Diagramming seed trays

My first triumph when I got home from Home Depot was miraculously discovering that I hadn't bought duplicates of any seed packets, despite not keeping track of what I originally purchased at Target. I stuck mainly to herbs and ended up with three types of basil (lemon, genovese, and sweet) - perhaps overkill, although basil is the one herb that I buy on a regular basis at the grocery store, so I'm sure I can make it work. I did end up with something called "lemon balm" - what is this? On the packet it resembles mint, so perhaps I thought it was when I bought it - or perhaps it is lemon mint? Definitely will be a surprise.

So many seed packets! What hath I wrought?

Several other "regulars" - chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, sage - that I am excited about, although I've actually only used a few in recipes, so I'll have to start saving food ideas! And the first place I'll go to do so is supercook.com - if you haven't heard of this website, it's definitely worth a visit. Basically you can input your entire kitchen contents (and save it, so you only have to do so once!) and it spits back recipes that you can make with the ingredients you currently have. You can stress a certain ingredient - useful if you have some fruit or other item that is about to expire or go bad - or ex out an ingredient or category of food, in case you are vegetarian or gluten-free or whatever else. It's a great place to get inspiration for trying something new in the kitchen, and although I've had some less than impressive meals from it, I've also found at least two recipes that are now part of my standard repertoire.

My first issue when starting the seed trays was the question of how many seeds to put in each cell, and how many cells to plant for each seed packet. The scientist in me went to work, and I started to wonder about what percentage of seeds actually sprout and how many plants of each I would use. Luckily, my PhD training has prepped me for such difficult questions, and I quickly whipped up a first-rate diagram. I planted three cells for each herb (save for chives) and four for the two pea varieties as well as a sweet pepper mix. Definitely way too many, and I've already started fishing around for friends who may be interested in their own herb garden in case they all sprout.

My awesome seed tray diagrams. Don't be jealous.

I rolled up the carpet in my living room and went to work. I made quite a mess, spilling water and dirt from the dry pellets that expanded over the sides of the trays. Luckily I bought a broom just last week to replace the one whose handle was used as a pinata bat several months ago (yep, that happened). I started carefully pressing two seeds into each cell, but by the time I got to the lemon basil I had already gone cross eyed trying to count the tiny seeds. I started just throwing a pinch into each - I can always thin them later, right? I also didn't think to check how deep I should be planting seeds until I was to the pea plants. Hope that the herbs are flexible on that!

The final problem came when I read the last step on the tray instructions: place in a warm place away from direct sunlight until the seeds sprout in 7-10 days. Hmm. I have no control over the heat in my apartment, and I think it's already been turned off in anticipation of summer. My dog had already shown a distinct interest in the trays as I was planting them, so I needed to get them off the floor. Unfortunately my apartment has a serious lack of counter space. The table in my living room is where I work, eat, and I'm already constantly fighting clutter on it. The only other option was the bathroom. So I moved around my lotions and that's where they went. I'm not sure how important the environs is for seeds to sprout, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist peeking under the germination sheets daily to check how they are progressing!

One of the trays in its semi-final resting place. Yes, I have too many lotions.