Told you so

Just a short post to show that it really works -

Take most any kind of container (as long as it has drain holes) and add some dirt and some seeds and stuff happens.

At first it's not too impressive - ok, sometimes it looks like a bunch of dirt and perhaps weeds?

Even when you look closely it's still more like dirt and "something".

 As time goes by it begins to looks a little more promising....and then  actually starts to look like food:

Until finally it's an actual addition to a meal!

So this is just a pictorial version of "I told you so" - still time to get out there and get it done!

First harvest

Yeah, well so it's pretty minuscule but technically it rates as a harvest.  Pulled my first radishes today and it won't be long before the lettuce is big enough to eat.

Of course it takes a close up to actually believe that food is coming out of the dirt!  But, see?  I told you that you could count on the seeds and the dirt and the weather.

Also today I planted a row of zucchini and just stood around and admired the other gardens:  the beets, Swiss Chard, carrots, peas and onions are up and growing well.  Then I donated a couple slices of melon to bait my neighbor's trap in the hopes that the woodchuck will be absent minded enough to forget it's a trap and walk in.  I have serious doubts if it will become that stupid but we really need to get rid of that sucker (and all his heirs and assigns) before things go much further in the gardens.  My neighbor is fencing each of his raised beds but (a) I don't think it'll work and (b) it's too expensive.  So I'm opting for trying to remove him to an undisclosed location far far away before he gets a taste for our home grown veggies!

I hope that at least some of you who read my progress reports (as well as my "you should be more ready than you are" stuff) are also hovering over pots or plots and watching your vegetable children grow.

You can do this!

Time in between

So winter passes and most of the snow - what there was of it - is gone.  Peas can be planted along with Swiss Chard, lettuce and beets but that's about it.

Now what?

The days are warm and most of the nights are above freezing and the temptation to start putting in the rest of the gardens is almost overwhelming.  Knowing as I do that where I live I can have a hard frost almost up to Memorial Day I still have a  difficult time not pushing the season and taking a chance on some of the tender items like cucumbers and green beans.  One thing I do try to remember is that the closer it is to the full moon in May, the more chance of a frost.  But does that mean that if the full moon is May 13th, there won't be another frost?  Nope, it just means that it's more likely near that time.

I've been hovering over my portable lettuce and radish bed like an anxious mother.  Been glad to see that most everything in there (along with some weeds) has sprouted.

And if you look closely enough you can actually see what they are going to be when they grow up!

Nevada Lettuce

Mixed greens

These plants might seems like a pretty pitiful thing to pin my gardening hopes on but in this between time after the winter but before the "real" gardening season they are a promise that things really will grow and in spite of whatever else is going on it your life, a person can count on the seeds and the weather!

Admittedly the pot of basil, by the way, still looks like a pot of dirt - but I have so far resisted the urge to dig up any of the seeds just to chat about what's happening in there!

Have a little faith

  I'm going to put a couple pictures in here as an example of taking things on faith.

Now looking at this picture I'm sure most people will see a somewhat beat up old pot (got it at a yard sale) that has some dirt in it.  That's to be expected cause you don't really "see" it!

Let's try another view:

Still the same pot and dirt?

Let me tell you what I see.  I see that the Sweet Basil seeds I planted in there will germinate and grow into something amazing.

Starting out looking like the above picture and morphing into:

A cascade of basil-ness!

We get up every morning and take it on faith that the sun will come up and all the normal daytime events will march along in their intended order.  Why not believe that a small (tiny actually) seed can produce an amazing plant that will contribute to anything you choose to use it for.  Or if you simply want to admire it..

No big messages here except that if you have a pot and some dirt and some seeds you too could be witness to the results of taking something on faith.  

Go ahead - take a chance on getting it done...just sayin'