First Harvest

Today, I had my first official harvest: 2 arugula leaves. Okay, nothing really to celebrate. But arugula is definitely the head of the balcony class; their long, peppery leaves are the envy of all the other plants which I started from seed.

I also picked some red chard leaves from the seedlings I acquired and planted last weekend. One of the plants was already starting to bolt (going to seed). I read that when leafy edible plants bolt, their leaves turn bitter. So I figured better to chop that baby down and eat it.

These pretty little leaves will do well in a pasta with some oil, onions and mushrooms.

Aspire to Something Higher

I was counting on growing all plants from seed this year, figuring it wouldn't be too difficult: sow, water and harvest, right? But after many weeks of very slow progress, with the realization that I might not be able to eat anything from the garden this year except sprouts, I decided to try planting seedlings.

Last weekend, my partner's mother brought over some tomato plants from her own stash: 2 Beefsteaks and 1 Tiny Tom. And just yesterday, I went to FoodShare's Plant Give-Away event, where I picked up 5 healthy looking plants: 2 Golden Cherry Tomato, 1 Ruby Red Chard, 1 Cinnamon Basil and 1 King of the North Sweet Pepper.

All these babies are now replanted into containers on my balcony. With half a bag of mushroom compost mixed into the soil, and sunnier skies in the forecast, the plants should all be a happier bunch. Now that the little seedlings have bigger, stronger plants in their crew, they're sure to be more motivated to grow.

Seedling Gets A Beating

My tomato and pepper seedlings haven't been growing well under the fluorescent indoor lights; only one set of true leaves have grown. After visiting a couple of garden stores and seeing the strong and tall plants for sale, a surge of envy convinced me that the seedlings just needed some outdoor exposure.

I started exposing the seedlings to the outdoors a few hours a day, to harden them. Then one day last week, we had an unusually chilly spring day. I checked the weather before I left work in the morning; the forecast seemed warm and sunny enough. I still put the seedlings outside, but put a clear protective shield on the containers, just in case. The wind swooped in like.... well, like the wind. By the time I arrived home that afternoon, the protective shields were nowhere to be found. Three of the 6 seedlings were lying down, their stems snapped. Some of the other seedlings' leaves turned yellow, shrivelled, or blew off entirely.

Sorry little helpless plants. You paid dearly for my mistake. This post is dedicated in your memory.