Friday, February 25, 2011

Seed by seed

flower bouquet
Last season here at Arugula Too, I planted my tomato seeds by early December. This season, well, this year has been quite different. Know I have been busy wandering all over the internet looking at blogs, collecting links about it, thinking about planting the tomato seeds, mulling about it over the coffee cup. Anything but the dirty deed. Funny, I have been reading Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott, a marvelous memoir about writing and life. To be a writer, reminds Lamott, requires a person to actually sit the body down and write at some point. An analogy she uses, hence the title of her book, was that you do it bird by bird. One very bright lightbulb turned on in a dimly lit brain: writing and gardening, oh the similarities! While I have been quite the fanatic about weeding out my nemesis, the false garlic, I was reminded of how far I have fallen off the wagon when it comes to starting the tomato seeds.

Here's the plan, defined in baby steps because baby steps is the best way for me to get going.
Step one: pull out the tomato seeds I plan to use. Step two: find the soil and the yogurt cups with holes in the bottom and the container to hold the yogurt cups. Step three: soil goes in cups. Step four: wet the soil over night. Step five: plant the seeds and water.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Sugar snap peas emerging, finally

I haven't had much luck with sugar snap peas. Here's the rundown.  Yup, I use new unexpired seed lots. Brand new seeds. From Renees. Yup, I soak the peas overnight until they get all bloaty looking and suck up all the water. Yup, I till the soil, adding fresh compost and veggie fertilizer. Yet, I find very few peas coming up each time.

This time, I went with a different angle. Look below.
temp covers for garden shoots
I found these food tents absurdly cheap at Big Lots!  I thought they would be a great temporary cover for new shoots, especially since I grow my crops in little spaces in between things.

And guess what? Shoots I have!
sugar snap pea emerging
The shoots are still there a week later!
sugar snap peas
Because I share a garden with not just zillions of slugs but with birds who watch me from a distance and they know who they are, I have a strong suspicion the birds may harbor gourmet tastes, namely for pea shoots.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Life on the edge: the first daffodil

daffodil first
Family Amaryllidacea, Narcissus sp.

My first daffodil emerges at the very edge of my plot, next to the central path of the community gardens, and so, not surprisingly, it gets a bit battered. Still, I admire it's verve and sunniness, raring to go despite the occasional trampling. Life on the edge means more sun, lots of good stuff such as attention and admiration, though with the chance of a bashing by the elements. Surely a good life lesson from the daffodil this morning, especially for me as I tend to gravitate away from the edges.
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