Rascally Rabbits!!!
May 24, 2008 at 8:00 am | In Gardening, Pole beans | 3 CommentsThey ate my beans! There I was, sitting up on my gardening high horse, feeling smug in the fact that rabbits haven’t bothered any of my vegetables. I thought for sure if they haven’t by now, they never would, and my trusty rabbit-hunting Peanut would do a fine job of keeping them away.
And then we went for a walk.
A long walk.
I checked on my plants when we got back this morning, and some of my bean leaves are gone. Just gone! One whole plant has vanished. Peter Cottontail ate it clean off. The other plants look ok; a few bites were taken out of the leaves but the beginnings of the flowers in the middle are still intact. I put the pots up off the ground, so hopefully that’ll do the trick.
I feel violated.
But, on a completely different subject, we’re moving to Florida. That’s right. Florida. A new job landed in my husband’s lap and we jumped at the opportunity. We’re leaving in less than two weeks. Of course, one of my first thoughts was of my plants. What am I to do? I have something like 13 pots. How will we transport them? Will they even survive? Where will we put them in our new place?
I think I have it figured out how to move them, but I’m worried they won’t take the move very well. I’m also a bit concerned about finding a place for them. All the apartments we’ve looked at have balconies, but most of them are screened in. Will that matter? I don’t know what exposure they’d get there, either. This will all work out, but in the meantime, I have lots to think about. If you have any suggestions for moving them or have insight on how screened balconies are for vegetables, please let me know.
Beans!
May 18, 2008 at 2:26 pm | In Cooking, Gardening, Herbs, Pole beans | Leave a CommentIn light of the recent beanheading, I was convinced the other bean seeds wouldn’t sprout. For days, they hovered just beneath the surface and I figured they knew what had happened to the last bean sprout that poked his head through the soil. I was wrong, though. They have all appeared! They seem to be thriving. I can’t wait for purple-podded beans.
In other gardening news, I’m worried my plants aren’t doing so well. It’s been so windy and rainy here. The soil looks odd, but I’m wondering if that’s because I did my own mixture of potting soil and compost, and I’m not used to how compost looks. Wishful thinking? One of my tomato plants has some light tan spots on them. I heard that could be because the plant is waterlogged, but the soil looks so cracked and dry! I know it’s not likely they haven’t been getting enough water, though. We had to do a major rescue mission Thursday night after work. It was pouring down rain and the plants just had water standing in their pots. I hope I can salvage them all…
We did enjoy a lovely tomato, basil, and mozzarella pizza for lunch today, made with basil from the garden. It was so fresh and delicious. I can only imagine how it would taste with fresh tomatoes.
Wow, I’m glad I went to the gym this morning…
May 15, 2008 at 5:40 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentEven though I really, really, REALLY wanted to stay in bed this morning, I got my butt to the gym and weighed myself. I’m down another 2 pounds. That’s 15.8 total!
A Beanheading!!
May 14, 2008 at 7:23 am | In Pole beans | 3 CommentsWhat a tradegy…
The other bean seeds I planted are just so close to poking their heads out of the soil. I thought for sure they’d make their debuts by the end of the day yesterday, but they didn’t. However, I realized during my usual morning check-in today that one of the sprouts must have made his debut sometime in the night, only to be BEHEADED by the storm. (I’m blaming it on the storm, anyway.) My poor bean. All I saw was the stalk poking out of the ground and the seed with the leaves starting to come out lying next to it. So sad. I hope my other seedlings don’t meet the same fate. 
Garden Day
May 10, 2008 at 2:20 pm | In Cool-weather gardening, Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce, Planting, Pole beans, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentI have everything planted! I had a great morning; we woke up early to get first pick at the Common Ground Co-op plant sale. It was so worth it. I had been dreaming about Aurora peppers ever since I saw the seeds on www.seedsavers.org. I really wanted them, but decided to try to find another hot pepper and start from a transplant instead of from seed. I never thought I’d find the actual Aurora, though. Guess what…there were four or so plants at the sale. I snatched one up and I’m so thrilled. It’s my pride and joy. 
The picture is fuzzy, but it’s such a cute plant.
After the co-op sale, we headed to Prairie Gardens. I bought three types of tomatoes: Early Girl, Golden Boy, and Red Cherry. We also picked up a lilac bell pepper and parsley, basil, and cilantro. Here are some shots of my garden areas. Beans and some lettuce (in the small round pot) are in this little dirt area. On the patio, I have a rectangular pot of lettuce, then my cabbage and more lettuce. The next row of pots features my two pepper plants and my herbs. The far side of the patio holds two tomato pots, and the third tomato pot is on the ground next to the patio. Ignore the mud and ugly doors.
As if today wasn’t already great enough, I realized one of my purple-podded pole bean seeds is starting to sprout. Welcome to the world, bean!
In terms of supplies, we ended up with:
3 14″ round pots
2 10″ round pots
2 8″ round pots
4 5″ round pots
2 rectangular pots
5 5′ tall wooden supports
3 tomato cages
2 40lb bags compost
2 40lb bags potting soil
1 20lb bag potting soil
I’m excited
May 6, 2008 at 3:28 pm | In Uncategorized | 2 CommentsThere is a CUPCAKE SHOP in downtown Champaign! I just said to Junior last night, “You know, I really have a craving for a cupcake. Cupcakes make me happy. When I think about eating a cupcake, I feel warm and fuzzy, but not so much when I think about a piece of cake.” I was this close to making cupcakes last night but stopped myself because I didn’t want a whole batch of cupcakes. I just wanted one.
Imagine my delight when I heard through a coworker that there is a cupcake shop in town. I can’t wait. Cakes on Walnut, here I come!!!
The Great Peanut-Lettuce Incident of 2008
May 3, 2008 at 12:07 pm | In Cool-weather gardening, Gardening, Lettuce, Peanut | Leave a CommentI painstakingly thinned my lettuce sprouts. It was hard to kill off all those thriving sprouts, but I know it was the right thing to do. I just hope I did it right! I went from dozens of sprouts, all with true leaves, to just a few spaced around the round pot. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. However, I have another lettuce story to share…
Peanut was nearby while I was doing this lettuce thinning. She appeared curious several times and sniffed the pots, but I kept telling her to get away. I turned my back for a minute, and when I turned back to face my rectangular lettuce pot, I saw that Peanut had had a heyday sniffing it. Her nose was covered in dirt and my tiny lettuce sprouts were all uprooted. My first reaction was to be upset and I called Junior over. He could tell I was upset, but his first reaction was to laugh. He had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud and he was really trying to be serious, but after a few seconds, I did have to admit the whole situation was pretty funny. It’s a good thing I have more lettuce seeds. I decided to just plant some more and be more mindful of keeping Peanut away from my containers.
Oh man, the things I’m learning…
Major growth!
May 1, 2008 at 12:13 pm | In Cool-weather gardening, Gardening, Lettuce | Leave a CommentIt’s been a little while since my last update, and I have pictures! 
Both pots of my lettuce are growing so fast and the cabbage plant is in the midst of a serious growth spurt. My husband wonders if it will soon outgrow the pot, but I’m confident it’s ok as is. At least I’m keeping my fingers crossed it is. The first two pictures are of the pot with cabbage and Deer Tongue lettuce. I’m starting to see two or three sets of true leaves on these lettuce sprouts, and I think these are getting close to needing thinning. I’m very nervous about that process.
The final picture is of my rectangle lettuce pot. The top row is Mesclun mix and the bottom row is more Deer Tongue. I planted this pot almost a week after my first pot, and it certainly isn’t far behind in terms of impressive growth. I started seeing true leaves on those sprouts last week.
I did plant my bean seeds, but it may be too cool yet. I’m in the middle of a bean support conundrum, but I’m working on a solution. More on that to come! I’m getting very excited to plant my other vegetables. I plan to in another week or so. It’s exciting!
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