Corn 08.1.09
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A (Midsummer Afternoon's) Dream Garden
Corn 08.1.09
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Still At It: Two Months of What? How? and Why?
So on to our updates. When we last left you, fellow gardeners, we were deliriously happy with ourselves and our amazing sprout-growing abilities. Turns out, we are pretty darn good at growing seeds. We make nice sprouts.
So nice that I could have cried when I had to thin them out. I called that my “Teresa’s Choice” day (after Sophie's Choice, the heartwrenching William Styron novel and film starring Meryl Streep, which I'm sure most of you are smart enough to know without me telling you) because I couldn’t bear to choose among my little seedlings that way. Who was I to decide who lived and who died? But I did what I had to do. I'm strong that way.
Sniff. That was me, taking the scissors to our babies on April 11. And then I got over it as we watched them continue to grow. In the meantime, things were hatching in the cold crop bed:
of King Cucumber!
April 21: Planted fingerling potatoes. Talk about late! I hear it was supposed to be done on St. Paddy’s Day, but we didn’t even get them in the mail from the seed company until early April. Then I had to cut them into pieces and leave them in the window sill to shrivel up and die sprout. Just when they looked too wrinkled to live, I finally got my butt out to the bed and put them in the ground. The trenches were nice and straight:
I planted four rows and couldn’t bear to throw the leftover potato pieces away, so I stuck them down in the ground between the rows. What the hell—I wanted to see what they would do.
Here’s what they did:
April 28: Planted some onion starts given to us by our lovely neighbor Kathy:
April 29: Everybody in the cold crop bed looked like they were struggling. Except the peas. Carrots were barely up, spinach and swiss chard not doing much. Lettuce okay: seedlings not above ground yet. What are we doing wrong? I started asking. On a daily basis.
May 1: Anticipating an in-the-ground planting day of May 8 or 9, we started leaving the seedlings outside on the porch during the day. They got a little late-afternoon sun but we brought them in every night. Like good parents.
May 7: We left the seedlings out all night. Full moon, and chilly. Oopsie? We’ll see.
Friday, May 8 was Plant the Garden Day. For reals. We put everybody in the ground. With much measuring, discussing, and reconfiguring, we transplanted the little guys.
I was so nervous. I didn’t want to hurt them. Little did I know I already had.
We also planted seeds: squash (2 summer, 3 winter), corn, beans, beets, and kale. And we crossed our fingers.
In the cold crop bed, the carrots were finally showing feathery leaves—six weeks after we planted it! Geesh. The lettuce was sprouting well, so I started my heinous chore of deciding who would live and who would not. As I was thinning the little guys out, David came to the rescue: “Why don’t we just move them around and replant them?” Genius! We did that, and they are still growing all over the place!
Now we’re at June 6, almost a full month later. Here’s how things look now.
Swiss Chard: We have one, count it, ONE plant.
And some still-pathetic seedlings.
People, this was planted on March 25!
And it looks like we can grow peas. Slow peas. Seed package said we'd have some to eat about May 20th. This is June 6. At least they're blooming!
Our transplanted seedlings have had a rough time:
Poor little eggplants.
Tomatoes are looking pathetic. Yellow leaves, weak stems, sad little things.
I am especially upset about the tomatoes. I feel we really failed them. I mean, look at our tomato plants at our neighbor's house:
Poor peppers: haven’t grown since the day we put them in.
Cucumbers: my beautiful sprouts!
Shriveled up and died. And I had already given all the rest away.
So, I planted some leftover seeds, and they’re starting to come up.
Remind me not to give away starts next year!
Always the calm one, David called the Cooperative Extension or Master Gardeners or some plant savvy department and they said we planted our seedlings "way too early." What? We read the books! Everything said our last frost date was April 30. We waited another week! Next year, I'm waiting until May 15 at least. Maybe later. I can't bear to see everyone die. And I really can't bear to see all the other gardens in town that started with greenhouse-grown starts--now full, beautiful, and producing food. It's enough to make me pout.
But we've learned. We'll see. The person on the phone (?) told David that everything would "probably" come back. Oh, please do.
And David learned how to take care of our wee slug problem:
Here are his thoughts on that slimy, ickky subject:
Slugs drank my beer
I’ll give up a lot for a garden. A beautiful sunny week that I could have been kayaking was spent moving 12 yards of dirt.
The countless hours that lie ahead of us this summer weeding and tending to the babies (that’s what we call our plants—sick, I know). It’s a symbiotic relationship and I know we’ll get a lot in return. But the latest sacrifice was almost too much to bear.
Finally, as brave little pea shoots began to emerge a few weeks back, T’s motherly eagle eye spotted a baby slug in the dirt, likely plotting its attack.
We thumbed furiously through the stacks of gardening books, jumped on Google and searched for not just an answer but the right answer. How to control slugs without harming the babies (the green and the furry ones) whom we shower with so much care.
Seeing that look in her eye as she arrived at the solution I tried to dissuade her. “No, not the…”
“Beer!” T exclaimed, and ran to the fridge fetching out an ice cold Fish Tail Organic Amber Ale.
Now this took the cake…and the beer. Slimy critters. Things French people eat for dinner. And they’re drinking my beer!
Oh well, I’ve seen no evidence of late night parties or glistening trails leading to the refrigerator. So I guess one beer won’t hurt.
But they’re not getting my potato chips, even if they knock on the door and ask!
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Thursday, April 9, 2009
The Sprout Post
I have a thing about sprouts. I even named my business after them. One wouldn’t do that without a true and deep affection for the little darlings.
And these tomatoes, for god’s sake:
Our hearty, happy cucumbers:
Everybody grow now!
Thank you for coming up to see us. You are beautiful and we're incredibly proud of each and every one of you. We vow to nurture you and help you reach your full potential. And then we will eat you or your offspring.
Love, Mom and Dad
Friday, March 27, 2009
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.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Seed Starting Virgins
A series of procrastinations and practicalities prevented us from planting on our original target day of March 5, which is 6 – 8 weeks from our purported last frost range of April 16 – 30. Most of the seeds needed 6 – 8 weeks inside (although rosemary needs 8 – 12), so this seemed reasonable to me. Then I heard from more experienced gardeners than we that Mother’s Day is the big planting day around here. Mother’s Day?? That’s around the 10th of MAY! Where did I get the idea that April 16-30 was our last frost date? Why, from this book:
Oh, and the seed company we ordered from says our last frost is May 6! Who’s right? What to do? What if I plant them too early? Too late? Will they be too leggy? Will my eggplants get such a late start that they die on the vine before we even harvest them?
Whatever. Unable to put it off any longer, and hearing nothing but grunts and curses from the laundry room, I proceeded to planting them however many to a pot and at whatever depth I thought was right, based on the sketchy instructions on the seed packets.
By the way, who’s in charge of writing these instructions, anyway? Talk about inconsistent! Some packets tell you how many days to germination. Others, from the same company, do not. My research indicated that the packets would have all the answers. Nope. But I did my best.
I planted, labeled, and misted. All the seeds were tucked in safely. Then we tried to figure out a whether to cover the trays of pots or not.
This book
says that some gardeners use plastic wrap to keep the soil from drying out; but others don’t.
This book says to cover them with plastic wrap, period.
This book
In the end, we decided to just leave them hanging out there all naked and uncovered.
They live in our mudroom, which is a pretty cold area of the house. They have a big southern-exposure window, which helps during the day, but we keep our house very cool at night, and these babies need to be warm in order to germinate. We’re tricking them, you see, into thinking that they’re outside in warm soil in a warm climate so they’ll actually produce this summer.
Monday, March 9, 2009
When Irish (Potato) Eyes Are Smiling
Here's an astounding news flash: more people are planting gardens, so seed company sales are way up! It seems everyone I know is doing it and today I see this article in the Seattle Times. It says that sales at Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, a seed and seed potato packing company (and winner of today's best company name award) are booming. Most of their inquiries are newbies like us. "We had one person ask us which way the seed goes in the ground," said Sue the owner. No, it wasn't me. I haven't received my seed potatoes yet, so I'm saving that question for when they come.
1. Green beans
2. Zucchini squash
3. Tomato
4. Lettuce
5. Cucumber
6. Peas
7. Sweet corn
8. Peppers (sweet and hot)
9. Carrot
10. Radish
Photo courtesy of Seattle Times