Enough with the rain

Mother Nature is making up for her deficit, I think. We just had some serious rain for all of Sunday and last night and most of this morning. Torrents, downpours, cats & dogs. I think my seeds may have drowned, but I'm not sure yet.

My daughter & I planted sugar snap peas & carrots. Well, actually, she planted them. I was not allowed to touch them, for fear that my black thumb would taint the seeds, thus preventing them from growing. I did help her building a rather flimsy trellis, though.

I scattered some wildflower seeds (once they are cultivated, are they still wild?), but I ran out of seeds well before the end of my flower bed. And it's possible that they may have been washed away at this point.

My husband had a little fit when we discussed where to plant the corn. According to my daughter (and who am I to disagree?), corn cannot be planted in a box, it must be planted in the ground--it needs lots of room. But he doesn't want to plant things anywhere but in the box. He carried on about the berry bushes over there and the veggies there and the flowers there--doesn't he realize that it would look bizarre (and lopsided) if everything were in the same place? All the plants need different amounts of sun, blah, blah....

It's not as if he's the only one who mows--he just happened to do it last week.

Speaking of the berry bushes, I really need to get some netting if I want to get berries this year.

Rain, glorious rain

It's been an incredibly dry year so far--only about 24" of snow (as opposed to our usual 50" or so)--and hardly any rain. We hooked up the rain barrels early this year, anticipating that we might have a dry spring. So far, barely an inch in the second barrel and nothing in the third. But tonight, I heard a few drops on the sky light in the sun room. Whether or not that translates to real, honest water remains to be seen.

Of course, this is the year we are going to try to grow corn, which needs lots of water. And it would be nice to have some decent grass, too. But, we'll do the best we can with what we've got. I'd definitely rather have sun than rain most of the time.

Sprouts!!

After my disappointment with the cherry pits (which, by the way, are still not sprouting in the water), I figured I'd just continue my record, but actually a whole bunch of the zinnias sprouted overnight. They're tiny and I certainly wouldn't trust them outside yet, but I feel that my thumb is just slightly less black.

Despite my success with the zinnias, I still have nothing from my tomato seeds. Not one of the twelve has even peeked. Okay, it's not the warmest room, but it is the sunniest room. And every morning I turn on the gas fireplace so they get a little warmth.

I'm eternally hopeful, though. One of these days I'll surprise myself.

This year my daughter & husband want to plant corn. After reading about how Samoset taught the pilgrims how to plant maize with little fish in the mounds, we obviously feel that we are now experts. How optimistic!

Did I give up too soon?

It seems, from the date of my last post, that I planted a few cherry pits in pots a little over a week ago. Nothing happened--not one little itsy, bitsy sprout. My aunt, Beth, suggested that I soak the seeds first so that they burst.

I fished around in the dirt, but I only found half of them--completely and utterly unchanged from when I planted them (i.e., no sprout). I put them both to soak in a little cup of water. I planted a couple of tomato seeds in the same pots. If the tomato plants germinate, I wonder how they will affect the cherry pits I couldn't find? Will they act as a catalyst for the pits and inspire them to grow? I just don't know.

This afternoon I planted a few more tomato seeds as well as a bunch of zinnias in pots. (Note about the pots--my daughter sold them to me yesterday for a penny each. They belonged to my mother--who tried to give them to me after my daughter sold them.)

So far this year the thumb remains black, but still hopeful.