What have I been doing Part II or DIYS: Gardening Part V

After taking all that time last fall to finish these beds. I finally had to put them down for the winter. All i really needed to do is keep the dirt from blowing away and keep random seeds from falling into the dirt. Not much to talk about during the winter so fast forward to mid-March.

I wanted to plant seedling instead of seed, so I built a grow light. I started two flats of plants in March in the basement. One flat was tomatoes. The other flat was a combination of broccoli, peppers, and sunflowers. By mid-April I felt like a was growing WEED down in my basement with the amount of moment and attention I was giving theses plants. The High Priestess say these will be the most expensive tomatoes she has ever had. At the same time the plants are doing well in the basements it's time to start working the bed. Which mean a trip to Menards.

Still trying to keep within the $50/week was hard this time. The bags of peat and manure were cheap, but I need to find a way of keeping out the pest, mostly rabbits. I bought some rabbit and pest repellent, which is little more than hot pepper sauce. I still worried so I brought some physical barriers as well. I wanted lasers and landmines, but I can just see little Debbie form next door losing a few limbs. That wouldn't do, so it's chicken wire.

Before I put up the chicken wire I transplanted some of my tomato seedlings. That was an EPIC failure. The starting soil I used was great for indoors as long as the plants stayed indoor. However as soon as I moved the plant the soil just fell away and exposed all the delicate roots. Even with the care I put them into the ground they all died within a week. In addition to the root problem, the Sun can be a real bitch. I learned that most plant produce several kinds of leave depending on the lighting condition. The plants that were growing and thriving under my grow light had not produced any "sun" leaves. Consequently, my poor plant burned before they could produce leaves that would tolerate the solar spectrum. A lesson learned. I may have to start my plants sooner or increase the light intensity. One bed down. Bed number Two needs starting but I want to wait a week or two and let my plant toughen up a bit.

One thing about gardening everyone wants to give you something. In my case, it is my lab assistance Ruth. (Yes, I have a minion. World domination will soon follow! In reality, Ruth would never be a minion. She has told me so on several occasions.) Ruth give me a ton of strawberries, the only fruit that's a weed too. Strawberries spread like wild fire, and a suspect they really just sprout pods that take over people's mind and convince gardeners to give their offspring to other people. The only thing human can do is consume them before they take over. We must eat them In pies, smoothies, shortcake, salads, covered in chocolate and random dessert. Come PEOPLE WAKE UP BEFORE WE LOSE THE PLANET TO THESE RED BERRIED MONSTERS.

OK, so they get a bed by themselves. (YES...MASTER..... I OBEY....)

Finally, two beds planted and one to go. The failure with the tomatoes will have to be rectified by a trip to the farmer's market. Since it is a little late to start tomatoes plants indoors I will buy some and plant those. Yeah, It's a cheat, but I really like tomatoes.