Nervous Mom Watches as Edibles Grow

Like any delicate thing you choose to nurture, seeds are also prone to their own unpredictable outcomes. Sowing them gently, with care, into fertile mother earth, I watched my little babies sprout into seedlings, one by one, not knowing exactly which ones will go the full course, which ones will  be stunted. And, then, of course, the horrific act of "thinning" the seedlings.....having to choose the healthiest ones over the others so as not to overcrowd them....
The excitement, the nervousness, the awe!  This is the best part of all...

So far, so good. Immediately after planting these seeds 4 weeks ago, blessings of rain came for many days on end, mitigating the need for much water. But I still wonder if my lettuce, chard, arugula and broccoli will grow as fast as they should...right now they are about 1.5-2 inch high seedlings.  Guess we'll have to wait and see :)

Here is a technique I learned from our meetup at the Santa Monica community garden. A plastic water bottle, cut in half, acts as a  mini greenhouse. Very smart(whoever came up with that, proper credit is due)! Loved it so much I wanted to try for myself. It's also a great way to recycle. 

Note to self: More important than the amount of water is the amount of sunlight a plant receives.  Example below: these spinach plants that receive at most a couple hours of (semi--obstructed) afternoon sun have barely budged in the last 4 weeks. Will continue to follow to see how long and to what extent they will grow.

And Finally............these guys below (broccoli and 2 varieties of Cabbage) are doing alright.....steadily growing. I'm hoping to use the cabbage leaves in an Armenian dish called "Dolma", where we stuff and roll cooked cabbage leaves with a rice and meat mixture...Something I enjoy doing with Grandma.

Tips from the Experts

Even though I consider myself a totally novice gardener, I enjoy consulting a good guide book now and again. One of the recent recommendations I received from a fellow gardener whom I met through "Foodforward.org" is a book titled, "From Seed to Skillet", by Jimmy Williams and Susan Heeger. I like the pictorials and the family history connected with this book. I also like the practical, useful tips on when and how to plant edibles...

And, as you can see, Noel, my tabby is also fond of the book...