Here we are again, talking about wiggle room. In the last blog, I was feeling all industrious and planting left and right. Mother Nature decided to humble me right up by giving me a heaping serving of “Simmer the Hell Down” pie. Some of the plants I had put in the ground died instantly. And when I say instantly, I mean two days going strong, then I go outside and find absolute carnage of death and despair. So let me retrace my steps….

My peas, cucumbers, spaghetti squash and beans were overflowing from their baby pots, so I began the process of “gardening up”, a.k.a. Exposing them to the outdoors alittle more every day so they wouldn’t feel completely shocked and neglected when I planted them in the ground. For the first two days after I transplanted them, everything went great and they seemed like they were thriving. But when day three hit, I went out to give them their evening watering and all I found was death. The peas can’t stay attached to their trellis, the beans are wilting with white-tipped leaves and the cucumbers just dried up and died.

So what happened….well, from what I can guess, I went through the gardening up process while it was partly cloudy. Day after day, those clouds gave a welcome reprieve to my baby plants from the strong sun. So they didn’t harden up as much as they needed to. Day one and two in the ground were both cloudy days with some rain mixed in. They still were taking it easy. But day three it was warm with bright sun….they just couldn’t handle it as they had never been exposed to it before. Now I’m no horticulturist, this is merely a guess, but if it were a bet I’d put money on it.

The only thing that has completely died is the cucumbers. Everything else seems to be clinging on. I’m not replanting some of the seeds yet, as I know beans and peas are fast growers and I still have plenty of time with them. Tomatoes are still indoors, I’m almost done thinning the tomato herd, so they will be out in the next two weeks. The squash you saw above are also clinging on, so I’m not replanting them yet, either. I think they have some hope left.

I am replanting the cucumber seeds in a different baby pot setup, so I can let the baby plant get much bigger before I stick him outside. I also found a green pepper plant at Tractor Supply so I went against what I was trying to accomplish this year by growing everything from seed and bought a baby plant. The benefit of growing from already started plants is that companies like Burpee have already hardened them up, so you can bring them home and put them straight into your garden. I’ve already planted the pepper and am excited to see how he turns out. I need him to be okay….my summer fajitas depend on the little guy!!

I also took a blind leap and enlisted Chuck’s help with ordering seeds online. On Amazon, he found seeds for “Black Bell Peppers”. Let’s just say….the package is in what I believe is Russian and I am not even sure how deep to plant them. But I got a baby pot and started them. Seems sketchy. Hopefully if they are Russian, they will sprout some Vodka or useful stuff.

Yes, we still have time for mistakes. Yes, mistakes will happen. I got too excited and threw my plants in the ground, not heeding the warnings of all the gardeners and farmers before me. But it’s okay….we have all summer and we won’t be stopped!! Get those plants a going!! Try and try again!! 💜🌱💜