MargoMargo's Blog

Beans Beans the Magical Fruit!
Apr 23, 2007 | 1:43 PM PST
Tags: beans , sprouts , children

I think I planted the beans too early.  The seed package said to plant in May or June after all danger of frost had passed.  But i thought i'd start them early indoors.  Now they're about a foot tall and taking over the living room table!  

The carrots and peas seem to be happily stalled as little sprouts in the garden, but they'll have plenty of time once it's warmer to grow.

 And the garlic sprouts seem to have stopped growing.  I'm really tempted to pull one up to see if the bulb is growing ,but so far I have restrained myself. 

It's as if they're my nieces and nephews:  I take a lot of pleasure in caring for them and i want them to be the best plants ever, but at the same time I want to experiment with them.  Like encouraging children to climb to the top of the monkey bars and jump off.  They might break a leg, but they'd live.  Will the tomatoes make it if I put them outside?  Oops, not now, it's still too early.

 

Vertical Plants?
Apr 11, 2007 | 9:43 AM PST
Tags: wall plants , low light , indoor plants

The other day my housemate and I were thinking about how to get more greenery indoors, especially into places where floor/window space is limited.  We came up with the idea of a living painting - something you could hang on the wall, water every once in a while, and it would be pretty and clean your air for you.  

Does anybody have any thoughts on plants that can live in little soil, possibly be in low light conditions, and are low maintenance? 

They're Alive!
Apr 11, 2007 | 9:37 AM PST
Tags: tomato , bean , seedlings , transplant

After the transplanting, only two of my tomato seedlings are looking like they're not going to make it.  The rest are looking perky and smelling like tomatoes. 

My beans are also starting to sprout.  I wouldn't know this except for that when I planted them, there were two that I planted too close to the surface.  Now I can see the shoots uncurling from the seed - it looks like the beans were in the fetal position, and now they are starting to stretch out. 

Now I've got to wait till it's warm outside before putting them in the ground.  Hurry up warm sunny weather!

Tomatoes Transplanted!
Apr 6, 2007 | 11:24 AM PST
Tags: tomato , transplant , roots

Well, I transplanted them yesterday.  Hopefully I didn't do too much damage.  I definitely heard the sad sound of roots ripping once or twice.  It's amazing how little of a root structure they have.  When we pulled up the blackberries last fall there was 3 times more root than plant.  These are just the opposite!

They looked pretty sad and droopy after transplanting, so I watered them and left to go out for the evening.  This morning (and what a beautiful sunny spring morning it is!) almost all of them are looking perky again.  So resiliant for being so small!  Kind of like children - they don't break, they bounce.

 I also planted some beans (kept inside with the tomatoes for now) and an herb mixture (also inside for now)  I'm excited to see what I get.

Baby Tomatoes
Apr 5, 2007 | 10:21 AM PST
Tags: tomato , seedling

Tomato seeds grow so fast! Mine are already 2 or 3 inches high - they need to be transplanted! 

How much dirt does a seedling need to be able to grow for a month or so before it goes out in the garden?

Spring is Here!
Apr 4, 2007 | 3:56 PM PST
Tags: bicycle , spring

The days are warming up, and my bike ride around Greenlake is more and more lovely!

This transformation began a month or so ago when the trees started to bud, and then tiny green leaves popped forth here and there. Pretty soon the bulbs were coming up, and now, the cherry trees are blooming, the daffodils are in full bloom, and the air smells warm and earthy.

It awakens the soul.