Matt’s Adventures in Northwest Gardening

Here is a picture of the bleeding heart that I posted about here.

As you can see, it has grown very large very quickly. We tried to plant a sister plant to this one last summer, but the dog dug it up. This one is so big, I think it would probably fight back.

Below is the promised picture of my garden, where I planted the peas, beets, carrots and radishes. I also have included a picture of the peas, since nothing else has sprouted yet. Jen was not happy that I put those white little stakes in the ground with the string tied to them - but the dog was being stupid and walking through it this week, so I wanted to give him a little discouragement. I figure that they will come out when there are some actual plants there and dog realizes it.

  Finally, here is a close up of my little asparagus that is trying to grow. I planted them last year. It grew and went to seed and died. You are not really sposed to see any real edible asparagus until the second season, so its encouraging to see it still alive.

According to the Wikipedia, the term Asparagus derives from the Greek aspharagos or asparagos, and the Greek term originates from the Persian asparag, meaning “sprout” or “shoot. We also often think about asparagus in terms of its unpleasent odor when you urinate. This, though, is not a universal trait - apparently only 40% of people can actually percieve a smell. I, dear readers, am on of the lucky 60%. Now you know.

I woke up this AM and walked into the kitchen, trying to figure out what I was doing up at 8AM on a Saturday. I walked over to the window box and looked at my little tomatoes, about to wish them a good morning and best of luck growing for the day. And I found this:

The decapitated remains of 2 of my 3 Jolly Elf plants. The Horror!!!

Also victim were 4 of the 8 planter pots of Mortgage Lifters also fell prey to the evil perpetrator. Here is a photo of the villain, preparing for his next attack:

So, it’s back to drawing board for those little guys. Do I order more seeds get the next week and replant them and start all over? Or do order a live plant to be delivered at the end of April?

Now, the hardest part for any of us sensitive gardeners to handle is the part when we have to thin out our plants. These little things grew for us, after all, they are my little children. The first year I grew plants from seeds, I attempted to replant each of the little sprouts that I thinned from my little peat pot. Alas, by the end of that season, I had 4 plants to which I had given tons of attention that had remained healthy and produced wonderful fruit. I also had a sun deck of an old apartment covered with strange, half starved, odd shaped plants, in cruel sized pots, struggling to deliver even one edible fruit.

The idea behind planting more than one seed is to ensure that you are certain to have some growth; the result if this, unfortunately, means the death of those extra little plants. Each little planter had, as I mentioned, between 4-6 seeds, Each of these has produced more than one little sprout; some, of course, have as many as 6. Here is an overhead picture of them.

Now, I after reading the book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon, my mind was put to ease. Mr Solomon makes the case that in nature, the odds that some seeds from the same pod, for example, will not survive, either due to low germination, too much frost, not enough sun, disease, etc. As he puts it, “Vegetables don’t mind being thinned. They actually like it.” It sure beats being neglected and broken like those plants on that apartment deck.

So that is the next step for these little guys. Don’t worry, sprouts are edible. Think about those bean sprouts you had last time with your Phở.

(Also, I highly recommend that book above by Steve Solomon. It is a great guide to understanding how to, you know, grow veggies west of the Cascades. Seriously, though, I can’t speak enough about it as an incredible resource for both old and new gardeners up here in the NW)

Well, it has been a while since I have updated this, I know. But below, you will see that it has been worth it. The tomatoes have started to sprout! I currently have them sitting in my window box in my kitchen, with a supplemental grow light for the afternoons and evenings.

In addition to the Mortgage Lifter and Costoluto Genovese I found 3 - count ‘em - 3 leftover seeds from my favorite variety I grew last year. They were called Jolly Elf grape tomatoes. I thought that I had a lot of them left, but it turned out just assuming that you have something doesn’t make it a reality. With the other two varieties, I planted 4-6 seeds in each little planter, ensuring that statistically I would have at least one of the seeds sprout, with the intention of thinning them out later.

So, I took a risk with my three little Jolly Elf seeds, and planted each of them in a separate containter - my hands were literally shaking with each one, finding that my fingers were big fat useless sausages with no dexterity. What if I dropped it? Would it still sprout? Are they too old? Did I store them properly? I so loved these tiny juicy little tomatoes!

Dear readers, I am more than pleased to report that today all three of the little seeds have sprouted. We can all calm down and watch them grow.

Yes people, it is technically 6-8 weeks before our last frost of the season. That is scheduled this year around March 23 according to the Farmer’s Almanac. So, yes, it is time to start those tiny little seeds indoors and let them start to grow.

Unfortunately it was VERY cold out today, so I opted for the indoor planting scenario. When my darling wife Jen found out what I was doing, she had a few choice comments about whether it was really a good idea to use potting soil and water over a white carpet. I could see her point, but man alive, it was nippy out. So below, you can see some of the tools of my craft. The potting soil is from McLendon Hardware, and my seed packets are from Territorial Seeds.

Stay Tuned… This is when it starts to get exciting!