Turning over a new leaf... or two.
And this is what it looks like now...
On the right side are the garlics. On the left side, you can see the strawberries spilling over the bed. (Spill away, strawberries, spill away! The more, the merrier!) Behind those, I have Red Russian Kale, carrots, two pepper plants I just put in, arugula that's going to seed, and onions. At the end of the path is a San Marzano tomato plant -- a.k.a, the source of a future batch of fresh tomato sauce.
I'm pretty good at growing plants from seed, but things start to go awry when I set the seedlings outside to harden off. Case in point: My two butternut squash plants.
Seed starting is generally a straightforward procedure. Scoop soil into a pot. Read the seed packet to find out how deep the seeds should go. Plant the seeds. Add water. Set the pot under grow lights. Then wait.
Of course I want to find out what it is. This plant was somehow able to grow, completely in the dark, in a tightly closed-up bag of several-months-old potting soil. With no water. It really wants to grow, whatever it is. Our guess is that it's some type of melon.
Rainy Day Basil
Violets: I know some people think of violets as terribly invasive weeds, but I think they are quite sweet. I have two kinds of violets that are left over from the person who owned the plot before me.
Here's a close-up view...
The double ones smell particularly sweet...
Then there are the edibles. This is my first time seeing what arugula flowers look like.
And lastly, the weeds. Dandelions...
And henbit. I've got lots of henbit.
Without a basement or a spare room -- or, only in my wildest dreams, a greenhouse -- my plant nursery resides on the living room floor. Tray number one is loaded with tomato and pepper plants: 28 tomatoes and 14 peppers! That's far too many for the two of us, of course, but I tend to plant more seeds than necessary since, inevitably, some won't grow well or make it through the transplanting stage. The extras I'll give away to fellow community gardeners. I started these plants from seed in January, and we still have about a month to go before I can set them outside.
Tray number two is a menagerie of things: lobelia, snapdragons, and one dahlia that has grown off the charts (or at least beyond the grow light in this case). I also have a watermelon plant, two butternut squashes, and two crookneck squash plants that are descendants of the plant that taught me everything I never knew I wanted to know about squash flower pollination last summer. There are two more pepper plants over there, too, so make that a total of 16. And last but not least, there are three baby rosemary plants. I am especially excited about the rosemary, since a) it's difficult to grow from seed and I've somehow managed to grow three, and b) I get another chance to try my hand at not killing it (which, if you've followed this blog for a while, you know is no easy task for me. My track record with rosemary isn't so great).
Albertino's Grapes, Summer 2006
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All text and photos on Calendula & Concrete, unless otherwise noted, are by Christa Carignan (© 2006-2010 Christa Carignan). All rights reserved.
