Kate's Queen City Notes

Since I have been off of work for a few days with shingles, I have had plenty of time to obsess over my plants. I could write a whole new post on the shingles experience. I will just say that I have it on my face. It hurts. I’m on LOTS of medication. I’m taking handfuls of drugs per day. It is not pleasant in any way.

As I mentioned in past posts, I am making my first attempt at growing my own veggies. I am growing them from seeds. So, the first hurdle to get over is getting the seeds to germinate. Here’s where I am.

My peas after their transplant outside.

Peas: 11 of 12 seeds planted have germinated. In fact the plants are so large, I had to transplant them out side. They were out growing their little peat pots. The peas are looking good since their transplant.

Tomatoes: 6 of 16 seeds planted have germinated. Unfortunately, my cats ate two of my seedlings. I’m crossing my fingers that more of the seeds germinate.

Peppers: 4 of 16 seeds planted have germinated. I’m not totally certain what I am seeing are peppers and not onions. So, for now these I’m calling these seedlings peppers.

Green Beans: 1 of 12 seeds planted have germinated. I can see disturbance in a few other been pots. I’m pretty sure more will come up shortly.

Unidentified: I have two seedlings that I can’t identify. More on those in future posts.

So, I haven’t seen any onions, cilantro, basil, lettuce, spinach or carrots yet. I’m just excited that I have a few plants. I really have no idea what I’m doing.

One of my tomato seedlings. This one survived the cat attack.

This is my green bean seedling. It's growing so fast.

These are either bell peppers or onions. I dunno yet.

My yard has been left to nature for years. I started a war with the weeds that are attempting to take over the whole yard. I’m not even talking about that low growing green stuff that isn’t really grass. I have full blown tree-like things.

Although they are presenting a problem for me, I have to admit the plants have a pretty good gig. They grow to be many feet high. They shade the surrounding grass causing it’s death. They drop their seeds on the bare ground. Unchecked, they take over your yard.

I hacked lots of them down today, but I have many more to go. I did get a couple of spots cleared out. I planted spinach, lettuce and carrots. The spinach and lettuce is supposed to be a chilly weather plan, so I think they will probably grow. I’m not so sure about the carrots. This will be the first of many experiments.

I’m trying to grow stuff. Up to this point in my life, I have not had a green thumb. I’ve decided to document my abject failures and wild successes with growing my own food in this blog. I’m hoping this will jog my memory next year and enable me to repeat my successes and steer clear of my failures.

On March 9th, I planted green beans, sugar snap peas, asparagus, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, basil, lettuce, carrots and peppers. I got a seed-potting mix and trays of peat moss mini pots. I loaded up the little pots with seed-potting mix and seeds. I watered them. Then I waited.

I have already made my first mistake. I didn’t label the mini-pots with what seeds I placed there. I have three sprouts now, but I’m not sure what they are. They are awfully cute though.