My Garden

I love being outdoors in the puttering around the yard. Yesterday was so nice after work that Calder and I ate an early supper and spent our evening in the backyard. Calder was busy moving his mighty machines out of the city (aka his sandbox) and I was busy doing a bit of weeding (I hate that my tulips are barely out of the ground and the weeds are multiplying by the day).

Ever since the snow started melting I had wanted to plant some seeds with Calder so that we could watch them grow. Yesterday happened to be that day. I didn't take my camera outside, so I don't have any stunning photos of our activity - sorry! I thought about getting it, but Calder was only interested in pushing two pumpkin seeds into the soil and filling up his one Lightning McQueen cup. It is hard to catch moments that only last 1 minute on film when I have to participate in the moment (next year I will make sure Hugh is at home so he can snap some!).

I set up our little garden in our front window. Last year I had all of my seeds on our kitchen table. They sprouted up, grew tall, and then in the middle of their stems they started dying (it almost looked like someone pinched them all). After speaking with my Grandma Jenny I found out that if seeds aren't in direct sunlight they will reach for the light. Wait. I did know this part. I can remember growing plants and learning about it in elementary school! The part I didn't know was that seedlings will reach too far and won't be able to support themselves.

I planted pumpkin seeds in the larger containers and Calder planted grass in his cup (I thought we could have some fun giving it a hair cut). I also pinched off some of my ivy from a planter I have in the house. I LOVE how ivy looks in my flower beds and planters. Lastly, I put some of my potato seed out. This was another of Grandma Jenny's brilliant ideas. The potato seed will get little buds and this gives them a little head start before you put them in the ground. I am up for anything that gets new potatoes on our table a few weeks sooner! Oh, and if you are wondering why I have them in that plastic container, its because our dog, Cleo, loves potatoes! She would easily have that entire polished off before I get home from work today!

I was doing a bit of reading while writing this blog and read that putting reflective material underneath your plants helps reflect light back on them, so as soon as I am done writing, I am going pull out the aluminum foil. As well, I read that even south facing windows may not provide enough light for seeds. This means my east facing window definitely won't be. There is all this information written about red light, blue light, fluorescent bulbs, and incandescent bulbs and I can't be bothered to sort it all out. I am just going to grab a little lamp from our office and turn it on. If it works great, if not I guess I will commit to reading a bit more!

To all you seasoned gardeners out there, I would love any tips for starting plants indoors!