"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Setbacks So Far

I wanted to update Y'all on a few failures...ahem....setbacks that I've had lately.

Remember the celery from a few posts ago?  Well, it up and died on me.  Did I leave it in the water too long?  I think so.  It suddenly seemed to rot before my eyes.  Next time, I'll get it started in the water and then transplant it much quicker than I did with this last one.

Peppers.  Gosh they took forever to germinate and get rolling.  I thought that it couldn't hurt to get them in the ground soonest.  But I'd forgotten about my little sluggy friends.



They've taken out about 1/2 of my pepper starts.  You can see I've been pretty aggressive with the DE.  I plan on starting some more indoors.  Hopefully I can get them up to size and transplant more before July.

The casabanana's I started back in January are down to just one plant.  I started 2 and when the warmer weather hit planted them outside.  One never recovered from the frost.  The other is coming along but still very small for being 4 months old. 




I've heard that these need a long growing season.  No kidding.  Just for curiosity I stuck a few more seeds in the ground to see what would happen.  Nothing yet.

The broccoli rapini is a great looking plant but I'm very disappointed by the size of the florets.



If I plucked them all I might have a handful.  I won't bother with this plant again.




The tomatoes are still hanging in there but looking a bit under the weather. 



I assume I didn't do them a favor planting them in 90 degree weather and in freshly turned clay.  I'd like to think that the compost will help so I'm still holding out hope that they'll snap out of it and start kicking.  The existing leaves turned splotchy with white, brownish green and yellowish green patterns to them.  SM says I shocked them for sure.  But the new growth appears to be a bright, healthy dark green.  My fingers are crossed.



It would be really nice if we'd get some rain.  The ground is cracking already.

That's what we really need is a good soaking rain.  I think everything would snap into place then.  I looked at our last 30 day report and totaled the rain amount.  Just over 1 inch in a month.  Not a great way to start the gardening season.

7 comments:

  1. My celery stub had rooted just wonderfully with nice healthy roots. I was planning on potting it up this weekend, but yesterday got away from me, the water in the plate evaporated and today the roots are brown and dead. *sigh* You look away for a moment and a month of effort is lost. Bummer.

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  2. Oh my gosh-your ground is all cracked. You ARE a bit behind with rain. Hope you get some soon. One good rain does more good than a month of watering with a hose. Good luck!

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  3. Mother Nature is just amazing, isn't she? While your ground is cracked and dry, we have standing water in our fields. It's either feast or famine, I guess. Perhaps we could have a chat with Mother Nature and tell her to spread out the rain love a lil' bit more? I'm crossing my fingers for you and your...um...setbacks...

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  4. We were holding out for rain and got about 4 inches yesterday. The garden transplants were struggling until yesterday. I am wondering if they were crushed by that heavy rain but won't have the courage to look until after another cup of coffee...Stevie@ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com

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  5. I just posted my setbacks on my blog this morning. My peas may not make it. We have had lots of rain. Too much or too little rain--the life of a gardener.
    Lisa

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  6. I hope you'll harvest whole plant on broccoli raab (rapini) and not just florets. It's all edible - leafs, stems and all. Just blanch it and toss it on the skillet with olive oil and a bit of crushed garlic. good luck with the rain!

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  7. Well, I appreciate your ups and downs! I'm wondering what kind of gardening year we'll have. With the kitchen project, I seem to be behind in everything else. When you get that rain, please send some down our way.

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