We Have Babies!

Look what happened while we were out walking! Broccoli Sprouts! They weren't there when we headed out. Yes! Sprouts happened! In ONE HOUR. Isn't that amazing?

This was a few days ago, March 25, only 4 days after planting. The broccoli seeds deemed us worthy and good, and erased our nagging thought that not a single one would sprout. Up came the tiniest of leaves and stems, hoping against hope that the sun and soil and water will continue to nourish them.

Bouyed by the idea that we managed to do one thing well, we ventured outside to plant our "cool crop" bed, referring not to the trendiest, most popular crops, but to those preferring cooler soil and air temps.  Here is Teresa, planting Swiss Chard:  

This bed, hopefully, will bring forth spinach, lettuce, carrots, sugar snaps and shelling peas, as well. Impressive, yes? I know - we make it look easy. It's supposed to be pretty easy. But it was not. Picture two inexperienced dorks walking around the bed for forty-five minutes, discussing the best way to proceed because we were too scared to actually DO it. 

He: "How far apart did it say to plant these?" 

She: "It says 1/4 inch deep, three inches apart."

He: "Okay."

She: "That's not three inches.  That's, like, two."

He: "I know three inches, trust me."  She measures. It's not three. "Oh, okay then."

And so on. Every seed, every row required many measurements, consulting of seed packets, and discussions.  He won some; she won some. In the end, the seeds made it into the ground--probably too close together; or too far apart. Probably in rows that make no sense and with a terrible waste of valuable garden space (EVERYTHING else has to fit in the big bed, and ALL the herbs have to squeeze into the herb bed, oh dear!). But they're in there, and they might even grow.

But what about row markers? Knowing nothing about what all the real gardeners use, we looked around the house and came up with this idea:

That thing on the left? The row marker? It's a bendy straw. I wrote the plant name on it with a sharpie. I think they're weatherproof enough until either the plants start growing and thus identifying themselves, or we buy something more permanent. But hey, they're working for now. Even King Cucumber approves. (We found him in the yard a year or so ago, and now he rules over the cold crop bed.)

In the last four days, we've also seen sprouts for the basil, eggplant, grape tomatoes, thyme, oregano, cucumber, and brussels sprouts. Wow. Nature is just amazing.