Today was beautiful and warm. I threw open the doors and played the new Be Good Tanyas album while I worked out on the sunny deck.
Today I transplanted my seedlings from starter pods to peat pots. The tomatoes didn’t like it so well and were decidedly droopy within thirty minutes. I spent the rest of the afternoon convinced I’d killed them, only to discover after sundown that they were standing merrily back up again. “Hooray!” I shouted from the bedroom, where I’d propped them on the windowsill to catch the last of the afternoon sun. “Former turgidity has been restored!”
It was funnier in person.
We’ve got a healthy start on tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants and a few onion seedlings. I started more onions today, plus chives, Greek oregano, basil, and parsley. And some wheatgrass for the cat. Once I can plant outside, I’ll be direct sowing carrots, cucumbers, white runner beans, chickpeas, and various greens – mostly varieties of arugula and raddichio. I’m so excited about a garden outside, in the actual ground.
Here’s my favourite gardening tip – if you’re noticing white fungus starting to spread among your seedlings, a healthy powdering of cinnamon can help eradicate it. Water your seedlings from the bottom, to keep the surface as dry as possible, and sprinkle cinnamon all over. It works for me nearly every time – I found this tip online in 2002 when I first started growing herbs on our deck in Kansas City (edit. I actually dismissed it, then Josh found it a week or two later and tried it and it worked. Yay Josh!). We started three rounds of seeds before I figured out how to prevent the fungus from killing them.
(Over at little birds she’s posted a pic of the mug, saucer and bowl set I had as a toddler. I got so excited when I recognized it – and her comments are full of people who had the same set as kids.)