laceblade | (no subject)

I guess I'll be blogging regularly about gardening, unless I give up & forget about everything, harhar.

I bought some seeds at Farm & Fleet today!

Seeds bought:
Morning glories
Scarlet runner bean (pretty! also will climb)
Marigold
Cress
Lettuce
Japanese mixed greens

Madison's frost date should be around April 28th according to some Internet almanac, so I'll wait a few weeks to sow most of the plants.

In the meantime, I want to use the lettuce & Japanese green mixes to do some microgreens as described here. I just need to acquire a take-out box, ^^;

Also purchased:
--potting soil
--two terra cotta pots, b/c even though I have a few not in use, they're small-ish.

I'm trying to organize my shit. I have a word document for throwing down lists & organizing advice given by you fine people.
I've also started a spreadsheet to try & track information about the seeds & plants so if there are any successes, I can replicate them.
So so far, this consists of plant name, cost/where obtained, sow date, germination time, "safe to set out," and plant date.

Since I'm growing everything in pots, I feel like I keep confusing myself on whether paying attention to "plant date" or "growth period" is necessary.

I've put You Grow Girl's books on hold at the library, as well as the one about worms recommended by

wintercreek. Unsure about this worm business, but I'll read about it & see.

Current question
Do you guys have watering cans or whatever? I've only ever watered my plants straight from the tap. I feel like maybe that's not cool, but idk.

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I don't have a watering can. I just grab whatever pitcher is empty and use that. Or fill mason jars.

Do you let the water sit out for a while before using it on plants? Or just go tap to container to plant?

+1, but if you want to put fertilizer in, use something you won't drink from. I use an old Britta water pitcher that is all lime scaled.

I do have one watering can, mostly because it's pretty, but it's also good for really small plants because it has a small spout.

I read a recommendation to let tap water sit for awhile (i usually let it sit overnight -- forget specific recommended time) if it's chlorinated. Chlorine's relatively unstable and so will break down if you let the water sit out. Andy, former chemboy, was dubious of this, but i SWEAR i read it somewhere, and some day i'll find it again and will make him read it!

I use the water from my washing machine, because i'm a hippie and use hippie safe-for-plants detergent.

STILL NO GARDENING ICON FOR ME, OOPS.

I don't let the water sit. I can never remember and both my cats like to climb and drink out of containers.

Oh yes. I forgot I use random bucket for fertilizer mixing. I use fish fertilizer which cats are VERY INTERSTED IN

Do you mix fertilizer with water??

Do you have to fertilize regularly, in addition to using some kind of soil initially that has fertilizer bullshit in it?

Yeah, Fergus likes to try to climb into the watering can after the water. He's some weird watervore or something. We have a sign over our guest toilet that says, "Put the lid down or Fergus will drown!!"

I fill my watering can then put it on the deck overnight, to keep stupid from killing himself.

Andy's in the background saying, "If Jackie wants worms, i'll send her some!!!"

Yes, srsly, you can send worms via mail. o___O YET ANOTHER PACKAGE FOR YOU??? ^____-

Personally, i wouldn't worry too much about fertilizing annuals, especially if you're using new dirt that has some kind of fertilizer bullshit (lol) in it. I *do* feed fruit-bearing plants, especially plants that last more than a season (strawberries, cherry tree, &c.). I have a knee-jerk reaction *against* MiracleGro, but i'm a hippie organic gardener. ;)

SOME of my dislike of MiracleGro comes from buying a bag of African violet MiracleGro soil that had GONE MOLDY IN THE BAG BEFORE I BOUGHT IT WHAT THE FUCK???