Gardening Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Lilies Popping Up

     I'm having horrific flashbacks from last year's disastrous tomato crop. Several of my tomato seedlings are turning purple, which is what they did last year before they died. Some of the seedlings have curling leaves as well. After frantically searching the internet, I've come to the conclusion that the curling is from over-watering and the purple tint is from soil that is too cold. I'm switching the watering schedule back to every three days and have the tomato seedlings on a heating pad. Hopefully, I'll see a turn around in the next couple of days. The rest of the seedlings, except for the squash, which still hasn't emerged, are doing well. It will be time to plant peas any day now.

"The Mischievous One"

     I also added some fish emulsion to the plants, to help the tomatoes get more phosphorous. It attracted "The Mischievous One", who waited until I was in the bathroom to break in to the office/seedling room. Luckily, I heard the door open so I ran out of the bathroom to stop him. He also tried it when we went to bed last night (he even came to the bedroom door to make sure we were in bed), and this morning when he thought we weren't watching. So far he's been unable to get any quality alone time with the plants, luckily for me and the plants.
     The warm weather is melting all of the snow and all I want is to be outside. The lilies and violets are popping up, which means spring is officially here in my mind. The warm weather always makes me want some sort of veggie dip, so I picked up some Baba Ganoush at my local natural foods store. I'm making some Italian Basil-Garlic bread in the bread maker to go with it, and will roast some carrots as well. Spring is here!