This month certainly has had its’ successes and failures. I am still whirling from the experience of my truck breaking down and refusing to engage into drive but then again everything else has started to roll along nicely, so I will try not to complain to much. God is always in control, so I know it will work out. The new wood stove is a gorgeous addition to my interior design and my old wood stove sold easily on craigslist for the price I wanted.
All in all I am one happy camper; feeling some growing pains here and there but nothing I can not handle. Which brings me to the magical greenery I have growing vigorously in my bathroom. The basil has at least quadrupled in size as well as the pumpkins, chili pepper, watermelon, Brussels sprouts and artichoke. I am very optimistic for this years garden, I plan to build some cold frames for transitioning my starts and to install an irrigation drip line for all of the garden plants which will cut down on thriving weeds and the labor of watering each plant individually.

The plants have not become overly leggy so the three grow lights are working out very well. I do worry I will run out of space for all of these plants once I go to move them into larger containers but that is a bridge I will cross when I come to it. I also have my window sills filled with all the succulents I am propagating so the room I am renting looks rather ridiculous. I can only imagine what the neighbors think looking in and seeing the grow lights on and windows filled with pots and plants.

The other day when it was really nice outside I went ahead and stocked up on some gardening supplies at Home Depot. I went in for fertilizer and ended up getting lost in their new spring inventory of seeds, bulbs and bare root plants. I ended up purchasing some more edible treats: asparagus, purple potato starts, kiwi vines and some other non-edible landscaping bulbs like peonies, gladiolus, and Peruvian Daffodils. 

Since Luke and I have been stocking up on so many plants lately that I decided I needed to invest in a few more garden tools. I purchased a Hori Hori by barebones and a quick bulb planter which should save my wrists when I go to plant the 100 some odd bulbs we have purchased.

One task I also took on prior to this post is thinning out the tomato and Brussels sprout seedlings. Here is where I made another mistake that I hope you can learn from. I was simply pulling out the weakest looking plants and leaving the strongest. This caused the stronger seedling to have its roots disrupted and some of them went into shock and wilted. They became weak and shriveled so I increased their fertilizer in hopes of reviving them. It worked tried and true and the photos above are proof in the pudding.

In the future instead of pulling the weaker seedlings I will trim the smaller plants with scissors to the soil leaving the stronger plants undisturbed. I have learned my lesson and hope the rest of my plants continue to thrive with this new found knowledge.

Keep up to date with all the things I am doing on the homestead in next weeks post; Winter Getaway