It’s the first of the year, and that means it’s time to start working on this year’s garden.

I’d grown up hearing about how my father used to start his tomato plants on New Year’s Day. When it came time to plant them outdoors, his neighbors were always curious as to where he’d acquired such impressive looking plants so early in the year. I’m not sure whether he ever told them his secret, but at least I knew what it was. And with that knowledge lodged away, I decided to start the tradition myself a few years ago. Last year’s attempt was the most successful so far, but I always like trying to beat “last year me”.

With this motivation to carry on my new Old Tradition, I grabbed my seed flat from the front porch, stuck some incandescent bulbs into my clamp-light setup, and started work on getting my seeds in the dirt. It’s a fairly simple process, really. Methodical, repetitive, and quite a calming experience if you approach it with the right attitude.

The first step is to poke a small hole in the center of each planting cell with the tip of a pencil.

Then insert the seeds into the holes.

And finally to tamp the holes closed with the press of a finger.

After all this, I moved the flat lengthwise beneath the lights so that each cell could get warmed by the heat from the incandescent bulbs. I found last year that the added heat from incandescent lights does a lot to help the seeds to sprout.

And at that, I could mark on the calendar that the tradition still carries on.

The rest is all a waiting game, but a fun way to spend the cold, snowy months to come. I’ll follow up on the progress of this year’s plants as they start to grow. So stop back if you feel like taking the journey with me.

As always, Happy Planting! Oh, and Happy New Year!