Thursday, August 13, 2009

Posts and Seeds

Or lack thereof. I have been sick for a few months, no, a few years, but it got worse a few months ago. I am having surgery next friday that I have to pay for myself because I do not have insurance. Right now I am happy to know that I will be better soon. I will have to do this surgery every few years, but that is okay. Things could be worse. I lost a lot of weight and due to this disease I have put some back on. I hope that this surgery is the answer and I can get back to normal and eat well and exercise regularly. At least the surgery will take away the pain I am in.

I have done some crafts, but not too many. I have only started a necklace and not finished it. I did make some earrings. I have painted two small pictures and started two large paintings -one has three canvases.

I also started gardening again in spite of the pain. I love gardening. It is very meditative for me. I feel at peace when I am gardening or working in the yard or with dirt. I finally realized why some houseplants have not made it. I am not filling the pots with enough dirt. The plants aren't getting enough air to the main stem and they are dying. This is the reason of my post today. How to work with potted plants and grow from seeds.

I have a compost bin in my backyard and I flipped things around the other day and took some of the dirt to the garden I started in the front yard. The area I have plants in doesn't get watered regularly. Rain doesn't make it to this spot unless it is blowing from the west or south. So that dirt did have grass thanks to the seeds I planted earlier in the year, but when I dug the grass up and moved it to other locations in the yard, what was underneath was nutrient-less rock-solid dirt.

While I was getting dirt from the bin to the front yard, I made the decision that the the stuff that comes from my compost bin will not go inside. There was an ant farm in there, there are hundreds of rolly pollies, there are some bugs that look like flatter and narrower rolly pollies with a pointy tail, there were termites and maggots... That stuff is fine for outside and will be beneficial for the ground that gets nothing, but it will not go in my house.

So I had to buy some potting soil. I hate to spend money on dirt that is readily available, but for my love of gardening, I will have to.

I also bought a seed starting tray. I am going to try my best to grow plants from seed so next year I can have a beautiful garden that was super cheap. I planted a lot of things in the tray and the hollyhocks shot up, while the other seeds are barely sprouting or not sprouting at all. I knew when I was planting the seeds that I should have read their respective germinating times, but I didn't. Now I have to check it daily to make sure there is plenty of water because I have the plastic lid over half of the tray to help with moisture, but it isn't nearly as good as having the lid on the whole tray. As soon as the hollyhocks have some true leaves, I think the packet said four true leaves and not just two like most other plants, I will move them into larger pots so the other cells can continue with the dome lid on top of the tray.

I have tried many times to grow basil in my house and I never can. They make it a few weeks and die where the stem meets the dirt. I think this is because I am not putting enough dirt in the pot and air isn't getting to the stem. I have a lot of pots with plants that can apparently take a little of this type of abuse, but I will fix it today. One of the plants is not looking happy so my goal is to make him stand upright and get him some nutrients. He probably needs to be re-potted anyway.

Can I upload pictures after I have posted? I'm sure I can... I will show you what I mean about not filling a pot with enough dirt later today.

I am in pain, but knowing there is repair around the corner makes it easier to deal with. I am going to go get my day started and get this gardening underway! Happy Thursday!

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