later on. Plus they hold water well and we can get organic soil blocking mix at a great price from Beautiful Land Products up in West Branch.

It's just me planting right now, and I miss my Favorite All-Time Soil Blockers:

Sister Alisha (gone to Korea)
Brother Lucas (gone to college)

They were so fast. Lucas could block out and plant a tray (start 36 seedlings) in under 5 minutes. Alisha was possibly faster. Dad helps me sometimes, but he spends about 1 minute on each block trying to poke the pea seed into the exact center of the block and to within 0.5 millimeter of just the right depth. So I can block out and seed about 5 trays while he plants 1.

At least dad sings to the plants while he works, which is a good thing I think. The other day when I was watering I couldn't find any broccoli sprouting and it was time for it to be appearing. So I sang to them of how I was looking foward to seeing them and of what a great home outside I was preparing for them and of how many people they would make happy this year. By the time I left, I saw several tiny leaves unfolding. I don't know if my singing opened their eyes or mine, but does it really matter?

Planted so far:
Onions
Leeks
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Oregano
Thyme
Parsley
Head lettuce (inside)