Seeds galore!

Original seedling tray... with seedlings!

The seeds I planted in the original seedling tray all sprouted! (whoo hoo!) Everything seems to be growing quite nicely, except for the chard and the beets (far left). They are more reluctant to grow, but maybe they're working beneath the dirt instead of above it.

The big seedlings you see on the right are the bean plants. These are new spouts that I planted after seeing the ones I put in the ground outside struggle. It has been cold here (in the high 40s at night) so it looks like I planted outside too early. The good thing is that beans grow quickly so it won't be hard to replace the ones outside. My cucumber sprouts all died (they love hot weather), the peas are fine and actually growing well (they love colder weather) and about half of the sunflower seedlings survived. I re-planted the cucumber seeds today, so overall no harm done (but a few lessons learned!)


Sprouticide

One of the things you have to do when your seedlings sprout is thin them out so the stronger ones can really take root and grow. Obviously this sucks for the sprout that gets pulled up, but it was sad for me as well - I had to commit "sprouticide" in order to allow my other sprouts to grow. These are basil, chard, and pak choi sprouts. Sad face! Oh well.



New gardening book! (thanks Bro!)

My awesome brother gave me this book about urban gardening for my birthday. As a general rule, I like to keep things simple - buy seeds, put them in dirt, they grow. But the more I get into this gardening project, the more I realize I don't know. So this book came at the perfect time. I'm learning a lot reading it (for example, who knew that cornmeal can be mixed into your dirt as an anti-fungal?) The author also has suggestions about how to rotate your (mini) crops, what to grow to help avoid pests and critters, how to grow things in pots and in shade. I'm lucky because I have a real plot of dirt out front. However, we also have a nice balcony in the back that gets partial sun, and I was just looking for an excuse to plant more things back there. So perhaps I will end up with two gardens - one in the front yard, and the other one in pots in the back patio!

The author suggests planting onions, oregano, and/or something from the mint family to help ward off pests. So I thought, "Okay, maybe I'll go to Home Depot and look at some more seeds, just to ward off pests, you know. And maybe think about what I could plant in back on the balcony." Well, I got a little carried away...


New seedling tray... and more!

I now have nine more varieties of seeds, another seedling tray, and another bag of potting soil. I scrounged up every available plastic container in our house to plant seedlings in, and they are all now luxuriating in some lovely dirt. I also re-potted my pole bean seedlings into bigger containers. I think I may be getting in over my head. I mean realistically, how much can I possibly grow? But I am just so excited to finally have my own garden that I don't really see the point in holding back. Some things will grow, others won't, but it will be fun no matter what. The seeds I planted today are:
- Cosmos (flowers) in yellow, red, orange, and pink)
- Catnip (in the mint family)
- Oregano
- Two types of onions ("salad scallions" if you're a yuppie seed producer)
- Red sunflowers (about half of the yellow sunflower sprouts I planted outside have died because it was cold this week - what a great excuse to buy another packet in a different color!)
- Nasturtiums (these are a beautiful and edible tropical-looking flower. I planted the kind that climbs, and I hope to train them to grow up around our balcony in back).
- Okra (why not?)
- Chinese cabbage (in case the chard decides not to grow)



Natural predators

One of the predators the author does not mention in that book is the average house cat. This is my cat Bailey, and one of his all-time favorite activities is eating plants. He regularly snacks on this houseplant, and I have no doubt that if given the opportunity he will eat my very tasty plants as well. For now I have to risk it though, because they need to stay inside (it's 52 outside today!) This is another reason to grow a lot of different kinds of plants - he may like some kinds but not others. I know he'll like the catnip!



Organic matter

One of the best ways to add nutrients to your soil is by digging organic matter into it. "Organic matter" is almost anything that decomposes - so we've started saving fruit and vegetable peels and other waste. My roommate also works at a cafe and they have plenty of coffee grounds available as well, and those also work to help bolster the soil. I plan to start digging this stuff into the soil as soon as it warms back up a bit.

That's all for the week! Thanks for checking out what's blooming in Bloomingdale! :)