It's been a gorgeous few days here, downright hot even! While this is quite lovely, it is also long anticipated, and I can't really blame the bf for being antsy for our recently potted sprouts to get on with it and do something already! So since our pots have remained resolutely barren (and those that were green have since wilted) we picked up a few plants to transplant this weekend.
We bought a few container plants as well, just assuming we may fail to grow anything! I planted a hanging strawberry, and a tomato in a big container...of course I didn't get a chance to decorate all of these, but check out this quick post I wrote for your own inspiration on decorating your plain plastic pots!
We began by digging up the nasty side yard of our little rental house...of course, even though Bf called the landlord before we started, we still ran into a few unexpected burrows cables. To avoid damage and potentially sending yourself back to the dark ages, I recommend tracing out the intended garden area and looking for buried cables before you start digging.
After turning over a large (cable free) plot of land, we broke apart large chunks of dirt with a hoe, picked out all of the rocks and sticks and roots, and raked the dirt smooth. Bf made neat rows and we planted a few seeds and transplanted a few plants. The handle of the hoe turned out to serve as a nice measurement for seeds requiring 1-2 inches of soil depth. We added a bit of potting soil to cover the seeds and drowned them in water.
And now for the big reveal.... Ha! I promise to keep you thrilled readers updated on the progress, of course!
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I have been "closely" monitoring my seed starter now for a while now, and after my initial excitement at seeing little shoots sprouting from my newly planted seeds, I have subsequently killed all the tomatoes. A few days after finding my sprouts, I watered and placed them in the afternoon sun for a few hours. I then took them back inside and placed them in their original place atop the washing machine--wherein I failed to do anything else with them all week. Now it has snowed again, making me grateful that I haven't planted them outside, but certain that it is time to transplant! So I will be placing some of the sprouts in pots and hopefully can save some of these dead little guys! Of course, being a master procrastinator, I didn't get back to this project until several days after I wrote the first part of this post...by then, the sprouts were beyond dead--but I figured I'd try anyway.
Of course, having finally gotten the energy to plant my seedlings, I had to wait a few days before they could be placed outside...since I didn't want to kill them with frost...Eventually though, it warmed enough for me to set them on the little deck. Of course, I still have quite a few seedlings left over--so now I need to work up the energy to rake the yard and prepare a suitable place to plant some of them! (I am thinking I should have done that before starting the seeds....oh well!)
I was feeling pretty proud of myself this morning when I checked on the seeds and saw so many little sprouts that I had to share with all of you. I've cracked the lid to my seed started and moved it from its former place atop the cabinet above my washer to the top of the washer itself--hopefully it will get more light there--but not too much! Now I just need to think about thinning out the seedlings....maybe for another morning!
I am laughing to myself a bit that I am posting this after a week of snowstorms here in NoCo--we sure did need the water though! With such a dry winter we were almost 8 feet below normal water levels in the beginning of march and now we're up to 90% (though the drought continues in the south). In any case, I am determined to think of spring!
To resolve one of my concerns, I decided to make tags for my seeds. I purchased some clothespins from the dollar store and painted them in fun colors. I decided to use magazine clippings to add labels (a la ransom note style). A little mod podge on the painted pin and a little on top sticks the letters and then seals them down. (If you are so inclined, mod podge makes an outdoor formula--but i just used the regular kind). I wasn't very fussy about letter placement, which I think is just fine--they work well and are pretty cute too!
After my pots were labelled, i added abother scoop of soil and covered the tray with the plastic cover. Now lets hope my seeds sprout! |
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