Every year in late November I start lying to myself about how this will be the year that I put some seeds to sprout in December or early January.  And every year around mid-June I sometimes manage to get around to it.  This year is different.  The Covid-19 situation has required me to mostly work from home for the past few weeks, and I’ve been noticing the seeds sitting on my desk more than I would otherwise.  The constant reminder is apparently all I really needed to get over my procrastination.  I actually set some pepper seeds to sprout today, and it’s only the end of March! It’s a new record! Maybe I’ll actually have some results before it’s time to put everything up in the Fall. Even if none of the seeds sprout, I’m still considering this a victory against procrastination.

I did a little research and found that to get some of the more exotic peppers to sprout, it’s best to get them started on some paper towels.  A heat mat can help them get started and improve germination rates.  Beth got me a pet bed warmer a while back that I could use.  We have some other ones scattered around the house for our kitties.  They don’t put out a lot of heat, just enough to create a warm spot.  It seems like it should be perfect for my purposes.

I sorted through my seeds and lined a tray with some paper towels.

Of course, Stargazer had to help.  He made sure the spot was suitable.

I soaked the paper towels and poured off the excess water so the seeds wouldn’t float away.  Then carefully laid out the seeds in neat rows so I can keep track of the different types.

Yeah…  That’s a lot of seeds.  I’m going to be up to my ears in pepper plants if all of them sprout.  I’m betting that only a few actually will.  I don’t usually have very good luck with plants.

Nothing to do now, but wait and hope…

And while I was at it, I planted some basil, parsley, and cilantro in my AeroGarden.