Gardening week 3

On March 30th I planted Morning Glories along with several other flowers in starters. After about a week they were all starting to pop up and I started to take them outside to get some sun. after a few more days and on April 8th (Give or take) I planted all my flowers in their own little spot in my long planter boxes alongside our porch. Because I know the morning Glories are vine flowers I also stapled wiring to the side of the porch and planted the Morning Glories closest to the porch as to allow them to climb upwards.

The only downside to the planter boxes are my cats. Apparently the little critters decided that planter boxes and littler boxes were the same thing and it has been an on and off battle to keep them away. They have decreased my flowers by a few, but there are plenty there! They started growing faster as of April 20th. It's like they are all having little growths spurts.

they aren't the only plant doing well. The Radishes, which I had planted on April 6th, are looking beautiful. At this stage what I should do is thin them out. Part of me just wants to let them keep growing and see what happens.

I just transplanted my tomatoes. They got big enough that it was time to upgrade containers. I think the transplant was good but we shall see. Apparently some plants endure a shock from the transplant and not recover... resulting in a dead plant and a sad face for any new grower. I know I'll be a little sad if I kill all my plants, but that's why I had a good dozen seeds of everything started so that it would be harder to kill everything. Something should live!

These are my little Tomatoes freshly replanted. I might transplant them one more time. For now I have to take a trip and will be gone for about ten days so this will just have to do. For now. But they are growing and I am so happy about it!

Little Secret... I don't eat Tomatoes. :D But it would be great to make something for my family with them. I think that is going to be the best thing about growing veggies being able to cook something from what was grown.

Okay, I hope everything does well since I am off for ten days, thankfully I have family gong to run over to my house to water them and feed my cat. Here's to the trip and looking forward to seeing what they look like when I come home.

--Brenda

First veggies

I planted my Radishes and Tomatoes on April 6th. I am super happy about that. I personally don’t like them but it’s for my husband. My first veggies, here we go.

For the Tomatoes I used a pre-prepared package we picked up from wal-mart for a couple of dollars, so if it doesn’t work I’m blaming them. :) It’s pretty simple. You just follow the direction on the package. Pour 3/4 lukewarm water into a container and place the compacted soil mixture in the water and let absorb. Once it is absorbed loose the soil with a fork, or in my case a stick because I didn’t want to use something I would be eating with.

Then place 3/4ths of the soil into the small container they give you followed by about ten seeds and the rest of the soil on top. I placed the rest of the seeds in a ziplock for later. You can toss ‘em or do the same. Whichever you prefer.

Afterwards you are going to place in the sun and rotate a quarter turn every so often throughout the day so it gets equal sun all the way around. When sprouts start to appear you need to thin out and place in the ground or planters like me. Don’t crowd them together. Depending on the size of the area you will do only a couple a planter. I haven’t gotten that far yet, but I look forward to it.

Do not over water. Check the soil each day. When you put your finger in about a centimeter the soil should be moist, if dry add more water. Also, when you transplant you could add a little fertilizer to its new location to help it out.

Happy growing!

-Bee

Beginner Gardner meets a Pro

Call it what you will, luck or a gift from above, but days after I started my flower seedlings I decided that I wanted to go to Lowes and look for some more flowers along with ideas for the future and I met the nicest lady. She was an older woman in her 60s (who has been ding this for 40 plus years) and she took me around Lowes feeding me so much information I thought my head was going to explode. Lucky for me my head stayed exactly where it was and I walked away with so much more knowledge then I had half an hour before and on top of that a new friend.

The woman kindly gave me her number and offered me cuttings she had of several different plants. I thanked her and two days later, after making four planter boxes filled with fertilizer and top soil I called her and scheduled a day to go and see her. We talked for an hour over the phone like we were best friends. It was refreshing.

Quote: “Gardeners help each other out.”

Going over to her house was amazing. There were so many hidden surprises all across the yard and it wasn’t a large yard it was just tightly packed. I mean, she used anything and everything to put plants in. From wheel burrows to a swimming pool, and a dead tree to a satellite dish! It was pretty impressive and inspiring for any Gardener in the making but a little intimidating. I could see where it could get out of hand or take over someone’s life. So once we left I did have to do a little soul searching, which I am still in the process of. How much of my life do I want to dedicate to being a gardener alongside all of the other works? What should I do so that I don’t get overwhelmed? These issues are things everyone has to deal with and that’s where I am.

But getting back to her house! Ivies, roses, some trees, wildflowers, lilies, Aloe plants and a cousin plant I can’t remember, along with so many more. My head was sky high and dizzy. Thankfully my husband was with me writing down a lot of names to these plants so that I could look them up later, which I have started since I finished planting them all.

When we left there Monday, April 4th, I knew I would have a lot of work ahead of me and I would be extremely sore. And I was right. With over two dozen rose cuttings, a dozen trumpet flower cuttings, endless amount of ivies (4 different kinds), a Cannon Flower, Four O’Clocks, Purple Jews, four mystery plants (forgot what she called them), and a few other plants I have been very VERY busy. And I am Really sore. :D But super happy about what I have done.

I have also planted all of the Morning Glories against my porch because the seedlings had grown to almost 4 inches in height. When they started to come up I opened the container they were in and placed them in the shade, bringing them in at night. I did this until the sprouts were nearly four inches and then I planted them in a row about three to four inches apart. I wasn’t sure about the spacing, but this is a trial run.

Quote from my husband: “Gardening (as with life) is all about making mistakes and finding out what works best for you.”

So after two long days I got everything planted in pots and planter boxes since we are surrounded by clay. I am a little nervous but very excited. For the next several days I will be doing research about each of the plants and try to learn as much as I can about the proper way to care for them. Every plant is different. Some like full sunlight or partial sunlight, a lot of water or just enough to moisten the soil. So much to learn. . .

But I’m very happy to have met my new found Gardening friend and hope that something grows. After all of our (mum, husband, and I) hard work it would be sad to not have anything survive. So here’s to my first month of growing (raises a can of Root beer). Cheers.

I will post more about the amazing array of plants I was given in a different post.

-Bee (I am feeling very blessed)