seed sprouting success

Finally, I have seeds sprouting in each tray. I think it had to do with leaving the heating pad on under them for about 6 hours. Whoops! It was on low and their lids were on, so they didn't loose any water, but the temp was up to 85 degrees when I realized what I had done. It reminded me of the section of Animal Vegetable Miracle, when they needed the sprouts to sprout for Barbara's birthday party. They wrapped the jar in a heating pad for a few hours and the seeds sprung open. I think I accidentally did the same thing! They have also had the chance to spend time outside on the patio each day for the past three days. It's been sunny and the temps were around 65-70 degrees. Or maybe it was something like Murphy's law of seeds, I had just bought some tomato plants assuming the sprouting wasn't going to work and they sprouted by the following morning.
Now that there are seed sprouts, I have opened the covers and the lights are on them. The days are very sunny right now, so they will be going out in the sun from 9:00 in the morning to about 3:00 in the afternoon then under the lights until 11:00 at night. I am hoping that will give them enough light and heat to grow strong and not mold. I've had mold problems many times in the past trying to sprout seeds in those peat pots that expand in water.
Tomorrow will be my shopping experience for the raised beds!

Why I like Cultivating Life on Public TV

Last night I caught the episode entitled Rain on Cultivating Life and I thought about how much I like that show. I often think about projects from the show long after the episode is over. And, the projects are really accessible. Last night's project was a rain chain and I think I have everything at home to make it. It was attractive, do-able, and you could think of variation on the theme that you could design.
You can see yourself taking on a project here, a dinner there and planting a plant from one week's episode and next thing you know, you are becoming greener, healthier and more confident. I think being green is about confidence. When you find that you are more sustainable, and can make, grow or built what you need for yourself, you gain a confidence that can't be taken away. You are taking the power of, say, nourishment, away from others and giving it to yourself. It's like buying a garment that doesn't fit quite right and altering it to fit you. You are then in control of what you look like, not the tailor for the fit model or the designer that designed it for a imaginary model.

Empower yourself today!

money saving tip of the week- dish soap

I like to buy concentrated dish washing soap to save on the packaging, but I don't like to wash "a load of dishes". I'm a one to two at a time kind of gal. So my tip, I like put a little of the concentrated detergent in a larger and more attractive contained with a pour spout and add water- heavily diluting it. I get the same level of detergent as I would if it was in a dish pan, but I don't have to have the pan of water. My detergent lasts a long time!

Germinating- waiting

Day two of my germinating experiment, and I am surprised at the amount of heat the CFL's can put out. For the past two mornings I have needed to give the box of seed germination containers a hit on the heating pad for about 10-15 minutes to get the soil up to temp, around 71-75 degrees and the lamps seem to take care of maintaining it. I did give it a second hit this morning since it wasn't getting hot fast enough. My home thermostat, during the day, stay around 68 degrees on the top floor, which is not where the future seedlings are. So, I think they would stay too cool without the heating pad and lights. I've made many a moldy mess of germinating in the past from cold windowsills.
I found some more seedlings coming up in the spinach patch yesterday as I was covering them up with pine straw due to the possible snow.  Snow in Birmingham three days after Spring begins... I tell you! Not that I saw any snow, but it was very cold. So I'm hoping my seedlings stayed warm enough. I don't want to disturb the straw or the umbrella on the lettuce, so I can retain any heat this cloudy day can inpart. Tomorrow, they can strip their winter clothes, hopefully for good.

Germinating Peppers... and some Celery

As cheap as I am, I have spent the past few months trying to figure out the cheapest way to start my garden. Growing from seeds, is the cheapest way to get plants, but how to germinate. I've been looking at the clear egg carton each week knowing there has got to be another use for it besides the recycle can, and then I put the two together- an egg carton seed germinator. It sort of looks like the ones in the catalog, so I modified it to work. I cut off the inner part and cut holes in the bottom, the inner egg holder can now serve as the "saucer" and the clear plastic top holds the heat and moisture.
The heating mat- I didn't want to buy a heating mat, but I had a heating pad. So the kit was about complete, all I needed to add was some soil, lights, a place to set up and a couple of racks to keep the seed germinators off the direct heat. As luck would have it, I just got an order from Amazon in a nice sized box. In went the rack, heating pad, another rack, seed germinators, and some lighting from the top. And, the box went under the dining table, who's way would it be in there? And, then there is the question of how hot. I checked my Local extension office in Alabama and they have a chart for all vegetables. Prefect!
So, in my seed germinators are Pepper Giant Thai Hot, Pepper jackpot hybrid (both from Park Seed), Jalapeno M  Pepper from Ferry-Morse and Tall Utah 5270 Improved Celery also from Ferry-Morse. Some of these I have started a bit late for my area, but I'm hoping shade tents will keep the worst of the Alabama Summer Sun off of them.
In the pots outside I have a Radish mix and some Simpson Black Lettuce that I am picking from each day and I direct sowed some "Renagade" Spinach about a week ago. I have one spinach seedling up. And, we are expecting sleet ot snow on Monday. Looks like the lettuce will be needing a hat! if all this grows and fruits, I'll be finishing the Summer with my favorite canning recipes and drying methods. I should only be so lucky!

inspired by Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover

I have dabbled in gardening, off and on, for most of my life. As I child, my sister and I helped, and I say this without air quotes because I think we were a help more than a hinderance, with my grandmother and great grandmothers garden. As a young teen, I decided to turn a garbage can that was ready to make it's final pick-up into a composter. As a adult, I have made small gardens or gardens in large flower pots. This is the year that I will be truely inspired to change the word garden from a noun to a verb in all caps. Not just some tomatoes in a pot, an herb bed and some space saving cukes, but an honest feed the family type of garden. I'll be recording my journey here,  beginning today.
I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about a year ago. Well, I don't really "read" books, I listen to them on my ipod. And, I decided to revisit this book as I am planning my garden for some organic food living. I had fogotten how much I like this book. I enjoy books that you learn from, an though this is a great story, it's full of good information, especially if you don't know much about where food comes from.
My garden will be as organic as my wallet allows. I still have some old fertilizer that I will be using, if the plants look a little peeky, because I hate to waste things by throwing them out. I'd rather use them up. And, I will be using seeds that I realized after I bought them that some of them could be from a Monsanto seed mill. But, as I'm not a waster, I'll still be using them.
I hope yu enjoy my journey, and maybeyou will be inspired too!