Project: Sprout & About

Here comes the continuation of Sprout Diaries. A great deal has been accomplished, learned, and experienced during these months. I have successfully grown many plants, but also lost a few sprouts along the way. This trial-and-error approach to gardening has made me more curious to try out new things, such as sticking a rose into the ground and seeing what happens, haha. Anyway, the journey has been positively eventful, and here’s a glimpse into how it goes and continues 🙂

Exciting Times Ahead

Spring seems to have come quite early this year, and nature is waking up fast. (I love seeing the bees and birds around! <3). This means I have a lot to do in the coming weeks and months. To make things clearer for myself (and because I enjoy creating visuals like these), I put together a brief overview of the main moves to be made during this important month of May. The idea is to respect the Moon phases for optimal growing results, but naturally, I will have to go day by day with this.

One of the most significant and exciting things will be to ‘toughen up’ the plants I have been growing indoors. I will harden them off by taking them outside, and I will do this gradually during a time span of approximately 10 days, increasing the time they spend outside every day. Tomatoes, basil, marigolds, peas, and cornflowers will be the first ones to move.

And here comes a confession with some news. While I have been deep diving into all-things-plants, I have internalized the fact that not every plant thrives in a greenhouse (surely, I already knew that potatoes will do better in a field than in a flower pot, alright). This realization made me decide to EXPAND the Project: Sprout & About a step further: to the garden plot. I know, it is a big responsibility to take, but I had to remind myself that even if I am open to experimentation, maybe some plants actually prefer to grow outside. To my great fortune, we already have a pretty garden plot in the backyard that is only waiting for someone to take care of it. Yes, it is a big level-up, but on the other hand, I like to jump into the unknown, so here we go, fast and loud.

Celebrations And Learnings

Now here’s a reason for celebration.
It was only a few days ago, while I was checking on all the plants, like I usually do, that I had to stop to notice that the tomatoes and peas were growing flowers. Flowers! What a joyful moment, and to be honest, it felt like I had done something right. But that is not all. Today, I realized that the flowers in the peas were actually fruits! I am crying, happy tears, knowing that they are pushing out the first peas! This is one of the biggest Sprout & About wins I have yet experienced ❤

Throughout this project, I have had to keep myself from sowing seeds too early. This was the mistake I made with the lettuce and herbs, and now it serves as a hard-learned reminder that patience is key. Seriously, these “easy-to-grow” plants were tougher to cultivate than I had imagined. Sow them too early or keep them in a place too warm, and what you will get are plants that are leggy and weak. Apart from basil, the lettuce, parsley, and dill experiments were a total fiasco. I decided to say goodbye to the ones that didn’t look right.

Like I previously mentioned in Mini Post (I), there have also been some unfortunate happenings with my tomatoes. Not all of them, luckily, but it seems like the Marmande variety suffers from some sort of disease, a fungi-like, I suppose. I guess there still is a chance that I am wrong and they will all be fine, but for the time being, I am keeping them separately from the healthy plants.

Exciting Sowings And Experiments

Speaking about spring (and summer!) coming fast, the moment for continuing sowing has arrived! And I LOVE everything that goes into this part. Reading and learning about each plant’s growing requirements, preparing the seedbeds, naming the pots, and waiting for the seedlings to come out is a simple yet so down-to-earth, rewarding, and humble activity that I cannot get enough of.
This week, I have started off with cucumbers (two different types), nasturtiums, squash, and pumpkin. To my understanding, all of these require rather warmer weather, and the squash, especially, prefers a short pre-growing period. With a few nasturtiums, I already started a week ago, sowing them directly into the greenhouse – just couldn’t help it. Let’s see in a few weeks, and hopefully these buddies will start getting ready to move outside, too, because it’s JUNE!

And since I cannot get enough of planting things, there’s more I got done! Even though I will be following the Moon Phases more accurately in the coming weeks, I couldn’t help but start over with the sad, fiasco situation of the lettuce. In fact, this Waxing Moon (growing) was a good time to sow above-ground plants, so the lettuce is fine, just like the cucumbers, squash and pumpkin. It’s just the radish that could wait until the Waning Moon but it’s alright.

So temperatures now allowing it, the radish and lettuce found each other in these small and cute raised garden beds in the greenhouse. These are companion plants, and potentially allowing a harvest by the end of the month, right on time for when we are expecting guests over. I thought I would start small and hopefully get successful with the leafy green this way, radish is not as frightening somehow.

And the PINK BOOTS! ❤

Finally, I must also speak about the garlic experiment!
I know that I am sort of late for growing garlic this year because aren’t you supposed to start in the winter before? But hey, I am not going to lose anything by still trying. Of course, I had to give it a go!

In this experiment, it means keeping one bulb in the fridge for a few months and one on the side. This “cold treatment” will hopefully then yield a greater quantity and better taste in the harvest. The one in the picture was kept at room temperature, and here I am soaking it in water for about a week before planting it. Together with the “fridge bulb”, which I will take out right before putting it out, these buddies will go under the ground after the Full Moon. That will be around the 16th and 17th of May. Even in the worst case, where I won’t be able to enjoy the garlic on my plate, at least it’s going to protect my other plants because garlic makes a superb companion plant! 🙂

Lastly, the rose experiment. I couldn’t just throw it away with the rest of the bouquet, you see. I stuck it to the ground, with some Epsom salt and good watering, and let’s see if I will eventually get a nice rose bush. Imagine that.

The end. This was a bit longer post, but so much had happened in the sprout garden that it was time to get it out. I had been prolonging this post for too long, and while I am writing this, I am not sure what I actually like better, the longer posts or the short takes… In any case, I like writing, although looking back on the journey makes me cringe a little. Maybe that is some sign of personal development.

Anyway, thanks to you for hanging in and reading along 🙂
I will get my boots ready to go check on the plants in the greenhouse.