Seedlings smushed :(

Cavan watering the seedlings
with her spray bottle.
She's such a good helper!

Limp and matted to the soil were how I discovered my  seedlings a couple mornings ago. Not all of them, but the tray that was three weeks old and doing so well. The tray that had successful germination in nearly each of the 36 soil pots. The tray that was growing all my favorite veggies (bibb lettuce, broccoli, spinach, and carrots). The tray that I really cared about. And to make matters worse, I think I am the cause.

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, albeit a bit breezy. About 60 degrees and sunny. What a treat for my baby seedlings, and outdoors they went. But perhaps they got a little too much fresh air because they all looked weak and floppy when I brought them in.

I hoped a little water would wake them up, but no such luck. I waited several days to see some rejuvenation, but this morning I plucked out my perished plants and reseeded the pots. Let's try this again. Apparently I must read up on "hardening off" my plants before attempting another outside adventure.

But wait! These were all plants that I was supposed to sow directly in the garden (but couldn't because my veggie beds aren't ready). How the heck would they survive spring rains and winds on their own if they couldn't even handle a few hours of a beautiful brisk breeze? Confounding.

But all is not a disappointment on the seedling front. A few of the members of that tray did tough it out and seem to be progressing. The peppers that I had given up on earlier in the week are finally show signs of sprouting (after three and a half weeks)! And same with my peas. My marigolds have just doubled their leaves, from two to four. My eggplants are growing strong. My herbs (basil, mint, cilantro, dill, parsley, chives, and lemon balm) are all sprouting, though I'm still waiting on signs of life from the rosemary. And my zinnias are already about two inches tall.

All this growth is so exciting, but I'm nervous for transplant time (only a couple weeks away). Letting my babies out into the wilderness to fend for themselves! I hope I have a success story to report.

The list of goals for the year

As the new season begins, I made a list of my gardening/landscaping goals this year—a preview of the topics to be discussed in the blog (including before and after photos!)

1. Take down grandpa tree
2. Remove old stumps
3. Finish rock wall around veggie garden
4. Build raised beds
5. Finish new driveway and retaining wall
6. Plant/replant grass
7. Plant pachysandra
8. Fence
9. Remove grass from “herb garden"
10. Move purple love grass
11. Cut holes in stumps to plant annuals
12. Draw garden maps
13. New rose garden
14. Patio pots
15. Front garden repair
16. Messy hillside—create a pleasing plant pattern
17. Fix fountain
18. Bird feeder
19. Plant baby trees
20. Prepare swing set area
21. Start compost pile

This, and the list of regular garden plantings and maintenance will keep me busy all season. Thank goodness for a supportive and handy Hubby who's muscles will be utilized for all the heavy lifting and construction. Here's to major changes and a soon-to-be beautiful backyard!

Dear Spiders

Dear Spiders,
Your home is outside. I have a lovely garden for you to live in, if you haven’t noticed. Please eat all the bad bugs that attack my plants rather than venturing into my house. I assure you, there is a limited food supply indoors. I am confident that my house does not harbor bugs (other than you, apparently) and neither your webs nor hunting excursions will result in the delicious array of insects you desire. I do not want to kill you. Really. I value your assistance in garden maintenance. But here is your official warning: if I find you in my bathroom, bedroom, or shoe, you will regret your decision to bask in the steady 68-degree climate set by my thermostat.
Best regards!

This note is inspired by my dependable sign of spring: arachnid appearance in my house. This morning I found a small brown spider in my laundry basket, hiding amongst the clothes I have yet to put away. No biggie—easily remedied. This was not an aggressive or imposing spider, rather one that would prefers to run and hide than meet his end with a close-up view of my sock-covered hand (which I'm sorry to report, happened anyway). Only moments later, I am taking a shower and I discover a real beast—a black house spider—hiding on the underneath side of my soap shelf (only noticeable because it was at eye-level). Its body was about the size of a quarter and plus the added diameter of its legs. EEK. Here is the edited description according to the Orkin website: 

"Otherwise known as the window spider, the black house spider appears dark and strong. The thorax of the black house spider is lustrous black and females of this species are commonly twice as large as males. (And here's the best part.) Although their bite is not lethal, humans may experience negative side effects from a black house spider bite. Vomiting, muscular pain, weakness, nausea, sweating and shortness of breath occur if a bite is severe. The bite itself is noticeably painful and commonly swells. However, black house spiders rarely attack humans; they bite only when threatened."

Could "threatened" include rapidly approaching it with a shoe-like object intent on its destruction? I have never been a fan of spiders, but I have at least outgrown the paralysis that used to strike whenever I encountered one. And because I am now a mom, I have developed the super powers necessary to protect my baby at all costs, which includes pushing my goosebumps aside and springing my attack. (If I left the spider until Hubby came home, who knows where is would hide, ready to frighten an unsuspecting toddler. It would certainly not still be under the soap shelf, patiently awaiting its demise.) 

So armed with a scrub brush (a shoe would not fit between the shower shelves) I got him, but not without getting the willies. Black spiders DO notice that an attack is coming and make a break for it just as you are about to strike. Black spiders also crinkle up into a ball and play dead, so when I removed the brush, thinking the job complete, the little critter, sprang into action once again. After two jittery attempts, it was still not dead, but I finally caught it in the bristles and flushed him. Two flushes just to make sure it wouldn't climb out of the bowl and lay in wait behind the toilet seat to exact its revenge upon my tush. 

But spiders aside, it looks like spring is actually on its way (though the 30 degree weather and wintery precipitation today seem to indicate otherwise.) Thank goodness!

April Fools :(

The national weather service has issued a winter storm warning for the East Coast on Friday, April 1. They are predicting 6-10 inches of accumulation during the day-long wintery mix. I'm really hoping that Mother Nature is intending this announcement as an April Fool's prank. Is it really too much to ask for spring to arrive sometime soon?

Indoor growing obstacles

Seedlings take up a lot of space. I currently have eight trays of starter pots living by my sliding glass door, the perfect sunny spot for my new little babies. The problem with this location is that the sliding door is a major traffic zone. Dog out to pee. Cavan out to play. A main path from our kitchen/dining room to the half bath (so with a potty-trained toddler and a preggo mommy, this route is soon to have pot holes!) But the awkwardly-mobile two-year-old, the oblivious beagle, and I seem to be able to avoid the plants without incident. Now enter Hubby. Apparently size 12 sneakers are difficult to navigate around delicate obstacles. "Damn plants" I hear this evening followed by the crinkling of the plastic domes. "Damn feet" I reply. Maybe the mini-earthquakes will stimulate plant growth.

Spring planting progress

I love weekends—who doesn't!? Today the temperature reached 60 and Cavan took a nap—the perfect recipe for garden progress.

Erica x darleyensis 'mediterranean pink'

Today was not an immensely productive day, though I did accomplish what I set out to do. I dug up and returned a Mediterranean Pink bush (erica x darleyensis) to Home Depot; mine had not fared well over the winter and HD has a one-year guarantee on all plants. I didn't have my receipt (honestly, who can find a specific receipt from a year ago?) but I knew they were selling the same variety so I hoped for an even exchange. I left happily with my new, but significantly smaller bush, and six 14-inch terra cotta pots for our deck. I am planning on planting red impatiens to accent the red door to our screened-in patio. But that will have to wait for about three more weeks until after the last frost here in NY.

So, I replanted my bush at home, planted six more Starlight Lily bulbs to extend my summer lily border on the north side of our house, removed more dead foliage from the winter, and planted snapdragon seeds in starter pots. Yet another flower with minuscule seeds. We'll see how they do! Hopefully I'll see at least a couple of seedlings emerge from each pot—I'm sure I dropped at least 20 seeds in each 3-inch dwelling. I have high hopes for all my seeds, but I haven't yet ruled out buying flats of annuals if they don't work out.

Speaking of high hopes, here's my seed update from last weekend's plantings: All 12 of my marigold starters have emerged. Most of my broccoli, spinach, and bibb lettuce has as well. No noticeable progress on the peppers, eggplant, or carrots, but I think they all have a longer germination period. Hopefully all will poke through by next weekend. I'll keep you posted.

The best gardening task for a two-year-old

Today I discovered the best gardening task for my two year old. My daughter, Cavan, decided (after a long afternoon of running errands) that she did not want to take a nap. Fantastic. The tedious job of filling hundreds of starter seed pots I had planned for the afternoon was on the verge of derailment (and I'm already weeks behind schedule for having blooms as soon as the cold weather breaks).

Cavan is not quite at the age where she can just occupy herself in the yard, and she still needs to be monitored loosely. So that meant she would be hovering in my work zone, begging for attention. Brainstorm: I set out my bag of soil and the rows of seed pots and asked her to fill them up with her little yellow trowel.  She loved it. Other than having a more-than-usual amount of stray soil all over our deck, she helped me accomplish a necessary task, and I got to spend quality time with her (while nurturing her baby green thumb).

But then, she wanted to put in the seeds too. Eek. This resulted in a no-nap meltdown. I barely have the dexterity to manage some of those teeny-tiny seeds, so relying on her fine motor skills would be begging for disaster. (By the way, portulaca seeds are about the size and consistency of dust, so I probably put about 500 seeds in each one-by-one pot).

But all in all, it think it was a successful pre-season planting day. I now have marigold, zinnia, portulaca, four-o'clocks, candy lily, and gaillardia flower seeds started, as well as my herbs for the season—rosemary, dill, cilantro, basil, mint, chives, lemon balm, and parsley. This is the first time I have diligently tried to grow from seeds. (It can't be that hard, right? Aren't plants designed to propagate via seeds?!) Oh yeah, and 12 begonia tubers. These are also a new experiment this year—I am hesitant to plant tubers or bulbs that require lifting and winter storage (that seems like a whole lot of maintenance), so more on this at the end of the season.