Spring Signs

Despite being very busy with school work these days, I managed to take a round in the garden to see if anything is going on. I was so happy to see that some things are starting to grow again. So it has started! Spring is trying to get through, and it is about to win!

Chives has started to grow, as well as parsley.

chives (I can't get the picture to rotate!)

Fresh parsley

Parsley just starting

I was very surprised to find out that my rhubarb is still alive and starting to peak. It was in a pot last year, all summer (and then all winter!). I neglected to put it in ground, as I never really came to a decision as to where it would be the happiest. I thought I had lost the plant, but nope! It's still there, and this year, it will come in ground as soon as possible! (Oops, forgot to take a picture of that one!)

Another nice surprise was garlic! Last year, I read that garlic can grow again if you plant the top back in soil after cutting it. So I tried that. I put some garlic tops in pots on the terrace and honestly forgot about them during winter. But today, I noticed they are growing! It worked!

Garlic growing from "recycled" garlic tops!

It is so fun to start seeing some life in the garden again. It only gets better and better from now on. Mmmmm, my taste buds are already looking forward to all the delicious fresh herbs and vegetables!

Herb seeds and paper pots

April is here (Waaahoooo!!!) and although it is quite fresh outside these days, I decided to sow some herbs and place them by a sunny window. With their germination time being between 10 and 30 days (depending on the herb), this will lead me to mid to late April. By May, I will hopefully have some healthy young plants to place outside in pots and/or beds. :)

I decided to try a new kind of sowing pots. Following instructions from "learningandyearning" (click here), I put together seedling pots made of newspaper. They are easy to make and inexpensive. When the seedlings are ready, we can even choose to just plant them where we want them, paper pot included! The paper will eventually decompose and disappear. However, it's important to remember that there are actually chemicals in newspaper, (thanks to a friend of mine for pointing it out)*** so I will probably be more inclined to remove the paper when the time comes.

For the time being, I don't think it is a big problem, as the seeds and eventual small roots will be taking their nutrients from the soil and the paper won't have time to decompose before it is planting time... I hope!?

One thing is for sure, I'm curious to see how it will all go and I'm eager to write updates about this little project! Here are the herbs I sowed today, along with their expected germination time. 

Oregano: 15-20 days
Parsley: 18-30 days
Green basil: 10-14 days
Red basil: 10-15 days
Chervil: 14-20 days

Update / Correction:
*** After verification on the level of chemicals in newspaper (thanks again to my friend for doing the research), it seems newspapers now-a-days are not as full as chemicals as originally thought. So there is no reason to fear planting the seedlings along with their paper cups. :)