Hello remaining readers!
I am here to report that things are GREAT on the gardening front. Since my last real post on the status of things in my garden, the little pipsqueakers I had growing have flourished into wonderfully thriving plants.
I first transplanted each plant into cottage cheese containers, as I said I would. I did this in three stages, allowing the first round to get settled so I could evaluate the effect, if any, the transplant had on the plants. It seemed only beneficial, so about a week later I transplanted the rest, leaving me with close to twenty cottage cheese containers filled with fledgling little guys:
As they continued to grow, I became more diligent about the hardening off process, and with the assistance of my oh-so-helpful co-resident, worked the plants up to about 4 hours of outside exposure per day. It was interesting how much more thirsty they seemed to be after only a few hours of direct sunlight.
Things were going great, until one hiccup. A few weeks ago, on an especially balmy weekend eve, we had a small gathering. Prior to said gathering, I paused to consider whether the location of my plants (balancing precariously on cutting boards on the back of the futon below our south facing window) was really a safe option for the imminent company. I either got distracted or decided it would be fine, but discovered later this was not a good choice. The inevitable happened, and we had several casualties. Some guys fell behind the futon, one fell into a guests lap. It was a sad affair, and though the soil was swept and vacuumed, and one even survived the trauma, my family of plants lost a few compatriots that night.
After a brief period of mourning, we moved forward, continuing to expose the plants to the outside. As the last frost safely passed approximately a week ago, and the success of the remaining plants was a daily reward, I made another trip to the garden store. This time I purchased $20 worth of goodies, and gave my self a metaphorical pat on the back for resisting the oodles and oodles of other things I wanted.
Never in my life did I think plants would be such a temptation, a plant store such a dangerous destination for my wallet. But there I was, wrestling fellow planters for the happiest looking lettuces, all too pleased with myself for feeling not like a totally clueless city girl, but more confidently like a legitimate amateur.
I left with some more soil, a set of six romaine starts, a nasturtium plant and some mixed greens. I got home and put them promptly outside with the rest of the plants. Not two or three hours later, the lettuces looked droopy and parched, altogether fuming with their idiot new owner who put them in 90 degrees direct sunlight with no water. Silly me.
These all need transplanting and a good deal of attention, and that will be my focus this week! Meanwhile, the rest of the guys were happily soaking in the rays, and looking pretty hardy for an overnight. I began to consider what would be needed to leave them unattended for long stretches.
On an early morning run last week, I came across a pile of junk that some students had left on the side of the street. I extracted the surface of an old ikea desk and happily hauled it home, soon to serve as the surface upon which my plants could live.
Before leaving town for the weekend, my aforementioned assistant took on the valiant task of purchasing and creating a shelter for the plants, to deflect any squirrel like invaders. Ten feet of chicken wire and four wooden rods later, my plants had their very own animal-free fortress:
While away, I spent many a nervous hour imagining the worst. Did the wind knock them over? Did an animal try to jump the fence? Are they too parched? Are they too cold at night? But I walked in the door not an hour ago, and rushed to the backyard, to find they were not only safe and sound, but looking beautiful. A few days of sunshine did them well, and though thirsty, looked quite content at having being left alone. My parental guilt lifted and I sighed a big sigh of relief.With twenty seven plants now in my care, I can see that the work is only going to grow in keeping these guys happy and healthy. New homes are in their future, but can anyone make suggestions about plant food? Our compost pile isn't ready, and for plants this small, i'm worried it's not quite the right thing anyway.
Thanks for following along and staying with me! As always, thoughts, suggestions, and questions are welcome!
p.s. patty griffin, no bad news
