Transplants and Transformations

Master Gardener Mark Rice inspires every time, with his deep knowledge and enthusiasm for gardening. We had another lovely class yesterday. We learned how to transplant a small seedling into larger plastic 6-pack cells.  What was cool is everyone from little kids to first time adults got to do this hands-on.  I loved seeing the miniature seed starting trays with each cell growing one seed. There were tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers. Even kale.  We learned how to lift out individual seedlings, separating the delicate roots a little bit to let them breathe as they entered a new environment. We each took a tray home.  The real work comes when they get big enough to transplant into the ground, given the quality of soil and environment you have in your home garden.

One tomato seedling has potential to produce 30 pounds of fruit.   Wow!!

 

 

 

 

 

Class in Session!

It's no surprise,  gardening is really its own universe. There is a vast, vast, infinite amount of knowledge you just can't acquire in one lifetime. You are filled with excitement when you find what works. But you realize you've only scraped the surface. Most of the time, you are left to experiment over and over, realizing the multifactorial truth behind a successful vegetable garden.  And so I decided to take a spring gardening class with UC Victory gardening workshop (Through the University of California Cooperative Extension), to help push along my novice efforts. Yesterday was the first of a 4-class series.  Learned some basic good info on soil, how important it is, and how to test it for composition using alum powder. 

Also, I think I  figured out why my new little tomato seedlings (see previous post) didn't take. It was way too early. I didn't wait for the first true leaves to grow and hurriedly transplanted them down to the raised bed. But that did not work!  They died :(  Mark, our gardening master teacher, showed us an awesome, healthy tomato seedling already growing its first true leaves. He pinched off the lowest couple leaves, which are supposed to grow some amazingly strong roots when transplanted. Very cool-  I'm looking forward to the next class!

Seasonal Affective Disorders

A fair weather week I would call it. Not too cold, but not quite warm enough to plant too much either... I finally dug up the remaining Swiss chards from my big planter box, unearthed the flowering arugula plants, turned over the soil a bit, and then transferred the small peat pot seedlings into their place. It seems that while my tomato seedlings  just might hang on alright, the cucumber ones did not do too well with the transfer. I'm thinking it may have been too early in the season, seedlings too young, and also, perhaps too much of a shock or them?