Gardening

Seedling update, #1

Posted by Michelle on Apr 13, 2011 in Gardening, Homeschooling | 0 comments

Since sowing the seeds on Friday, we’ve been taking them down daily from the refrigerator to check on their progress and make sure the soil is nice and moist.

The packets all said that germination within 7 to 10 days so I was very surprised to see soil displacement as quickly as Saturday afternoon. By Sunday, 3 out of 5 of the seeds were all starting to germinate. By Monday morning, 4 out of 5 of the seeds are sprouting! The lone hold out seems to the basil which is taking its sweet time compared to the others.

We’re setting the tray out on the kitchen table where it will get plenty of sunlight. TLE is very excited that her plants are growing! (So am I!) She can’t stop crowing, “My plants! My plants!” I’m just hoping that she won’t disturb the seedlings on the kitchen table. We’ll see

UPDATE: The basil seeds were poking their little green heads out of the soil on Tuesday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, they were almost fully sprouted. YAY!

Garden Misadventures, 2011

Posted by Michelle on Apr 8, 2011 in Gardening, Home Matters, Homeschooling | 0 comments

I haven’t had much luck with gardens. Twice I’ve attempted to plant something in the ground and twice I’ve been thwarted by poor planning or the dog deciding that the raised bed was a great dog bed.

This time, I’ve decided that we’ll go smaller and opt to plant a container garden rather than revisit the failed raised bed attempt. I’ve got some planters but we’re not quite ready to plant yet so I decided to start some seeds indoors. I still have no idea what I’m doing but it seemed like a good opportunity for a science lesson.

We bought this Burpee seed starter kit at Target. It came with 25 pellets that you add water to. It was fun watching the pellets expand!   TLE loved pouring the water and then watching them grow. If you listened carefully, the pellets made some interesting sounds as they expanded too!

We sowed 5 different types of seeds: pumpkin, cucumber, lettuce, basil and shingiku (an Asian green used in Japanese and Chinese cooking.) I took the seeds out and TLE helped stick the larger ones in the hole in the pellets and covered them with dirt. We discovered that pumpkin seeds are bigger than cucumber seeds and that lettuce, basil and shingiku all have very tiny seeds.

TLE liked the project but was rather, um, disappointed that “her plants” aren’t ready to plant yet. I explained to her that seeds take time to grow and that we need to be patient. She’s looking forward to checking the tray regularly for the plants’ progress.

After several days of unseasonably high temperatures, we’re back in the middle of a cold snap. (Brr!!) I placed the seed container on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen where it is slightly warmer.  (And it keeps it OUT of her reach!) Hopefully the temps will improve and coax the seeds to sprout in the next two weeks.

Garden Update: Coming up green!!

Posted by Michelle on Jun 1, 2010 in Gardening, Home Matters | 0 comments

Just a day or so after I mourned the effort, it looks as though all the seeds I sowed about two weeks ago are starting to sprout! First up were the daikon and then the Thai basil. Today I peeked outside to see a lovely row of green coming up on our cilantro patch and the snow pea patch. HOORAY!!! I also checked the seeds I am starting in the garage and I’ve got a sprout! Hooray!!

I am so stupidly excited. You have to understand, I thought I had a black thumb! Maybe my dreams of a freshly picked summer salad aren’t so far off. I’m debating sowing some lettuce seeds in the space I still have in the planter.

Garden – Summer 2010

Posted by Michelle on May 29, 2010 in Gardening, Home Matters | 0 comments

After quite a few stops and starts, I was finally able to start my very first garden earlier this month! And of course, I neglected to post the few photos I took. While I originally wanted to do a no-till lasagna garden and also considered a square foot garden, I ended up just getting a 4′ x 4′ resin raised bed kit and filling it with bagged organic garden soil. Not as frugal as I originally wanted it to be but I’ve made peace with this fact of life.

In my 4′ x 4′ garden bed, I’ve planted a cantaloupe plant and a cucumber plant. I’ve also sewn the seeds for Thai basil, cilantro, daikon radish and snow peas. I also have a tomato plant and cucumber plant in separate pots. (No real reason for this other other than plain laziness.)

Garden - Day 0 (5/18/2010)

About a week and a half after planting, my daikon sprouts are thriving (YAY!) while my cantaloupe and cucumber aren’t looking so hot.

Daikon sprouts