Sunday April 04, 2010

 

The first seeds to sprout are here.  It is the radish and I think they sprouted yesterday so that would make six days.  Radish must be the hardiest vegetable of all - only one step away from a weed.  Looking forward to seeing what comes next.  I'm hopefully that at least half of the seeds will sprout...

Halfway planting the seeds on March 29 I realized I had not correctly prepared the Jiffy potting soil.  I was putting the soil dry into the little pots and then adding water, but eventually realized the soil was not absorbing the water.  Finally it occured to me that I had better first mix the soil with water in a big bucket and then put the pre-moistened soil into the little pots.  So about half of the stuff from March 29 is in the dry soil and half in the pre-moistened soil.  Should be interesting to see what happens.

From the long-standing backyard garden I harvest kale, broccoli and strawberries this week.  Everything was insanely delicious.  I was going to steam the broccoli but ended up eating it raw because is was super tender and tasty.  I also had the kale raw in the recipe for Kale, Avocado and Tomato salad which is a recipe everyone should know because it is delicious, easy and makes you feel great great after you eat it.

The apple tree (in photo at left) set fruit at least two weeks ago and the little apples are growing fast and getting some pink color now.  I can't wait for those Ana apples.  The have been delicious in the past.

I haven't made much progress establishing the front veg garden so that's my immediate goal.  Got a wheelbarrow from Home Depot last week so I have no excuse not to start.

That's about it for my Easter update.  Happy Easter to all those that celebrate.  I went to REI today to buy a birthday gift for a friend and (of course) ended up getting some stuff for myself as well, including a book on making knots (photo at right).  My knot tying skills are below even the basic level so I thought I'd try it out to learn some useful knots (for when I get my trailer for the car so I can carry around my farm equipment ;-)) and also to give my brain some exercise.  As an alternate to suduko maybe (in which I am still at the beginner level :-(