Soon we’ll be hearing stories from our gardeners, but first we thought we’d share a little behind the scenes from the GrowOV greenhouse because

Each year, in addition to starting transplants for our own farms and spring plant sale, we seed starter plants for our backyard gardeners. This year we are offering three varieties of tomato (a roma, a cherry, and a slicer), three varieties of peppers (a lunchbox, a jalapeno, and a bell), and one variety of eggplant.

We fill lots of trays with soil blocks, label them carefully, then put a single seed in each one. This time of year, every surface in our greenhouse is covered with trays of seedlings getting ready to go out into the field or home with a backyard gardener.

Depending on the variety, some seeds might need some time in the germination chamber (not pictured) or the crab shack, which keeps them extra warm inside our heated greenhouse. After germination, the trays of seedlings join the rest of the plants blanketing the greenhouse shelves.

A lot of growth can happen in one week – these three varieties of peppers are almost ready to be potted up into larger containers for the gardeners to take home!