I feel like today was a very productive day! It was beautiful outside and we spent this morning riding along the water on the "marley" (My "adopted" daughters name for our scooter - a moped/Harley), transplanted a few plants, planted a few seeds, made a nice little bread/cheese tray (absolutely free and will show you below), and managed to fit in a few batches of mini chocolate chip cookies and pineapple cookies (experimenting with the recipe to perfect it). The only thing missing was my Skype date with my sisser...another day...hmmm hmm
I am very pleased so far with the progress of the peas and with Brussels sprouts. Knock on wood. Throw salt over shoulder. etc etc. The peas have grown a few inches and have a few blossoms on it and even a couple peas! The Brussels sprouts are starting to sprout...well...Brussles sprouts. If you have never seen Brussels sprouts grow...they grow between leaves and when they are starting to grow, they almost look like little growths on the base of the leaf. (see below)
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| Peas |
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| Brussels sprouts |
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Brussels sprouts
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There are also a few baby peppers starting:
And beautiful flowers on the sweet potato vines:
The seed pods on the broccoli looked like they were about finished so I pinched off the pods and am allowing them to dry so I can harvest the seeds from inside.
Today I had several tomatoes that we started last month that are ready to be transplanted into buckets. This time I am using my usual peat, but am mixing with organic Black Kow (cow manure and compost mix) I gathered buckets and drilled several holes in the bottom, as well as a drain hold on opposite sides and a few inches up to allow for proper draining of access water. As we will get into some rainy weather here in Florida this is important. Some vegetable plants rotate rather quickly but others can last a very long time. Tomatoes are one of those crops. We can grow them year round here as long as they are taken care of properly! (I still have a tomato plant from last years spring garden that I just pulled a tomato from this morning!)
I usually don't worry much about plant food but as I had a little of this left, I figured I may as well use it. Tomatoes are the perfect plants to use it up on! It is just an organic plant food that is safe for vegetables or any other plants. Basically supplies good Nitrogen (which is essential for a lot of your veggies), as well as some Magnesium, Calcium and other goodies.
I filled the buckets with 2 parts peat and 1 part Black Kow. I carefully removed the tomato starts from the plastic pots they were started in and placed them in the buckets. I buried the tomato plants all the way to the first leaves. As you can see below, I left several inches at the top of the bucket. Tomatoes should be planted deep. This helps gives a good strong root structure as well as good base support for the growing stalk. As these plants grow, I will fill the bucket more with the peat and manure mix.
I also had a few seed starters sitting around and we all know my OCD will not allow them to sit around empty so I started a few more seeds. (Continuing with 2 week rotations). These little plastic containers that lettuce and greens come in at the grocery make AMAZING little greenhouses! The seed starting pods are made of peat and coconut. They start like little discs. You just soak them in water and they expand, providing the little hole in which to drop the seed. You move the top around just enough to cover the seed. I placed one seed in each pellet, placed it inside the plastic lettuce container and put the lid on. When doing this just be sure to open it every day for a few minutes to let fresh air in. If you don't remember to let it breathe a little each day you run a risk of developing some mold /mildew.
As always...I had plenty of company around watching (I won't share the nasty giant spider or the dead mouse covered in ants I had to pull from the garden area as...well....ah no)
I also FINALLY cleaned off the shelves and moved some lettuce and a few of my little gnomes over. For those who know me well, you know I am obsessed with these little guys in my garden! (and I am resisting the urge to go to Joann's who has a whole section now for gnome and fairy gardens!!!)
Ok...as promised...here is my little trick for making a FREE bread/cheese tray, trivet, or whatever the heck ya want to use it for!
Step 1: Go to Home Depot, Lowes, etc.
Step 2: Go to the flooring department
Step 3: Look at the flooring samples for these little suckers! Find the ones that are smooth on all 4 sides and grab them up! (FREE samples!) (Then while you are there if you don't have any pick up some Gorilla wood glue - like $3)
Step 4: Lay them out in a pattern that you like (if you got different patterns/colors)
Step 5: Glue them 2 at a time. Allow to dry then continue to glue sections together until you have achieved the desired size!
Tonight, mine is being used for tea and cookies!
Enjoy! I'd love to see pictures if anyone makes one!
As always....I wish you PEACE!
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| jojo |
For the pea sprouts all you need is the sprout "seeds", a jar (such as an old pasta sauce jar), a rubber band, and a porous fabric or screen. For the broccoli, you need a rectangle or square dish, paper towels (good strong kind), and a water spray bottle.
Add about 1/4 cup pea "seeds" to the jar and fill the jar with water. Allow to soak 8-12 hours. At that time, you will drain the water thoroughly and cover the jar with your porous fabric and secure with rubber band. Every 8-12 hours, you simply remove the fabric, rinse the seeds/sprouts, drain very well and recover. (this is the same way you would do lentils) Continue this until your sprouts are at a desired length. You can generally begin to eat them within 2-3 days (just after you begin to see sprouts - they say this is when they are most beneficial) or let them grow to full long sprouts, remembering to rinse and drain every 8-12 hours. SUPER EASY!!!
For the broccoli sprouts you will take your strong paper towel and get it really wet. Place the paper towel in the bottom of your container and cover it with your sprout seeds. Lightly spray with water. Every 8-12 hours simply mist the sprouts with your water bottle. The sprouts will be ready to eat in about 6 days. They will grow to the top of your container and almost look grass like. When you are ready to eat them, cut them off at the base or just pull them up, give them a good rinse to get any excess seed casings off and enjoy!
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