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Greenhouse has no offseason

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Julie Schlake operates Pauly and Red’s Greenhouse near Farmersburg with her husband Paul. As soon as the current season is done, she selects seeds for the coming year, and begins planting flowers as early as late December and early January. Vegetable seeds hit the soil starting in mid-March. (Photos by Audrey Posten)

Julie Schlake has transformed a kitchen prep table into a seed planting station, resting a tray on the counter top while a lid lifts up to reveal dirt that is placed in each of the tray’s compartments. Some seeds go a quarter inch into the soil, while others simply rest on the surface.

Every seed is different, according to Julie. “And it’s really tricky because sometimes you can’t see the seeds.”

A moisture control dome is placed over the tray after seeds are planted. This not only controls the moisture, but holds heat in, noted Julie.

The trays are placed in a separate room that’s continually heated at 75 to 80 degrees. The domes are removed as the plants grow.

The flowers planted earlier largely go into hanging baskets and pots, and those done later are often sold in six packs. Julie will continue planting flowers until Pauly and Red’s Greenhouse opens for the season.

Julie begins planting vegetables in mid-March. A calendar lays out a week-by-week plan.

Months of careful planning, growth assures plants are ready for gardening season

 

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

 

Mother’s Day weekend is the unofficial kick off to the gardening season, as people begin flocking to greenhouses and garden centers to select flowers and vegetable plants. 

 

These colorful blossoms and green leaves didn’t just burst through the soil overnight, though. Each plant is a product of months of careful planning and growth.

 

“When other people are thinking gardening is done, I’m like, ‘Next year!’” said Julie Schlake, who operates Pauly and Red’s Greenhouse near Farmersburg with her husband Paul.

 

For the Schlakes, “next year” often starts in late October. As the last pumpkins and mums leave the greenhouse, Julie is already looking through seed catalogs.

 

Her selections are largely based on what sold well that year. 

 

“We also try to do different things every year,” she said.

 

Some seeds—especially heirlooms—come from Seed Savers Exchange, while others are purchased from Harris Seeds or Johnny’s Seeds. Julie has found seeds from the latter two tend to have the best germination rates. 

 

“That’s very important,” she said. “If you go to all this work to plant all this stuff and nothing happens, you throw all that money away.”

 

Julie begins planting flowers in late December and early January. The petunias are first, followed by pansies, malva zebrinas and juncus arrows—all plants that take longer to grow.

 

She’s transformed a kitchen prep table into a seed planting station, resting a tray on the counter top while a lid lifts up to reveal dirt that is placed in each of the tray’s compartments. 

 

“We use a dirt mixture with peat moss to start things. They don’t need the extra oomph yet,” Julie explained. “When I put them in hanging baskets and other pots, that’s when I use Miracle Grow potting soil.”

 

After thoroughly moistening the soil, she carefully places the seeds “just so.” Some go a quarter inch into the soil, while others simply rest on the surface.

 

“Every one is different,” said Julie. “And it’s really tricky because sometimes you can’t see the seeds. When it falls in the dirt, it’s gone.”

 

The soil is sometimes lightly sprayed with water after planting. Too much force could shoot the seeds right out.

 

A plastic moisture control dome is then placed over the tray. This not only controls the moisture, but holds heat in, noted Julie.

 

The trays are placed in a separate room that’s continually heated at 75 to 80 degrees. The domes are removed as the plants grow.

 

“I’ve already taken some out to put in the hanging baskets,” said Julie, speaking earlier in March. “It’s crazy what it takes. What they look like and what they’ll end up being when customers come.”

 

Julie marks plants carefully so she knows what flowers—and what colors—are going into each hanging basket or pot. Sometimes it can be hard to envision the end product when there are no blossoms.

 

“It’s more fun when they’re already blooming,” she acknowledged, “but you don’t want to wait that long.” 

 

The flowers planted earlier largely go into hanging baskets and pots, and those done later are often sold in six packs. Julie will continue planting flowers until Pauly and Red’s Greenhouse opens for the season.

 

“Then I’ll have flowers throughout the summer,” she said. “My mums, I also keep taking care of them until they flower, and then I have to cut the flowers off. It sounds really bad, and it’s hard to do. They’re too pretty. But you have to cut them off so the rest of the plant will grow. If you don’t do that, you’ll have a stunted, little plant. I cut the flowers off until around July 4, then I stop and let them go and they’re nice and pretty in the fall.”

 

Julie begins planting vegetables in mid-March. A calendar lays out a week-by-week plan.

 

According to Julie, planting vegetable seeds is less stressful than planting flowers.

 

“Those seeds are a lot bigger,” she quipped.

 

Eggplant, which takes around nine weeks to grow, comes first. At six to eight weeks of growing time, peppers are next.

 

“The tomatoes only take four to six weeks, so I start those in April,” Julie said. 

 

Although she grew up gardening—learning from her mom as early as age four or five—Julie admitted, until she met Paul in 2015, she had little experience growing plants for others.

 

“I was used to having my own garden. The first year, I had stuff ready way too soon,” she shared. “It’s trial and error. Every year, I learn something different I didn’t know the year before.”

 

That’s part of what she enjoys about growing plants for a living. It’s also therapeutic.

 

While it’s cold and snowy outside, Julie can escape to the solitude of the greenhouse. She spends hours planting and tending to new sprouts, envisioning what they’ll become.

 

“You get great satisfaction out of putting something in the dirt and getting plants,” Julie said. “That’s my super power.”

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