Happy First Day of Spring

Spring is officially here and yet looking outside it still has that powdery white wintery sheen. It lends to the kind of confusion expressed yesterday by my 6 year old step daughter. Here is the conversation I had with her yesterday

Her: I can't wait for tomorrow.
Me: Why is that?
Her: Because it is the first day of spring! And then it will be warm and sunny.
Me: Hahahhaha. That isn't exactly how it works kid. It's still going to be cold tomorrow.
Her: But.... it will be spring. That means it is supposed to be warm.
Me: It means it will START to get warmer as the days go on but it doesn't mean it is going to be warm exactly on the first day of spring.
Her: Oh....

Classic.

A few days ago, Saturday to be exact, I observed the first sprouts from the Mini Red Purplette onions coming up. And this is what they look like today, a mere 4 days later.

The Lisbon bunching green onions have yet to sprout. I'm not sure if this is due to different germination times or if the seed just isn't as viable since it is about 2 years old. Depending on what happens the next week or so I may try another batch to see if any of those sprout.

Also, today I discovered my first Lavender sprout.

It is tiny but there!

And finally just a few pictures of the rest of the seedlings and their progression.

I've been rotating the seeds daily so they don't develop a permanent slant towards the sun. Need them to get well rounded exposure to the sun in order to be healthy transplants! I also snipped out a couple seedlings today in order to prevent over crowding. It wasn't as painful as I imagined it would be.

My next steps and thoughts are when I should do a first round of diluted fertilizer for the seedlings to keep them growing strong. Also, keeping an eye on the weather and temps to know when I should start to harden them off before I put them out in the garden. The good news about the garden window is that on the lower level the window opens up which may help with the hardening off process by exposing them to some cooler temperatures and some breeze.

This coming weekend will be another big planting weekend as I have a few different kinds of seeds going into the dirt. Stay tuned!