Sunday, June 17, 2012

This might just work

Summer is finally, sort of here, if No Rain = Summer, that is. Well, apparently, the rest of the world (i.e.. the West Coast of Canada and the UK) are having a dismal, soggy June, so I won't complain, but my veggies need to be rained on at least once a week! The weather here is warm-ish, when the sun is out, it's hot but there is a whole lotta cloud out there getting in the way.
I am having overall good success so far with the veggie patch, the seedlings I started a few months ago transplanted well and are thriving in the sunlight, particularly the broccoli, although I have been warned that the pests love them so who knows how long they will last. The broccoli are the big ones you can see in the front bed here:
 
 

 Above is the second bed. The row of beans is at the right there and then the leeks are on the far left, very spindly stalks but must sturdier since transplantation day. The seedlings in the front right are kale and chard, doing well as I just scattered the seeds randomly in that patch with no particular skill.
 I also had grown pepper and tomato seedlings. The peppers are looking healthy but seedlings remain small, very small. The tomatoes are, well....just about hanging in. I think of the 24 or so seedlings I grew, 6 are still alive, and I use the term alive very loosely. 2 of them are doing well (pictured), if not a little small, but looking promising. The others could go either way at this point. I've tried to position them where they will get the most sun all day but it's been quite cloudy this week. I want full sun in the day and rain at night. Please.

 My biggest success to date is my windowsill basil. I planted some seeds with all the other seeds and kept them in the trays. Once they had a couple of little leaves, I moved 4 to the kitchen window sill. Their growth since then has been scary, in a good way! These lower pic was taken yesterday, and I had previously removed some leaves several times during the week for salads. The first pic was taken early May so this is basically 5-6 weeks growth...very satisfying, and delicious too.The basil seedlings I put outside at the same time have not grown at all (they are the tiny specks you see at the front of the tomato planter above).
 




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