Written by Grumpy Pumpkin

Room for error

When rain strikes, as it sometimes will day after day in the spring, there are other things we can do to keep on track for a successful garden. Seedlings should be taking off and growing noticeably by the day. Remember when I touched on having room for error? Well, today I will show you some errors and how getting started early let’s us have plenty of wiggle room to correct things that go wrong. I’ll also plant some seeds directly into their growing space to demonstrate the process of potting. It’s a big day….but in baby steps 🙂

Every day, more and more seeds are sprouting. It’s an exciting time!!
The peat pots have a few that are really taking off.
Even the solo cups have a baby seedling 🌱
I even managed to find a few seed packs on my trip to the hardware store yesterday. Jalapeños can be canned, which is good news for year-long eating.
This is definitely nothing that I planted. The tiny invading weeds we have discussed earlier can pop up anywhere!! These were probably mixed with the potting soil I purchased. I’m going to leave them alone, for now, just in case my seedlings appear. But mark my words, they will be destroyed.

Now, let’s discuss failure. You can try really hard, do everything the way you should and absolutely nothing will happen. Sometimes when you plant seedlings, they don’t all pop up and sometimes, none of them pop up. A perfect example of this is my bell peppers. Let me give you a rundown….when I planted my seeds, I also planted peppers of the bell 🔔 variety.

Exhibit A – the suspects
Exhibit B – the crime scene (if crimes scenes were defined as places things DIDN’T happen. Notice, the empty spaces among the baby pots.

Remember all the useful information I told you was on the back of the pack? Well, I just re-read all of it. What I was looking for specifically was seed depth (1/4” at planting) and days to sprout, which in this case is 7-10. Well, it’s been like 6, so I will leave them alone a few more days. The instructions don’t list any specific cautionary statements, they even have the audacity to say “easy to grow” (my ass). But this is a perfect example of wiggle room. We are really early in the growing season, barely out of the frost threat season. I’d still like to have all the plants in their permanent homes and spaces by Mother’s Day. I still have plenty of time to abandon ship on these little pots of peppers and try again with fresh pots and soil, just to rule out error. We pretty much have the entire month of April to try and try again.

As promised….a planting in a permanent spot.
Three bamboo poles (or any straight pole about 3’ tall) wire tied at one end. We are going to make a teepee shape out of them.
Press the poles in, about an inch off the sides of the pot, with the tied end in the air. Again, you’re going for a teepee.
Make three holes with a pen, about a 1/4” deep per the instructions on the back of the seed packet. Make these holes in between your teepee rods. Drop 3 – 4 seeds in each hole. cover each hole lightly with dirt and gently pack down.
Give each seed location a gentle soak. This gets them on their way.
Step back and admire your work!! You just planted your first garden plot!!

Pots are great because you can move them around, so don’t stress too much about where the pot is right now. What matters is that YOU DID IT!! You took a huge step and officially started the first plot of your garden. Many more to come 💜

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