Apr 28, 2020
From seeds to plants and hopefully food
What we used to start growing our seeds.
They sure got big fast.
We had frost again last night. At the moment I am growing zucchini ( 2 plants ), cucumber (3 inside ), tomatoes ( 10 plants inside ), carrots ( 1 large pot ), beans ( 1 large pot ) and Swiss chard ( 1 large pot ) inside my house. So looking forward to moving them outside. Oh and nine small pots of petuanias . Ahh, also an onion, that is an experiment. Meanwhile in our garden, we see a few beets peeping up as well as two types of peas and lots of kale. There is a low of 4C for Thursday and after that hopefully we plant some of our seedlings and bean seeds.
We planted seeds in these starter pots we picked up in the states.
They grew.
And grew.
Some were transplanted into the large green pots ( otherwise known as my flower pots ) and others into smaller pots to transplant into the garden, if it ever warms up. Cucumber on the top left and a bean plant on the right. Two tomatoes and two zucchini. You will see further down how large the cucumber and bean plants have already got.
I planted Swiss chard and carrots seeds into these pots.
The carrots are doing well as is the Swiss chard. I will plant more of both in the garden as well. We are here all summer ( can’t go anywhere ) so we will eat from our garden.
The bean plant is going crazy. See those two thin feelers, they grow several inches per day. They are rather fascinating as they cross over each other and intertwine and then the next time I walk by they are going in different directions like this.
Looking forward to seeing how cucumbers grow in a pot. We will have three other plants in the garden, two from plants we grew from seeds and then we will start one from a seed planted directly into the earth in the garden. My thinking is that they might grow at different speeds.
This zucchini is more than ready to be planted but after growing it from a tiny seed there is no way I am taking a chance on a late frost.
The tomatoes are looking really good.
We are having fun with this project and are looking forward to a great harvest without having to spend too much time dealing with all the weeds from our first garden site. The problem with that site is that it is too close to the trees and invading weeds. I hope the folks that got our site don’t have too many problems but I will be keeping an eye on them.
There was another article about the hungry on the Isla and how they are asking the government to please give them food baskets. They are feeling forgotten. Click here to read that article. Fortunately I have raised enough money that 130 families were fed last Friday and another 130 families will get food this week as well, likely many of the same as the previous week. I believe that there might be enough money left to feed 60 – 90 families for the third week. After that the money will run out. I will do a post soon with all the details.
I buckled down and went back to work yesterday. Hope to have the company and personal taxes completed by end of day Friday. And then I can kick back and read a book. FYI, I do it all by hand. No way do I want to learn how to do it on the computer. Too much trouble and too much of a learning curve at my age. I love that I can just erase a mistake and rewrite the correct figures.
That flag has been ripped by the strong winds. Still made for a lovely sunset last evening.
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Looks like a great start to your garden. You picked some great items, well, except the Swiss Chard that is!
Well to each his own :)). Nice to hear from you.
You can simply plant your garden then use Plastic Sheeting creating a Green House to protect it from the frost.
Be Safe and Enjoy the Vegetables of your labour.
It’s about time.
Yes I am aware of that. In fact one of my friends here did that and lost all of her cucumbers a few weeks ago. Plus to be honest I don’t want the extra expense of buying the plastic sheeting.
Wow, you are doing a great job with your planting. Those starter pots are fantastic and I wish I had those too. Did not see anything like it here. I used cardboard egg cartons and filled them with left over potting soil but not all seeds germinated. I’m not so happy about the outcome and blame it on the soil.
Our outdoor ground is still way too cold for planting anything into the soil. This year we are way behind the seasonal temps. Keep posting about your growing veggies, I’m envious. 😉
Thank you but we are still learning and this is all a new experiment this spring. First time we have grown plants for seeds. The starter kit we picked up was actually made in Canada. It is called Jiffy Tomato and Vegetable Greenhouse. We got the 16 cell package but they do come in larger sizes. Try checking http://www.ferrymorse.com That was on the package.
Have enjoyed your photos and cartoons in the last couple of posts and borrowed one of them…..well just took it! So I am asking for permission or forgiveness whichever applies now. Loved the photo of Colin’s socks. I continue to support a “feeding program” in LaPenita – you can see the one I support (and there are others) on my FB page if you would like to see how they are handling feeding the hungry in that area. Cesar and his family and volunteers work tirelessly to feed the hungry I admire their effort so much and help as I can. Thank you for your help in feeding the hungry on the Isla.
Contessa, Maybe I should have mentioned financially support the “feeding programs” since we are not in the area at the moment.
I knew what you meant amiga.
I have also ‘borrowed’ those cute cartoons and sayings so please feel free to use them again. So glad that there are people all over helping to feed the hungry in Mexico. We fed 130 families last week and will do so again this week and next week for certain and then I don’t know.
would love to send some of our heat your way – 101 today and windy – like standing in front of a blow dryer. Glad you are catching up on things and your plants are great. Take care of yourselves.
I would love to trade come cool for your heat. We are doing well in spite all of this and not being able to work.
Jeeps..everything is growing great. My pots are outside (beets, lettuce etc.) I did start some Mexican Calabasa larga seeds in the house and they came up. The picture shows a zucchini type squash that is light green. ?
The Mexican Calabasa will be interesting. I wonder how it will taste. You can let us know. I am really thinking but growing romaine and other lettuce. Maybe next year.
Wow, that’s a lot of families fed. I read that the beaches and tourism are closed in Mazatlan and area until at least June 1 now. So so sad. They have hope for reopening but who will come? Other countries like Argentina have closed all flights within their country until September 1! One day at a time I guess, for everyone. I also heard the cartel was handing out food bundles in Manzanillo, clearly identified so people would know who were feeding them.
This year I am going to put more cucumber plants per pot, see if that helps with the pollination which has been an issue in other years.
I heard about June 1st and Mexico but not about Argentina. I think that had Canada shut down the airports and border much much sooner we would not be in as bad a situation as we are now. We were lucky last season with our self pollinating cucumber. I will have to keep an eye on the one in the pot.
Wow you are going to have the best garden in the Okanagan! I wish I had the room to start my plants inside but hopefully it will warm up and I can get it started outside.
I don’t think so but it will be a fun project and as we are here all summer. I keep bumping into plants all over the place. Hope to get them outside this weekend. Maybe not the tomatoes yet.
Regarding taxes on the computer, I understand your reluctance but after teaching my Army soldiers how to do taxes back in the 1960s (prior to that we did not have to file individuallys and the Government simply took what they decided), then doing all the pencil and eraser stuff for years, several years ago I started with the free CRA software ‘Studio Tax’. It is so easy and for anyone with investment income even easier, one can go online with the software and import all the information CRA has directly into the software. I then double check, add our charitable donations and medical expenses, etc and it is done. Easy and no calculation errors. Three years ago I had problems as the investment documents were confusing – there were 5 E-statements but CRA had more. The way CRA does it is different from our investment company and theirs is clearer and done automatically. Just my 2 cents, sorry nickles worth as we do not use cents anymore
I appreciate your nickels worth 🙂 I even do our company taxes by hand. I send it all to our accountant in Vancouver ad he puts it together as he figures out our personal taxes based on the company taxes. I am happy doing it this way