Posts Tagged "garden"

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

Posted by Michelle on Apr 2, 2010 in Home Matters | 0 comments

Almost two weeks after planting my first seedlings, I saw that most of my labor had been for naught. But only most. One particularly strong willed pot had successfully sprouted some green!

I was so excited that I made a mental note to take a picture of my horticultural triumph.

And then I forgot.

And then a strong gust of wind blew the little seedlings away later that afternoon.

Bummer.

All is not lost. There’s still plenty of Jiffy pots to plant with more seeds to start. Tomorrow is a new day and next week, we shall start anew! And maybe this time I’ll follow the directions. Maybe.

Spring Gardening

Posted by Michelle on Mar 17, 2010 in Home Matters | 0 comments

The Little Gardener

Like most toddlers, TLE loves to be outdoors. So much so that she’s spent the last month or so looking longingly outside, pointing outdoors and indicating that she wanted out. But alas, the weather has been horrific for the past month or so, raining steadily since about the beginning of February.

Happily for her, it looks like the last vestiges of what passes for winter around here. The sun has been out for a few days now and today it has warmed to the high 70s. We bought her a sandbox as an early birthday present and she absolutely loves it. She’s so happy to be able to run around in her backyard and play in her sand box.

It is beautiful enough to coax an avowed indoor geek like me to try my hand at gardening. So far, I’ve got the tools and materials for what I hope could eventually be a nice little garden. However, I know absolutely jack about what I am doing. (Garden n00blet FTL!) I decided to try to start some plants from seed. For one, it is cheaper than buying plants and two, I haven’t yet laid out my lasagna bed. Ooops. The plan is to start the seedlings and then transfer the plants once the bed is ready.

Grandiose plans and delusions of adequacy aside, I’ve been rediscovering what fun it is to pack dirt away in little cups. I bought a kit of herb garden seeds to start in little cups. Here they are at Day 0, just after I planted them.

Basil, dill, oregano

Chives, sage, parsley

Not much to look at, I know. It is Day 2 now and I don’t see anything yet. Hrm. Patience is NOT one of my virtues. I am just fervently hoping that I haven’t killed them yet!

Not to be left out, I also bought a Sesame Street Gardening Kit for TLE which came with a bunch of plastic tools, peat pots and seeds. TLE preferred digging in the dirt than filling cups with it but I did manage to get her to not only to fill her little pots but also got her to poke a seed into each! Huzzah! So these little buggers are hers — gardening at the age of 2, isn’t that awesome?

TLE's watermelon seedlings

I will be sure to update this blog as the days progress. Am hoping that I’ll have something more to show for these efforts than just a few pots with dirt in them.