Jen Mayer

Brush Your Shoulders Off

April is here. Hooray!

I grew up on an alfalfa sprout and vegetable farm in upstate NY. Every spring signaled for my father and I to spend a few weekends in the basement sowing seeds into plastic “6-pack” trays. We worked on a deteriorating work bench which was stained by oil, grease and silver paint from many generations of use. The basement felt humid in contrast to the dry dehydrated potting soil we mixed with water to nurture tiny seeds. We stacked these plastic flats covered with opaque coverings on top of one another to germinate. Eventually with time and water these trays would house small plant sprouts. We then transported these new plants from the basement across the lawn and driveway to our large greenhouse where they would continue to grow in the warm protected environment. Eventually these plants became large enough to transplant into my garden. I would tend to sunflowers, zinnias and various vegetables through the summer. But every year, it all begins now. In April!

What now?

Today I live in Colorado, and I am fortunate to have lots of space to construct a garden. This is my fourth summer at 101 Pearl (wow, really?). Every year the neighbors and I plant a vegetable garden in our front yard, and every year this garden has grown bigger and bigger. This year we have become very ambitious, as we begin to connect our various gardens together. I recently placed my seed order, which will be it’s own post. Pictures soon… I wonder how much FOOD we can GROW this year.