3 + 3

There is something magically intoxicating about the smell of fresh dirt.  Perhaps this is why I enjoy Spring so much.  The world comes alive with amazing sounds and smells.  I could sit outside and listen to the wind blow through the leaves for hours.   I cannot wait for Spring so that I can plant my garden outdoors!

It has become somewhat habitual for me to take a peek at my growing vegetables.  I looked at them again last night before going to bed and saw that they had grown some more.  Today I ventured over to my "sunspot" as I like to call it, to see how my plants were doing.  My first sprouts, the pea and cherry tomato plants, have grown more and today I had three new sprouts work their way out of the soil.  

The first new sprouts I spotted were for my regular tomatoes; two have grown.  I also found a little sprout out of one of my broccoli pots (I have been told they are the hardest thing to grow). I am not sure, but I think I may have some bell pepper plants growing.  The reason I am unsure is because there is a little stick looking thing coming out of two of my pots, but since it is not green I don't know if it is a sprout or just something stuck in the soil. This is a mystery I hope to solve with research.  I know you are just dying to know if I called Fiancé to give him a play-by-play on my plant growth!  The answer: yes I did! That man must love me to put up with my childish glee over growing plants.

As mentioned before I planted a four by four pot with seeds-one for each pod contained within the pot- with a total number of seeds equaling twenty.  Each four by four pot contains only one type of seed.  The only pot that is not growing anything (or so I think) is the bell peppers.  Will the other pods grow anything, and if they don't can I replant in those pods?  Why do I have to prop the lid of my seed house up after my seeds started to sprout?

 I have so many questions!  Did I mention that I was a novice gardener?  I hope that with time all of my plants will grow.  I will be potting some more plants on Friday.  I hope to stager the plants so they all don’t have to be harvested at one time.  I also wish to pot some new vegetables, but I will need a new seed house for that.  Maybe I will send Fiancé on a mission.  So it seems that so far my adventure in plant growing has fared well.  Let's hope I don't mess it up.

-Novice Gardener

Today's Confession: Last year I was handed a tree for arbor day from the college I attended.  I took it home with me and was excited to plant it.  I sat outside with it in the sun (I had to watch it so the dog wouldn't eat it) I watered it, and kept its roots wet wrapped in a paper towel until I could plant it in soil.  I put it in a pot and followed the written directions as best as a novice gardener could.  Sadly that tree grew a few leaves and then died.  I don't know what happened, but I hope it doesn't happen with these plants. 

New growth!  These little guys are my "regular" tomatoes.  They popped up overnight.

This is also new growth in the form of broccoli.  It also popped up overnight and if it grows anything like my tomatoes it will be a big plant in no time!

This is a picture of my pea plant that sprouted yesterday. Look at how much it has grown!

These are the crazy plants that the rest of my vegetables are trying to keep up with.  These cherry tomatoes sprouted yesterday (see previous post) and look at how much they have grown! You can also see my little broccoli sprout in the background. 

Much to my surprise!

My soon to be in-laws live way out in the boonies in Missouri.  For two years now I have lived with them, and for two years now we have talked about putting a garden in somewhere; we never did.  This year when the topic was discussed I took it upon myself to inform everyone that we WERE putting a garden in this year.  FFIL (Future Father-in-Law) and I share a common liking of plants and all things nature.  FMIL (Future Mother-in-Law) and Fiancé think we are crazy, but we don’t care!  So it was discussed and a plan was put into action.  Fiancé picked up a few seeds on his way home from work (which just happens to be at the local supermarket).  He picked out lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers.  (Anyone craving a salad?)   I instructed him to pick up organic seeds because I want my seeds to be the way God intended them to be-pesticide free. 

I went to the supermarket a few days later and went into an organic seed coma.  I couldn’t pick out the seeds I wanted!  The choices are by no means endless, but the store had a nice variety to keep my busy for awhile.  I picked up seed packets of peas, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, onion, yellow squash, and bell peppers.  I also bought organic starting soil, some jiffy seed starter pots, a nice pair of gardening gloves, and a few packs of marigolds.  I took my plunder home to share with everyone. 

Since some seeds take longer than others to grow I started a few plants in my jiffy seed starter pots.  I filled the pots with my organic soil, gently placed one seed per pot, topped it off with soil, and gave it a hardy dose of water.  I planted peas, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli.  Fiancé helped; he knows once I get my mind set to do something there is no turning back, so he better join in.  I wished my plants well, covered them, and placed them in a warm place without direct sunlight.  That was Friday, February 18^th.  Today, the 22 I decided that my small seeds would need some more water.  I took the top off and to my surprise I had sprouts! Sprouts! They were not supposed to germinate until 7-12 days after planting so I was not expecting to see anything.  But sure enough there was a little pea plant shooting up.  Upon closer inspection I found that two of my cherry tomato plants had sprouts as well.  I was so overjoyed that I called FMIL, FFIL, and Fiancé to tell them the great news.  Needless to say that they were not as excited as I was, they just thought I was silly.  But as a novice gardener I was excited!  I grew something!  I hope my other plants grow and soon I will be starting others.  Wish me luck!

-Novice Gardener

Today's confession: I have never grown anything from a seed before. 

This is my seed house.

The first plant I noticed.  It's a pea plant!

My little tomatoes!  This picture is a little blurry so its hard to see, but trust me they are there.