Another new leaf

I talked yesterday about the revolting winter we had. Now, by God, I'm having spring. I have to believe it will eventually be something other than gloomy/chilly, and to that end I started my first round of seeds inside. 

This year I have probably the largest amount of gardening real estate I've had - and with good sun angles to boot - and am determined to maximize it. Our home, while lacking in legit yard space, has a startlingly large deck, which is both on the southwestern side and elevated away from most critters. The squirrels are an occasional issue but nothing like the deer and rabbits my mother contends with. While we do have our CSA membership for the summer, I want to be able to supplement with things that I know we like, and in a perfect world go to the grocery produce section for only specialty items and certain staples. 

The plan for the deck is ambitious but not, I hope, overly so. For produce, I'll do two kinds of tomatoes, zucchini, and container corn, which I have zero experience with but am intrigued by. Also, a pot of strawberries. I've got lavender and rosemary going inside and will relocate them when things warm up, and have two pots which will hold spearmint and thyme...I think. I'm considering doing two pots of mint, as I use it quite a bit in iced tea during the summer and thyme is such a pain in the neck to grow - and takes so much to get enough to use in a recipe. Maybe, though. I normally grow basil, but I have one of those odd hydroponic basil plants in the kitchen - purchased mid-winter because it was the exact same price as buying a clipped bundle, and I figured I'd see what happened. Much to my surprise, it's growing just fine. It's not visually interesting, or all that attractive, really, but it's there so I may as well let it be for as long as it survives. 

So back to the point. Last Monday, I started my seeds. I use the peat cups so as to not actually have to transplant them, and I generally start twice as many seeds as I want plants. This usually results in about a 70% sprouting rate, and then a few die off and I end up with the right number of actual plants. This year I am hoping for 2, at most 3, plants of each variety of tomato - I'm doing Sweet Cherries and Black Krims - so started five seeds. And all but one Sweet Cherry has sprouted! This is both exciting and daunting. If all the sprouts survive I will have too many starts, and everyone I know around here who gardens grows tomatoes themselves so will have no need for my extras. 

I was puzzling over this yesterday and remembered last summer at the food bank we occasionally had plants to give away. For the most part it was herb plants - basil and the like - but every now and then something else would be there. These plants all were WILDLY popular - gone in minutes. So if my plants are too numerous, perhaps there's a food bank here that may want them -- and on that same note, I'm now thinking maybe I ought to go ahead and plant the remaining seeds too. What do you think, readers? Do any of you have any experience with donating extra plants?