The Farm Under the Stairs

An unexpected tomato plant among the winter experiments

In honor of the beginning of spring, I thought I would share my farm under the stairs. It isn't very pretty, but it’s what I have until we move. Mostly this winter, I've been experimenting with wintering over my patio plants with mixed results. 

A few weeks ago, though, it was time to start seeds. I’d spent a month making hundreds of homemade newspaper seedling pots -- using the soy ink parts of the local paper.

Lavender and rosemary started first, because they are a bit tricky and I needed more time in case they didn't come in. Next I put the cosmos and basil in. These are all warm weather plants, but I will need them to be fairly mature by the time they go out. They will also provide shade for some of the heat sensitive plants.

A cosmo seedling

This week I am putting in black eyed Susans and Echinacea for looks and because they are deer resistant. (Just move along, deer, there’s nothing to see inside this fence.) The tomato seeds are also due to go in pots this week. Next week it will be time to sow the onions, parsnips, garlic, squash, cucumbers and peppers. 

The flowering tobacco will also go into pots soon.  It’s not for smoking. It has a sticky substance on the bottom of its leaves that is supposed to trap white flies and aphids. Otherwise it will just sit among the tomatoes looking pretty until it’s time to compost it. The last thing to start will be sweet potatoes, which I’ll start in water. Because I have such a long indoor growing season, I’ll probably end up re-potting many of the plants before finally planting them.

The farm under the stairs -- lights off 

But where will I put them? There is a plan. One of the first things we have to do on the new house is build a deer fence for the garden. Once that’s done, I need to start digging, because the cold hardy plants can go in the ground the first of May. The warm weather ones will wait until the end of May, because the last frost is likely to come in the middle of May.  There will be digging and planting going on every weekend for a month. Whew!



I guess I’m most concerned about is getting the trays of seedlings to the new house without damaging them. Wish me luck!

Garden and Outdoor	Sow	Harden	Plant	# Plants	Seeds to Start
Sweet Potatoes	31-Mar	17-May	24-May	20	24
Garlic	30-Mar	19-Apr	3-May	40	40
White Lisbon Onions	15-Mar	26-Apr	3-May	54	77
Parsnips	15-Mar	26-Apr	3-May	27	45
Cosmos	1-Mar	10-May	17-May	36	42
Basil	1-Mar	10-May	17-May	12	16
Lavender	1-Mar	3-May	10-May	12	24
Rosemary	1-Mar	3-May	10-May	8	16
Juliet Hybrid Tomato	15-Mar	10-May	17-May	4	6
Bush Early Girl Tomato	15-Mar	10-May	17-May	4	6
Better Boy Hybrid Tomato	15-Mar	10-May	17-May	4	6
Brandywine Pink Tomato	15-Mar	10-May	17-May	4	6
Rond De Nice Squash	30-Mar	17-May	24-May	1	2
Straightneck Summer Squash	30-Mar	17-May	24-May	2	3
Peppers	30-Mar	17-May	24-May	6	10
Violas	1-Mar	26-Apr	3-May	8	12
Pansies	1-Mar	26-Apr	3-May	8	12
Purple Coneflower	15-Mar	10-May	17-May	36	36
Black eyed susans	15-Mar	10-May	17-May	36	36
Flowering Tobacco	30-Mar	17-May	24-May	6	9
Cucumbers	30-Mar	17-May	24-May	3	5
Grapes	NA	30-Mar	24-May	6	NA
Strawberries	1-Apr	11-May	24-May	2	NA
Day Lilies	NA	NA	30-Mar	6	6
Morning Glories	NA	NA	17-May	NA	NA