Sharpredpencil’s Weblog

I finally got my old garden disposed of, and let me tell you, that’s quite a job on a screened-in balcony. There is still a little bit of dirt dusting the balcony floor, but there is just nowhere for it to go.

My Aurora pepper and purple tomatillo seedlings were doing great, but obviously I passed the window of time when I should have transplanted them. They are going downhill fast, shriveling leaves and all. I put off transplanting them because I was preoccupied with cleaning out the old garden and didn’t want to plant them until that was finished. Now that it is finished, though, I’m putting the transplanting off until after some storms pass this next week. It’s a terrible excuse, but I dread having to drag those heavy pots inside. Besides the space issue, my seedlings have a little bit of mildew on the undersides of the leaves. Some air does circulate through the screens of the balcony, but it must not be enough. I started spraying the leaves with a solution of 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 16 ounces of water. I think I’ll nurse the seedlings a few more days and then decide if I’ll go through with the transplants once the storms have passed or just replant seeds.

I found an organic seed store in a nearby town and bought some seeds: Everglades tomato (that’s the cherry one, I think), Marglobe tomato (full-size, I think), Wando pea, peppermint, and tea. I’m still trying to get my own little herb tea garden going, although I learned the tea plant could take a few years to produce usable leaves. We’ll see…I’ve already planted the two tomato seeds, so hopefully I’ll have better luck than my earlier seedlings. I’ll wait another month or two to plant the pea and peppermint seeds. I will go ahead and plant the tea seed; it’s currently soaking for 24 hours.

In nongardening news, I’ve picked up sewing. I have grand dreams of sewing skirts, tops, and dresses and seeing where that takes me. I love some of the new patterns available now, especially the Simplicity New Look ones. The style of clothes is right up my alley. I’ve already finished one top, but I’m disappointed in it. The seams aren’t as neat as I’d like, but that will come with experience. I didn’t get the size in the bust right, though, because it’s too tight. I’ve started making a similar top in the appropriate size and in a soft, t-shirty material. It’s far easier to work with than the linen I started with. I hope to be able to model the next one.