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Ghetto Greenhouse Part II

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IPlastic Bottle promised an update when I transplanted seeds… I’m a bit late since I actually did this almost 3 weeks ago. I did save the pictures though, so I can still run through that bit. My daughter is at school and I didn’t want to be covered in joint compound and drywall dust to go pick her up, so I have almost an hour to write! 🙂

So seed starting next steps…

We drink a lot of bottled water and Gatorade which comes in plastic bottles and yes, I know, it’s terrible for the environment- but, I reuse mine for all sorts of things instead of just tossing them in the trash. Seed starting time for instance, I save bottles for several months and use those for my transplants instead of buying seed starting kits at the store. It saves money and it helps recycle many of those bottles that would otherwise wind up in trash. Clear plastic bottles make excellent seedling starters for several reasons; they are thin enough to cut through with household scissors and don’t require special tools, they hold water well without disintegrating like paper pots or peat pots, they are the ideal size for individual seedlings, are easily transportable if you’d like to give some plants away (which I do every year) and best of all, you can actually SEE the root development on your plants. There’s no questioning whether the root systems are well established and ready to plant, all you have to do is take a look. It’s also fun to be able to show my daughter all parts of the plant so that she she can see how they grow, not just the leaves and stems above ground, but all those essential roots too.

1) I prefer the 20 oz. Gatorade bottles for my transplants, but I use 17 oz. water bottles as well. The Gatorade bottles have a wide mouth, so I take the tops off, cut the bottle just above the label and turn the top upside down inside the the bottom. (Like in the photo) I filled both the top and bottom with soil. I’ve seen some gardeners cut the bottle closer to the middle, put soil only in the top portion with the roots sticking out the mouth and use the bottom to fill with water- makes a sort of self watering planter.
The water bottles I just cut the tops off above the label and only use the bottom 3/4 of the bottle as a container.

teaspoon and straws2) Roots are the single most important thing to the success of seedlings. Mine were a little leggy from starting off with not quite enough light, so I buried them deep,  leaving all that extra stem below the dirt. Tomato plants will just grow roots along the extra stem and give you a better root system. I used the seed starting soil again from Miracle Grow, since it claims to support and help create  healthy roots. I used a tablespoon from the kitchen to lift the seedling’s root ball out of each egg carton cell. You have to be VERY gentle when transplanting seedlings. The stems and leaves are  soft and delicate, not like those already hardened-off, ready to plant greenhouse plants you buy at the nursery. They’ll get there, but right now they need a little extra TLC when moving them about. The spoon helped me lift out the entire root system of each seedling with minimal handling of the stems and leaves. Those seedlings that didn’t have great roots established or were smaller, weaker plants I didn’t transplant. There are SO many plants when you start from seed, you can afford to be selective and choose your strongest and best growers.  I put only one or two seedlings per bottle, depending on how large they’d grown in the egg cartons.

3) As you transplant each seedling, you want to make sure and label them. I’ve used cut up pieces of the egg carton tops in the past, I forgot to save them this year. >.<
I’ve seen quite a few gardeners use Popsicle  or craft sticks, writing on them with a permanent marker. I didn’t have any of those handy; what I did have was a huge bag of bendy straws that had only cost me about $1.48 for the entire bag. I bent the straws, wrote my tags on the bent part and stuck the rest of the straw in the dirt.
Added bonus, the straws acted as little stakes to support the floppy plants until they grew into their new homes.
Tomato SeedlingObviously, you can tell pepper plants from tomato plants by their leaves fairly early on. If you’re planting more than one variety of tomato or pepper though, as was my case, you might have a difficult time discerning which is which until they start to flower or fruit. If you’re giving plants away or want them in a very specific place in the garden, you don’t want to have to play a guessing game, so label everything. Unless you like surprises…

4) Once the seedling is planted in the bottle and labeled, you’ll want to give it a good drink. I use an old Tide liquid laundry soap bottle with a few holes poked in the cap. It works better than the huge water pitcher I use for my house plants, giving enough control to water the seedlings thoroughly without drowning them. If you’re concerned you’ll overwater, poke a couple drainage holes in the bottom of your bottles. Make sure to sit them on trays or in troughs if you do that though! I used the black garden trough that was the bottom of my greenhouse and commandeered a plastic crate from the closet; pepper plants went in one, tomatoes in the other. Segregating them keeps them out of trouble. For some reason, my tomato plants try to wrap themselves around other plants if they’re too close. They’re territorial little buggers.
The reason for the big containers is to make it easy on you when it’s time to start the hardening off process. You’ll be moving your seedlings in and out of doors (unless you have a greenhouse or cold frame) and it’s much easier to carry large tubs than move 30 or more individual plants. Even using trays last year, I had some near deaths when plants decided to base-jump off the trays while I was walking.
The tubs are also real life-savers if you need to move your plants FAST. Mid-Missouri is notorious for strong spring storms from March – May. New seedlings break in strong winds, are crushed in torrential rainfall and torn to bits in hail storms. If you live anywhere near the middle of  the country, you know storms can come on fast and be unpredictable. Being able to move your plants quickly can save you from starting over.

5) I removed the plastic cover over my ghetto greenhouse when I transplanted to bottles. They have plenty of soil around the roots now to hold water, they didn’t need the extra protection of plastic over them. Keeping the cover on will filter your light too, which can make them leggy. Even with the additional light source, my seedlings always seem to be slightly leggy plants. One thing I have found to help remedy this is to have the window open as much as possible so they get a breeze. I also put a fan on them sometimes, it makes them feel pretty when their hair blows in the breeze. Ok, in truth, I do this to make them stand up and grow a backbone- a slight breeze during the hardening off period, strengthens the plant’s stems. You don’t want wimpy plants that lie there and look pitiful when you move them out to the garden.TomsPeppers
Until the hardening off period, I keep the light on them as much as possible and just check the soil with a finger to see if they need water. The clear bottles are handy in that respect as well, you can see if the soil is dry past the surface and how far down. I’ve been adding water about every 4-5 days.

6) Pepper plants like HEAT, so I won’t be moving these little guys into the garden for a few more weeks. I’ve read that pepper plants shouldn’t be transplanted outdoors until the ground temperature has reached around 65 F. This means that it should be staying in at least the 50’s during the night. If transplanted too early in cold soil, it can stunt the pepper plant’s growth, the leaves may turn yellow and the plants look sickly. Tomato plants aren’t as particular, but you shouldn’t put them out until all danger of frost has passed.
This year has been an especially cool spring and most of my landscape plants are off to a slow start. Last year, I had my entire garden in the last couple weeks of April; I’m thinking this year it will be more like the 2nd or 3rd week of May. Even if you do make the mistake of moving your plants out too early and you aren’t great at knitting tiny sweaters, you can heavily mulch and /or cover them during especially cold nights. (Plastic shower curtain liners make great frost covers, need to change yours?)
As long as it doesn’t kill the root, the plant may recover and do well once it gets the heat and sun that it needs.

I’ll write the final bit of this series when I move my transplants outdoors. In the meantime, I’m saving up all my eggshells and coffee grounds. Tomato plants need calcium to avoid blossom drop, a common tomato plant issue (eggshells) and leftover coffee grinds are a great green material for the compost pile.

-B

Life is what happens when you’re making other plans

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And if you found yourself singing John Lennon just now, you may be telling your age like I am. 🙂
So, what the above means for those of you that aren’t Beatles fans, is that I’ve hit a bit of a snag in my long term plan recently. This also means I have to focus on some other projects that are non-yard or garden related for a while. I’ll still try to post all I can and get some of my already planned posts up here, but I’ll probably be spending most of my time wrapping up projects, rather than starting new ones. I’m still working on stuff and getting out in the dirt, just not in my preferred way. Rather than putting 75 trees into the ground this spring, I’ll be cleaning up old messes around the house, doing some construction and remodeling projects- stuff like that. I spent the weekend clearing out the pile of scrap lumber behind our house, rebuilding the little bridge back there and tearing apart our old benches, since the lumber had mostly rotted away.
Today I removed our bathroom sink, took the formica countertop off and started taping and mudding the new drywall in the master bath room. I am a VERY busy Belle right now. The upside to all of this is that I’m going to be in fabulous shape by the end of summer if I keep working like this. The downside is that I may not have as much time to write and dedicate to plant life as I would like. But this too shall pass and as soon as I get the necessary projects squared away, I’ll be back to planting and gardening with a vengeance.
FYI, if you need to remove Formica from a countertop without destroying the countertop, a household clothes iron works absolute WONDERS. I set it on the counter for a bit to warm up the glue and used a metal drywall knife and hammer to lift it right off.
-B

Forsythia

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Forsythia BushThe bright yellow cascades of bell-shaped flowers on my forsythia bush join daffodils, hibiscus and magnolias as one of the early bloomers of spring. I’ve watched people at Lowes buy these plants en masse, wondering to myself if they realize just how large they will grow if left untended.

Forsythia are such a common bush in this part of the Midwest that I’ve seen them growing wild and taking over the entire fronts of abandoned houses. This was one of the first plants I introduced to our barren yard when we bought our house in March of 2001. I worked with a nurse that had a massive bush in her yard and was willing to part with a few of the new sprouts, “Take all you want. PLEASE.” She told me. From three tiny new starts with some good roots, I was rewarded with three good sized bushes in only a few years. Ten years later, the bush receiving the most sun (and possibly the best soil) is now the size of a car. I have absolutely no idea which cultivar of forsythia my yard is sporting; there are about 12 different types, all originating from Asia.

Forsythia are very forgiving and easy to grow, even for the most novice gardener. They do require some pruning to maintain shape; some cut them into hedgerows of squares or rectangles to use as a privacy fence. I always thought this looked rather odd and very unnatural however, I prefer them a bit wild and rambling. Forsythia drop tiny winged seeds in fall, yet in the twelve years I’ve had my three, I’ve yet to see a rogue bush sprout in the woods from seed. They can propagate by cuttings of green wood after they flower; the easiest way to get some (other than potted from a nursery) is to simply dig up some of the side shoots of an adult plant with a bit of root. Forsythia can be encouraged to create rows and spread simply by anchoring limbs to touch earth; roots will sprout from the anchored branch and begin to grow another plant next to the original. They can also be trained to espalier on a wall or trellis. In planting beds, they will need constant pruning to keep the growth habit in check; otherwise they can easily overwhelm the bed in a couple of seasons, growing up to 9 foot wide and 15 foot tall on a single bush.Forsythia Flowers

Forsythia are great plants for borders and slopes, they aren’t particularly selective of soil type, are deer resistant and the branches make gorgeous vases of cut flowers. The tight buds can be brought inside in winter and put in a vase of warm water to force blooms. The recommended care requirements list a minimum of 6 hours full sun, zones 4-9, occasional application of fertilizer and moderate watering. I can vouch for them being fairly drought tolerant; they showed little stress compared to other plants last year during the worst drought I’ve seen since we’ve owned our property. Mine are also planted in rocks and clay, I’ve never personally bothered with fertilizer, just the occasional application of mulch in the fall.

I don’t use my plants for anything other than ornamental purposes, especially since I’m not sure of the particular species. The Chinese use the species Forsythia Suspensa as a fundamental plant in herbology. The fruit is boiled and the essence is extracted for use in treating skin infections and boils, intestinal worms and to control menses. The roots have been used to treat colds, fever and jaundice; essence of the leaves and twigs are said to be useful in treating breast cancer. Laboratory studies have confirmed forsythia to have anti-tumor, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammation properties.

Here in the Ozarks, our forsythia are simply the heralds of spring. I watch them in anticipation of warmer days ahead; as soon as I start to see the tight buds open up a bit, I know spring is just right around the corner. J

Facebook

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I finally broke down and made a Facebook page for Dirt. There are little things I do, take pictures of, etc. that would be relevant to the site, but aren’t really enough for a blog post.
Some things are only worthy of a  Tweet, a Facebook status or mention to the guy at the hardware store. So now I have a place for those too. Also, I’m hoping that posting on Facebook will help inspire me to keep writing and give me more people to talk to about my passion- all things dirt.
You can find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BelleOfDirt

-B

I’m officially “somebody”

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Logged into Pinterest the other day to share my latest post and to my surprise, I had an invitation. It was for a board of Garden Tips with 3700+ followers.
So I guess this means I’ve officially been recognized as someone that reliably plays in dirt on a routine basis and may have posts… or in this case, pins, to share about it. Kind of groovy, I thought.  🙂
Thanks again, to all of you who read this little, slowly growing blog and especially those that have given Dirt shout-outs or shared my posts.
I’d probably write it whether anyone read it or not, but a little encouragement never hurts!
-Belle

Where oh where has my little spring gone…

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Spring FAIL

Spring FAIL

I posted this picture on Facebook this morning.

It seems that a certain groundhog had all that business about an EARLY spring WAY off the mark. It’s the end of March here and we just had another 4-6 inches of snow fall on us yesterday. I’ll admit- I’m brooding a bit. I’m usually out and busy in the yard by now; moving plants around, prepping planting beds, cleaning up fall’s debris. Spring seems to have missed that right turn at Albuquerque and maybe has become lost somewhere in west Texas. There were fabulous buds all over my magnolia trees, which I’m not sure will go ahead as planned now. Sigh…

Yes, I’m impatient and I want to get my hands in the dirt, but these late snows may not be such a bad thing. For instance, all those little trees I planted last year- suffered through one of the worst droughts the Midwest has seen in 30 years. A lot of crops failed and left fields bare and exposed to erosion. Drought, especially in soils like clay (which is what I have here) or in areas of high erosion, can leach a lot of nutrients, like nitrogen, from the soil. Plants use nitrogen by absorbing it through their roots and converting it to proteins; a plant in nitrogen deficient soil will often show yellowing of mature leaves. Drought conditions affect plant health and yields in large farms, which also changes the amount of nitrogen removed from the soil and the cover left on a field following harvest. On highly erodible land, farms must leave a certain amount of crop residue to conserve the nutrients in the soil. Tilling the soil can expose the nutrients and good bacteria underneath to the air, light and wind- causing these valuable nutrients to be stripped away. Cover crops and no-till practices can help preserve nutrients, but in a severe drought, it’s much harder for farms in high erosion areas to maintain soil health.
Snow is a great mulch and fertilizer.
I’ve heard several farmers mention this on the local news when asked about the early spring snows and wondered why, so of course I did what I do best… a little research. Snow provides a layer of insulation when temperatures are rapidly fluctuating between freeze and thaw; it keeps the soil temperature a bit more constant. Constantly expanding and contracting soil can be hard on little roots and bulbs close to the surface, which is why gardeners preach the benefits of a layer of mulch. A thick layer of snow acts much like several inches of mulch on the ground.

Field Cover Crop

I’d kill for soil like this!!!

In the past several years, I’ve watched my plants bloom or put out leaf buds early, only to be murdered by one of those vicious, sneaky, late frosts. One year, my magnolias were in full bloom and froze hard. They were still young trees and I feared they had put forth so much energy to bloom that they would be exhausted and unable to recover from the frost. They struggled a bit, but made it through. Snow cover in the early parts of spring, when the danger of a frost is still likely but the days can be very warm, can be a real bud and bloom saver. This is why master gardeners preach mulch, mulch, MULCH! Snow is natural cover, just like mulch. It keeps the ground temperature down, so trees and flowers remain dormant longer and don’t start showing off too early in the season to avoid a killer frost.
Snow (and rain too), pick up nitrogen compounds from the air. Snow especially; since the water is absorbed more slowly into the earth, deposits nitrogen into the soil that is then utilized by plants in nitrogen fixation. Even if the soil is frozen, when it thaws, it will absorb the nitrogen. Nitrogen is what gives a lawn its deep, green color. Farmers have called snow the poor man’s fertilizer, since good snows over their fields improve soil conditions naturally. After this snow finally melts away, we may be rewarded with a spring of especially rich greens and prolific blooms. In the meantime I have my houseplants and tomato and pepper seedlings, which are in need of transplant this week. They’ll be graduating from those egg cartons to plastic drinking water bottles I’ve been saving. Fingers crossed- they’re predicting a warm up to the 60’s next week! Maybe after the yard dries a bit I’ll be able to relieve this cabin fever and start prepping those beds.
Right now, outside my window, it’s snowing. Again.
-B

Victory Gardens and Daylight Savings

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GrowVitaminsFrontDoorI have spring fever and I’m procrastinating working on my books today- plus I’ve still got some “Spring Forward” lag. I’ve actually heard a rumor that Missouri is considering doing away with the observance of daylight savings time. I wondered why exactly did we begin observing DST? So, I did some reading. Turns out, I couldn’t find an absolutely definitive answer, but many references cited World War I and II. In order to reduce the use of fuel used for artificial lighting, people began turning the clocks back in fall.
I read that half of Indiana observes DST and half the state doesn’t. Yeesh, how annoying would that be if you lived on the dividing line?4.2.7
What interested me amidst the DST debate was the mention of Victory Gardens. Apparently, in World War II, citizens were encouraged to grow vegetable, fruit and herb gardens to reduce pressure on the public food supply. People dug up their yards and even spaces in public parks to contribute to the production of food in the US, United Kingdom and Canada. Victory gardens could be found in backyards, on rooftops in the cities; many vacant lots were borrowed to use as cornfields. Lawn areas in Hyde Park, London; around Riverside in New York City and Golden Gate in San Francisco were all plowed and planted to publicize the victory garden movement.

During World War II, many farmers were drafted into the military and especially in Europe; farms were destroyed as the war moved through those areas. In 1917, the U.S. formed the National War Garden Commission overseeing the Victory Gardens campaign. Over five million gardens were planted, producing more than $1.2 billion in homegrown food by the end of the war. 20 million Americans tended Victory Gardens; they accounted for almost half the produce being consumed in the U.S. during World War II.
Even Eleanor Roosevelt participated in the effort, planting a Victory Garden on the White House grounds. Posters and public service booklets proclaimed “Our food is fighting!” All that produce helped lower the price of vegetables needed by the U.S. War Department; the money saved could be spent in other areas of the military.
One of the reasons for implementing daylight savings time was supposedly to aid in the tending of the Victory Gardens. With many of the men at war and women stepping in to temporarily fill jobs left behind, many women were at work during daylight hours. Extending the amount of evening daylight available, gave them an extra hour after work to tend their gardens.
SowSeedsOfVictoryThere are a few examples of Victory Gardens left in in the United States; Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston, Massachusetts (now mostly planted with flowers) and Dowling Community Garden in Minneapolis (Still veggies!) have remained active since WWII.

In recent years, the idea of the Victory Garden has resurfaced somewhat; a few have been replanted in public spaces, a websites and blogs such as http://www.modernvictorygarden.com/ promote their own Victory Gardens and encourage others to join in planting their own. In March of 2009, a garden was again planted on the White House Lawn, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s, to raise healthy food awareness. Many health conscious families are starting gardens for the first time, in an attempt to cut back on the hormones, pesticides and chemicals present in processed and even fresh commercial fruits and vegetables.

Now there’s one more great reason to garden… I’m doing my patriotic duty! 😉
(As if I EVER need an excuse to play in dirt.)
-B

Ghetto Greenhouse

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004I learned a few things last year when I started peppers and tomato plants from seed, so I decided this year to improve on my experience. I started my plantings this year with an actual seed starting formula instead of just generic potting soil. Even though, I almost always buy Miracle Gro, this particular blend is supposed to help with good root development- which if you read my previous article, this is one of THE most important aspects of successful tomato plants: excellent root growth. It was a few more $ than the regular potting mix, but one small bag was more than enough for starting all my seedlings.

001Last year, I started  seeds in gallon milk jugs that I’d cut the tops from. I dumped all the seeds in together into the jug and set the top back on the bottom half to make mini-greenhouses. This seemed a great idea at the time, I found out that when the seedlings outgrew their milk jug homes and needed to be moved to individual containers, it was very difficult if not impossible to separate their roots without destroying some of them. This year, I opted for saving egg cartons. I tried to keep it to no more than 1 or 2 seeds per cell. I did run out of cartons and had to put a few in a lid and a few more in a halved milk jug. I tried to keep them further apart than I had the previous year though. If the individual cells work well, I’ll be sure to use all egg cartons with cells next year.
The egg cartons are sitting in a big, black plastic garden tub I picked up at Lowes for only $8. I figured it would be much nicer to move about than several different trays- I used cookie sheets to hold all my bottles and containers last year, which worked ok, but it was kind of a pain in the butt moving multiple sheets in and out when it came time to harden off the seedlings. This tub contains everything nicely, it’s waterproof, easy clean up and it’s black, so it will help absorb heat.

002We were having trouble getting those tiny little tomato and pepper seeds to stay put where we wanted them, so my daughter helped me make seed tapes. Some very tiny seeds will come from the seed companies already in paper tapes. Seed starting kits from the store often come with miniature pots made of peat and a thin, biodegradable net to keep them from falling apart until the roots create a network to hold the pete in place when removed. I cut small squares of paper towel, and sprayed them with a couple squirts from a spray bottle while she held it in her hand. We then set the seed on the wet towel, which stuck very nicely. I was able to move a bit of soil from and egg cell, put the paper down with the seed and have it stay in place while covering it back up with soil. The paper towel degrades naturally and doesn’t stop the roots from growing, just like the net-wrapped pete cells. The pete cells are convenient, but can be costly for a large set up. This method only costs you about 1 paper towel per 20 or so seeds. 🙂

003Once all our seeds were planted I used a tea spoon to lightly firm the soil over the seeds. You don’t need to really pack them down, you want the soil to stay a bit light for those tiny, tender little roots to take hold. Watering will help to further settle the soil around the seeds and help them to start germination. A fancy tool isn’t necessary for planting seeds, this old teaspoon and fingers worked well.

007After all the seeds are covered in soil, you’ll need to give them a good drink. I’ve found that pouring water displaces too much soil when you’re dealing with small seeds and shallow cells. I use a spray bottle filled with water, the same one I keep for training cats, cleaning houseplant leaves, etc. It cost me $2 at the grocery store. I’ll continue using this to water while the seedling are in these tiny cells. Over watering could cause mildew to develop or rot the roots.

006Tomato seedlings are pretty distinctive and it isn’t difficult to differentiate between tomato and pepper plants once they get a few leaves on them. However, I planted two different types of tomatoes and two different types of peppers. If it’s important to you that you can tell what you’ve planted where later, make sure to label everything. Otherwise, you’ll be playing roulette with your seedlings when you put them out in the garden, since they won’t have identifiable fruit when they’re transplanted. I used toothpicks wrapped in cloth tape and wrote on them with a permanent laundry marker. I’ve seen people use old silverware, which looks elegant in the garden itself, Popsicle sticks, plastic cutlery- last year I cut triangles from my left over egg carton lids and wrote on those. It’s not important WHAT you use. Just make sure it’s A) Waterproof and B) Won’t degrade before your plants are ready to be moved outdoors.

009In case you forget when your plants are supposed to germinate, would like to remember the specific water, spacing or sun requirements or just want to know the  plant name so you can choose the same for next year (or brag about the particular type of heirloom you planted and grew with great success)- you’ll want to keep your seed packets or write it down somewhere. If you order your seeds online and created an account with the seller, they’ll probably have your order on file and you can refer back to it that way. Personally, I find it easiest to just hang on to the seed packets themselves. I put them in a Zip-loc baggie to keep them from getting dirty or wet and tucked them into my plastic tray right next to the seedlings. Easy reference, close at hand. Stick them in a file to reorder next year after moving your plants to the garden.

008

I put my finished seed tray in front of our big bay window, which gets all but the late afternoon sun. It’s sitting on top of my daughter’s wagon, so it moves around nicely. That’s a leftover bit of drywall board underneath it for stability. I use what I have and re-purpose what I can. I see lots of fancy shelving systems with installed grow lights and such. Get them if you feel they make your life easier, your growing space look more attractive, or whatever the reason- but know that they are absolutely NOT necessary to successfully grow plants, regardless of what the salespeople or online ads tell you. The black plastic tub with help absorb and retain warmth on the seedlings, since I don’t use seed warming mats either. I put a bit of clear plastic over the tray that was leftover drop cloth from a painting project; it helps to retain warmth and moisture while the seeds germinate. They don’t really need a grow light until they actually break through the soil.

ghettogreenhouseThis photo I took today, it’s about 3 1/2 weeks from our initial plant date. You can see that I have some pretty decent sized seedlings already. The tomato plants all came up first, the peppers took about a week longer. I did notice after a week of good growth that the tomato plants were getting a bit leggy (long, thin stems from not enough light); I had this lamp in our bedroom that is adjustable, Tom picked me up a plant light bulb during a trip to Lowes to get a snow blower. The bulb was $7 plus change, but made a HUGE difference in the amount of light my seedlings were getting. I also cut up a box into three parts and covered the insides with tinfoil to act as light reflector screens. After a week, the tomato plants are already thickening up and less leggy and the peppers have all come up as well. I kept the plastic and draped it over the top- my ghetto greenhouse. Drop cloth plastic, foil, diaper box, plastic tub and some egg cartons. It’s working beautifully and I spent next to nothing on it.

LeavesTomatoes are ready for transplant when they have two sets of true leaves. These guys are already very close; I’ll probably be moving them into bottles in a week or so. My husband drinks a lot of bottled water and I drink a lot of Gatorade when I work out, so I’ve stockpiled the leftover bottles in our utility room. These were great planters last year. They let in light, they’re easy to remove when it’s time to plant and since they’re clear- I can see the root development on the plants and whether they actually need water or not.  I’ll post updates when the seedlings are ready for transplant.

-B

VD

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image

NO…I don’t need to see a doctor. That was in reference to a certain holiday.  I know it’s considered obnoxious by some to post pictures of Valentine’s flowers – but this isn’t accompanied by sappy gushing about how sweet, wonderful and amazingly considerate my husband is. Yes, he brought me these stunning purple ombre orchids on Valentine’s Day. I also told him about all the stunning purple orchids I had seen… at Gerbes… which he had to drive right by on his way back from the doctor’s office… and purple orchids would be a GREAT Valentine’s Day gift…
I probably could have held up a sign with a picture of them and been less subtle, but why press it? He took the hint. 🙂
I just wanted to share a picture of them, since plants ARE a big part of this site and they ARE really gorgeous. And to think I used to avoid these beauties because I was convinced they are hard to grow. African violets are hard to grow. These are easier than cactus, give me spectacular blooms several times a year and look so freaking cool! Even the way the roots climb out of the pot is neat. They look as if they’ll just climb out, scamper across the desk and go for a stroll.
And now you know why I have more plants than people around me.
-B