The Next Great Thing

I went shopping yesterday for dog food.  The least expensive place I've found to get the kind my dogs like is the home store.  So that's where I go.  I figured it would be safe.  Surely the garden center is still closed.  Nothing there to tempt me this time of year.

*insert sardonic laugh here*

I should have known better.  I walked in the door, confident in my purpose.  I grabbed a cart and headed towards the pet aisle.  But, wait.  What's this over here?  IT CAN'T BE!

Seed display.

*facepalm*

I know for a FACT that they just took that seed display down right before Thanksgiving.  I know because I stood before it for ages before I decided that I would wait for fresh seed in the spring.  And I wanted to check out the seed catalogs and not just buy the first seed I see in the spring.

*insert hysterical laughter here*

Yeah.  Right. I stood there before the neatly organized packets and just sort of took it all in.

A store employee came up to me and said, "You can't start a garden this time of year."  I looked at his teasing smile and asked why they put the display up already.  "Because people will buy them already."  He shrugged and walked away.

The good news is that they had almost all the seeds I wanted except for the Rutgers tomatoes that I've come to depend on every year.  And they were all on special.  Yes, I checked the date on the packets and they're for this year.  So I can only assume they are somehow 'factory seconds' from Burpee.  Maybe.

But that's not the subject of this blog.  I was wandering around juggling seed packets and waffling about tomatoes when I noticed that they also had some of the seed starting materials out already.  After last year's fiasco with the greenhouse and inconsistent watering woes, I was up for something new.  This is what I found.

That's right.  A self-watering seed starting contraption.  I was consumed with joy.

Yep, Burpee got another $11 from me for that baby.  I'm pretty sure I could come up with something cheaper and greener if I spent some time perusing youtube and googling around.  But here it was right in my face and me with fresh seed and growing on my mind.

I'm such a sucker.  An optimistic sucker.  As soon as I can find my camera charger, I'll take some pics of this contraption as I set it up.  I've got a couple months before I ought to even think about starting seed.  Fortunately, I'll be ready.

*rubbing hands briskly together and cackling madly with glee*