Green is my color

seedlings growing well 4-24-14In a fit of optimism, I started a whole mess of seeds this year. Typically, this is a recipe for wallowing in my abysmal failure to keep things alive. For whatever reason, my record for seed starts is terrible. It’s not unusual for the “hardening off” process to kill off whatever has made it that long. Sometimes, there is one sad survivor that lives to tell the tale and remind me that I’m responsible for the massacre. My ever-helpful screen saver has been showing me photos of my previous years’ efforts all week. It’s like the Ghost of Seedlings Past arriving to make sure I don’t forget my shortcomings. Hopefully, the Ghost of Seedlings Future will arrive soon to explain how I can correct the error of my ways. Because I have a bumper crop of basil, parsley, milkweed, oregano, cilantro, and even (!) lavender started. (I’ve never, ever gotten lavender past the sprout stage. Usually I manage to kill them before they even get their first set of “real” leaves. So the fact that this one is about an inch and a half tall? Mind blowing.)

They are all growing really well, and I Have Officially Gotten Attached. This is bad. This means that, for instance, the oregano and cilantro I had to transplant today (after learning I should have done it two weeks ago… better late than never?) will wound me to my core if it fails to thrive in the new pots. They will reproach me any time I happen to be awake at 3:00 am for years to come. “EVEN THE OREGANO WOULDN’T LIVE WITH YOU. And remember that one time, in third grade, when you hurt that girl’s feelings? YEAH THAT WAS YOU.”

Tomorrow, during our morning ritual of checking the plants together, I hope to be able to answer “What are you doing Mommy?” with “taking care of our plants,” as usual. If I have to switch to “figuring out if these are really dead or only mostly dead,” I’ll let you know. (The rest of the ritual is the little dude chanting “No, no, don’t touch! Flowers! Don’t touch!” …while touching.) Knock wood. Cross your fingers or say a lucky rhyme or something for me. I suppose I could also put “don’t be so hard on myself at 3:00 am” on my to do list, right under “figure out how not to kill 100% of my seedlings.” But so far, I’ve never managed either of those things, and I believe in reasonable expectations.

On a practical note, I tried the “turn a soda bottle into a self watering planter” trick this year. I’m surprised to say that I don’t care for it. There’s no easy way to get the water into the bottom without also subjecting the seedlings to the deluge. Professor Google says that deluge is partly responsible for my serial killer ways, so I actually found that small peat pots in an old takeout container work best. I can water them from the bottom that way. Also, it might be a coincidence, but I think the moisture control potting soil mix may be contributing to my success this year. It might be wise to take it away from me before I get overconfident… because I have some more seed packets, and it’s entirely possible that I should be stopped.

Do you have a garden too? Even if it’s just a pot on the windowsill, join me on my In The Garden Pinterest Board:
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About Meghan G

I like blues, punk, and crime drama. I love having boys, keeping active, and the outdoors. I'm a cat person, but I think dogs should have equal opportunities.

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10 Comments on “Green is my color”

  1. Cilantro is a toughie. I have a pretty green thumb and I’ve never had a cilantro plant survive here in NJ for more than a couple of weeks before going to seed. I’ll be interested in seeing if you can make that one work. Congrats on your garden this year! It’s so rewarding to eat your own homegrown veggies and herbs in the summer.

    1. It’s a “cool weather” crop, apparently. Which explains why I’ve never gotten it to grow from a direct seed. Hopefully starting it indoors will give me a chance to have some before the hot weather sets in. Apparently, the hotter the weather, the hotter the cilantro, and most people don’t like it once it’s too hot. (Things I never knew!)

      As for veggies… I have TWO tomato plants and I’m trying not to get my hopes up, because we have deer that like to browse our yard. We shall see!

  2. Green is thee best color!! I have become green in the past 4 years, I recycle everything, my car is a hybrid, and I use solar panels for 50% of my electricity!! It’s important to help our earth!! I also will be starting a new vegetable and herb garden this coming spring, I’m excited to grow my own vedgies!!

  3. Thanks for the information on Green Is My Color! Yes, We have a garden every year! My husband loves to garden and even plants certain plants which we do not eat! The Summer of 2015 was a so so year for our garden! We did get pretty many peppers and grape tomatoes, however our zucchini did not make it! We got some nice tomatoes, then the leaves started to change color and the tomatoes were a bit on the small size whenever they ripened! Our cucumbers, we got a few and then those too started to wither. Basically we plant tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and egg plant. Sometimes we do plant string beans as well! Generally we have a nice crop of vegetables, however, this past year was not too great! I also planted some herbs in the soil and in pots (my purpose was to plant them to keep certain bugs away!) They grew rather nicely, however, I don’t know that they did too good of a job keeping the bugs at bay! Gardens are a lot of work and certain vegetables need more watering than others, some need more sun than others, and some need cooler weather than others! It’s all a game of chance! Even with the herbs! Thanks for sharing your Green is your color and I hope that your herbs all made it to a nice size! Thanks so much! Michele 🙂

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