some of you may remember that i got all keen back in august when we had that warm snap, and planted a whole lot of summer veg (see here and here).
well, i seem to have successfully killed them all!
only two lettuce plants and a tomato actually germinated and then they pegged. i am not going to beat myself up about it. how was i to know we were about to have one of the coldest, wettest Septembers in living memory?!
and i am trying again. when i was replanting them now, i noticed some of the beans had mould on.
i have replanted into the same toilet roll seed starters i was using before (see photo below). for those of you who missed the post, i have done this because it allows me to carefully monitor what grows and what doesn;t, and how much water i am giving them. but best of all, it allows me to plant the little seedlings straight into the pots/ground – no need for messy transplanting which risks damaging their little roots. the toilet roll disintergrates into the soil and the seed grows. well, this is the theory, still keen to see it work.
and this is what i have planted:
- tomatoes (which need at least 16 degrees to germinate)
- beans (which need 10 degrees)
- lettuce (which needs 18 degrees)
- onions (which need a temp over freezing)
i can’t quite understand why the lettuce was the most prolific germinator since it needs the highest temps to germinate, but am going to continue plodding forward until i get stuff to grow. i really want to produce my own veggies. let’s hold thumbs that the warmer weather holds!
LOL! I planted tomatoes this year and got a big crop – but it never got warm enough for them to ripen – a combination of me being tardy in planting the seeds and a cool grey summer. So now I am investigating replicating the wonderful green tomato and apply chutney I had on a sandwich the other day
Apparently potatoes are easy to grow too – you plant them in cardboard boxes so you don’t have to dig up your garden to harvest them!
By: Jeanne on October 28, 2008
at 7:38 pm
hmm, I posted a comment here the other day but for some reason it didn’t appear.
Jeanne, I heard that the best way to grow potatoes is in old tyres stacked on top of each other.
AL, check out this post on Sprouts at Urban Sprout, might be something you can grow without murdering them…
http://www.urbansprout.co.za/sprout_with_it
By: relaxwithdax on November 13, 2008
at 11:56 am
Been reading bits and bobs of your blog and really like it. Don’t feel bad, my husband and I planted:
Lettuce
Rocket
Lolla Rossa
Artichokes
Green beans
Spinach
Kale
Cauliflower
Tomatoes
Carrots
and more
What survived?
Rocket
Green beans (hardvested about 10 beans)
Spinach
Tomatoes
Carrots (as big as my little finger)
This time around we planted mostly straight into the garden, and a lot of things came up spontaneously where their forebears died last season. So far everything is doing pretty well. So don’t give up
By: EvylShnukums on November 20, 2008
at 3:38 pm
Hi! I’m a new reader of your blog – really enjoying it. My veggie garden failed miserably for years in the barren, beginning-of-the-cape-flats sand. But last year I got three things – a dog, a boyfriend and some old wood!!! And the garden is thriving.
The dog is good because i want to spend time in the garden with him, so I make myself useful while I’m there an water the plants.
The boyfriend is useful because every time we go on one of our dates to Builder’s Warehouse (exciting stuff!), I pick up a bag of BounceBack. Wonderful stuff. I don’t drive, so getting fertiliser before used to be quite tricky.
And the wood is great because you can make deep beds. They’re great because you completely control the soil quality, and they’re more water efficient. If you build them high enough, there’s also a lot less bending down to dig around and pick things for dinner!
Good luck!
By: Anna on January 5, 2009
at 4:53 pm