Outdoor Planting: Round 1

This weekend, we spent a few hours setting up the balcony for the first set of seeds to be planted outdoors this year. We:

• Soaked the tougher seeds overnight to help them germinate
  
• Cleaned the used containers with a diluted bleach solution
  
• Lined some containers (knaf liners for the milk crates, clear plastic garbage bags for the cedar planters)
• Hydrated the coir bricks
• Mixed the coir with potting mix, and added fish emulsion fertilizer where needed
• Created a plan of where to set-up the containers and which plants would go where, based on the plant's sun needs
  
• Filled the containers with the new potting mix
  
• Planted seeds: arugula, swiss chard, beets (2 kinds) and mustard greens (2 kinds)
  
• Drank beer

We ended up being 2 bags short of potting mix; very annoying since I took 2 separate trips to buy the potting mix and had to take a taxi home since the load would have been way too heavy to bring on the streetcar.

The indoor seeds are doing quite well, except for mint (which still continues to be M.I.A.). Kale is the newest addition to the indoor team, and are sprouting up nicely.

Container Stories

I was hoping to set up the balcony garden using as many second-hand materials as possible. Aside from the containers I've mentioned already, I also received 2 plastic milk crates, an old shipping crate purchased from Craigslist for storing tools, and had some handy few gardening tools donated. But I needed a bigger planter... after all, I have the space, and a lot of plants to put into the "ground".

I contacted a fellow from Craigslist via email to inquire about an old wood planter he posted on the site. Turns out it was too small for my needs, but he insisted that he could make me one to my specs out of found wood. After negotiating on price, $90 for a 4' L x 2' W x 2' H cedar planter, he was off to build my masterpiece.

A few weeks later, after hearing no word from him, I emailed him to see what was going on. He was sick, but he would get to building the planter as soon as he could. A few days later he sends me an email, stating that he bought the wood, but it was really expensive ($75) so he wanted to renegotiate the price.

Huh? I thought that he was going to FIND the wood, not BUY it. Grrr. So being the pushover I am, I said fine, how about $120. He agreed, and was to deliver the following weekend.

My phone rings on Friday: the 4' x 1' x 2' planter is ready to be delivered that night. Great, but... HUH? I clearly stated 2' wide, NOT 1'. Well, I ended up paying him the money and taking the very tall and awkward looking planter. Before he left, he suggested that next time he could build me a planter out of found wood and it would be much cheaper. And that's when I realized I was living in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

In the end, we broke the planter in half and built 2 planters, each with 1' height. Overall, the twins turned out well, and we supported an independed seller of a locally-made product, though I know there's a lesson to be learned in this story somewhere.

Good Apple

The beautiful weather we've been having lately reminds me of Farmers' Markets... buying a small basket of cherry tomatoes and popping them in my mouth as I walk home with a giant bag of veggies. And since my new apartment is pretty close to Brick Works, I have been fantasizing about biking to the market on Saturday mornings. So this morning I went to the Toronto Farmers' Market Network website to see when this market would be opening, and something caught my eye:

Joining our year-round farmers’ markets (the early-birds of spring), Toronto will have a new market beginning on April 23, The Appletree Market, Thursdays 3-7 pm at 200 Eglinton West, just a short distance from Yonge Street.

Whaaaa ----? TODAY is APRIL 23rd!!! Oh, lucky day! A year-round market in a convenient location - beside the TTC subway line, and on my way home from work! Though I love the Dufferin Grove market, I really have to come to terms with my new found east-endedness (and loss of west-endedness), and stop frequenting places that require a special trip and several days of planning to get to.

The new Appletree Market is a pretty decent size, and has quite a few vendors (especially considering we're not in harvest season). There were 3 local produce vendors, selling seeds, root vegetables from winter storage, flour and eggs. Other vendors were selling honey, wild edibles, cheese, meat and baked goods. It was a nice little sign of summer, and gave me the motivation I needed for seed planting this weekend.

On The Come Up

Oh boy..... oh boy. Sweet and hot peppers have started sprouting a couple of weeks ago. Last week up came the cherry tomatoes... though I had them in a dark place and wasn't watching, and now they're leggy. And this morning: tiny basil leaves were peeping from the soil. But the mint pot remains barren. I thought mint was supposed to be hardy?

Not all the seeds sprouted. Good thing I planted several seeds to fall back on. But now I wish I planted more.

For the past few weeks, I've been searching for second-hand containers. So far, I bought 2 Wild Turkey whiskey half-barrels, found 1 cracked terracotta pot on the curb, and had 3 clay pots donated from a generous Craigslister. But I still need lots more... at least 6 medium/large containers, mostly for planting greens (kale, mustard, chard).

Top photo, from L-R: tomato (Riesentraube), tomato (Yellow Currant and Black Cherry), pepper (Hot Fish), mint, pepper (sweet Purple Beauty).
Bottom photo: basil (Spicy Globe) --- barely visible sprouts.