Saturday, May 07, 2011

If at first you don’t succeed…

…try, try again.

That’s where we’re at right now. This is the first time in a number of years that we’ve had the opportunity and space to do a bit of gardening. We’ve both been planting some things, hoping to enjoy the fruits of our labours later in the season.

John’s planted nasty urchins (that’s what he calls nasturtiums) and has put together a hanging basket with geraniums, lobelia and, when they come up, nasturtiums. I’ve been planting herbs, lettuce, spinach and green beans.

This is where the lack of success comes in. John got some corn gluten from work. It’s used to inhibit weeds in the lawns by preventing germination. He mixed it in to some potting soil, added some fertilizer and distributed it between the pots we have. He also threw some in the small garden bed outside the back door, where I planted lettuce and spinach. I used the same soil for starting the seeds. Did you catch that?

It’s used to inhibit weeds by preventing germination. Yup. None of my seeds came up. These were seeded two weeks ago and have been kept primarily indoors. They should have sprouted by now.

So, last week I tried again with different soil. However, when John asked where I’d taken the soil from, he reminded me that it also had the corn gluten in it.

And so, this morning, I had to start all over again.

3 comments:

  1. Hmmm, good learning experience! We have some tiny seedlings now - my husband is the gardener in our house. As for nasturtiums, when I want to use the term "casting aspersions" I often say "casting nasturtiums" just for fun. (c;

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  2. Weeds are just plants that grow where you don't want them. A rose is a weed in the lettuce patch. Glad you finally found the right soil! Right now I'm scared to go out to see what the huge hailstorm we had today did to my poor garden. Sigh. It was just getting going...

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  3. How frustrating all this had to be for you. I do hope you have success this time around. And the plants you are planting will grow quickly, so I'm sure you still have plenty of time to plant and see a successful harvest.

    Here, if we tried to plant anything, it would be drowned in no time. Thankfully I live up on a mountain, but rain is still rain up here, and too much is good for no one or no thing. The grass seems to be enjoying it though. GAH!

    Happy Gardening! :)

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