The sun is out, but so is the wind

I was hopeful that I could put the greenhouse tray outside for a bit today. The rain has stopped, the sun has come to shine, but the winds are ferocious out there, especially for new plants! I've kept them in the attic again but cracked the window up there so that as the temperatures rise again tomorrow they won't become too warm.

When I first saw that poor basil plant at the beginning of the week I was embarrassed to post him, but I'm happy to share with you his progress for today. :-)

The IKEA plants that are hanging out in the dining room windowsill are still going strong. I'm surprised that the cats (knock on wood) haven't been bothering them. The chives are growing nice and tall as the basil keeps pushing new growth sprouts through the soil.

Last weekend while we were driving around picking up trees and such for Hillsdale, we picked up these organic red storage onions. They've been hanging out on the porch since I returned from the weekend and seem to be doing well. Maybe we can plant them in plot #10 this weekend!

French Raddish


Sunflower about to "lose its hat"


Sunflowers


Cucumber- There are others in this row that are pushing through the soil!


Onions

over due update!

It's been a busy week for me and I haven't had an opportunity to update the blog.
Before going away for the weekend I put the plants upstairs in the attic. I was amazed with this idea since I was sure that it was going to keep them protected from the cats and give them some much needed warmth.
Well... that was great, however we had a few warm days while I was away and that caused a very sad looking basil plant when I checked on them on Monday. I really felt bad. I gave the basil some water but wasn't sure I was going to save the little guy. Below left is the picture from Monday. Below right is the picture from Tuesday. I am hoping that with a little more care he'll make a full recovery for us.



The rest of this post is simply a photo update of the green house.
I'm happy to report that all of the seed rows have showed growth with the exception of lavender, rosemary, and peppers. I'm still holding my breath that they just take a longer time to germinate and will surprise me one day.


squash

sunflowers (must be supported... my method, bendy straws!)
the greenhouse. (click on the picture on the left to see what's planted in each row.)

The weather has been really gross here this week. I'm freezing as I sit here and type this. The weather looks like it's going to make a turn for the better starting tomorrow. I've left the greenhouse up in the attic, but think I'll bring it down for the weekend. I have removed the plastic cover from the greenhouse so that when it becomes warmer upstairs it won't bake the plants that are growing.

I want to see new plants emerge!!

Where are the other plants that haven't popped up yet to show their cute little stems and leaves?
I'm left to give an update on the same 4 kinds that are in the greenhouse; sunflowers, French radish, tomatoes, and the squash.

I brought them into the house last night and thought that a towel over the greenhouse would keep the cats out of them, however before going to bed, I could tell that was not good enough protection for the little green guys.

I set the greenhouse along with the basil and patchouli plant out in the hallway for the overnight hours so that they would be safe from playful, hungry(?) cats.

I snapped a few shots this morning.
Squash, Tomato, Radish, and then Sunflower






I hope there's more to report on when I return from a weekend in the country.
And keep your fingers crossed that the plants don't become victims to the cats!!

Wednesday April 21st post 2

Update pictures on those not growing in the greenhouse.

I decided this morning that I'm not going to make it as a city gardener. (Can I call myself a gardener at this point? Probably not until there's great success and real vegetables to harvest and eat later in the summer) Anyway, I decided that I need space and a place where I can go to the garden with cup of coffee in hand still in my pajamas. That's how I felt this morning. It was a lovely sunny and 65 degrees start to the day around 10:00.

I made an executive decision and replanted the patchouli plant that I bought at Seven Arrows last weekend. The roots were coming through the little container it was in. While in my pajamas I went to the backyard and got a little bit of dirt that I could add to the yogurt container and the patchouli guy. I hope that he is happy with his new bigger home.

Both the patchouli and the basil plants are sitting on the table on the porch. I'll bring them in tonight along with the greenhouse, but they may be all sleeping in the hallway so that the cats don't have another night of hide n seek.

The chives and basil from IKEA are still doing well in the windowsill in the dining room. I gave them some water this morning.

Wednesday April 21st - post 1

The weather has been much better these past few days. Considering the sunflower was getting too tall for the greenhouse, I had to come up with a way to keep the plants protected and yet give them more room. Yesterday morning I tried several different propping methods, before finding the perfect solution...pardon the bad pun you are about to read... a fork-lift!

I then placed the greenhouse on the porch for the day to soak up some real weather. I think that the plants really enjoyed the fresh air and were still protected.

Last night I was going to let the greenhouse sleep outside, but Tera said that I'd better bring it in since it was probably a little bit cold for them. I brought them inside and left them on the table. Who knows what happened in the hours that were to follow!

When i got up this morning I found that the cats (and yes I blame both of them by the suspicious faces they've been giving each other since) had gotten into bother the tray. I did not think that I had to lower the fork-lift in order to keep them out. As it turns out, they got a hold of another one of the sunflower plants, and managed to remove a couple of the tomato peat pods. One of them was found on it's side still in the greenhouse. One was just outside of the greenhouse, resting on its side on the table. The other one.... STILL MISSING. I can't find it. There's not even a dirt trail. BUT, it's definitely gone!

I'm pretty sure they've made a pact to NOT tell me where I can find the missing tomato!


Sunflower growth


another French Radish emerging


progress from the Prolific Straight neck Squash

I've put the greenhouse back on the porch for another lovely spring day of weather. I'm on constant cat watch too trying to find that other tomato and to be sure they don't get any others. I don't think that they'd be able to pull off another stunt in broad daylight!

Tomatoes!

We have tomatoes!

Pictured (left) 10:00 this morning and (right) 9:00 this evening -- Super Sweet Tomato

Another Super Sweet tomato plant. This morning and this evening.

These 3 rows are the tomatoes. There is a little guy starting to pop up on the left row. Those are the Big Mama's. The middle row has a little action in it too. Those will become the Early Girl Hybrid. The row on the right are the Super Sweets. So... the Early Girl isn't so early compared to the Super Sweets, huh?

It's been about 3 days of me using my little desk lamp as a pseudo grow light to help these seeds to their germination business. It's been beneficial, but I want to see more growth!!

BRRRRR! Where's Spring?

plot #10. I remembered the sharpie markers today! Kelly put her marking on the hoe and I added "ifer" to my name!

Sad moment first. During the night, one of the cats, I'm not sure if it was Tuulikki or Belmondo, had the leaf of my little sunflower plant for a late night snack. Yes that's right... leaves are gone. Now it's just a stem sticking out of the dirt there. Tera has suggested an electric fence around the professional greenhouse until we are able to plant those things in plot #10. I laughed and told her that was probably an unrealistic solution. The roots peaking out of the side of the dirt are cute.

Considering it was such a gray, cold spring day, I wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. But I'm glad that I got out of the house! I'll mention that I ate at Garden Grille, since it's got garden in the name! I had the pizza special and it was excellent! :-)

After lunch Kelly and I went out to Seven Arrows to find some herbs for the community herb garden that Kelly is working on. brrr, that's where it was cold and damp! But what a cool place. We walked through the greenhouses and found some herbs that will be good. Most of them could be planted today, but Kelly waited on a few since it's so cold out there.

Upon the request of Tera, I picked up a patchouli plant and a genovese basil. The plants look good but I'm going to wait a few more weeks before putting them in plot 10 so that they won't be too cold. Suppose that I'll be guarding them from those hungry cats!

I picked up two packets of seeds as well. I won't be starting these inside. I'm just going to wait for the weather to be a bit warmer and then they'll get planted directly in the ground. I'm most excited for the tomatillo seeds, hoping that we are able to make some salsa verde! Tera may have a hard time deciding what she's most excited about because she loves swiss chard.

Kelly and I went to the Community Garden after the trip to Seven Arrows. Wouldn't have thought I needed a hooded sweatshirt and a fleece hat on April 17th, but I did! I spent my time getting the compost mixed in at plot #10. I'm pretty proud of how it looks at the moment. It's nice and soft looking. I picked through the soil as I was mixing trying to take out the big sticks and shells. The sticks went to the compost pile and the shells and rocks were kept near the plot to be used to border around things in the plot as needed. I took my garden bag & tools over to the garden, even though I knew that I wouldn't really be needed anything besides the gloves!

Plot #10 all mixed up.

Garden tools... big and small!

Standing at the edge of Kelly's double plot looking towards #10.

The picture isn't great, but we believe this is a tomato plant.

Back at home. The IKEA pots.