baby blanket!!!

Baby blanket has been ordered (yesterday) and has been shipped today! Tarek and I also ordered liquid kelp fertilizer, mizuna, tatsoi, red garnet amaranth, and yellow-podded sugar pod peas (they are heat tolerant! Nummy!). We are going to grow lots of micros. Nefarious plans abound.

Also, lots of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, marigolds, herbs, etc. are on the grow.

I still haven't sorted out the camera yet, but this will come some day.

I now have an extra day off, in order that I can do more gardening stuff.

Update.

I have been starting seeds. I will post a list of those which I have started in the following week, including the plants that will be available for those who want them.

The first box of beets-and-mache have been transplanted, and placed on their rooftop. They are covered with a plate of glass I repurposed this WFSD.

I've lapsed a bit on the sprout/micro front, and have therefore been eating fewer salads. I'm missing them, though, so new ones will be on their way soon.

The cilantro I got from the spice rack has had dubious success in germinating. One batch must have been either toasted previously or just very old (though fragrant as a spice!), since it did not sprout at all, either time I tried it. Another batch has sprouted successfully, but I need to use a deeper tray for it to retain enough water. It dried out too easily.

The celery has been keeping well, and I will start more/get this stuff to Orayo, though I'll have to grow more fenugreek and onion for his family. The fenugreek from the spice rack has been very successful as well, but the micros and sprouts from it are less long-lived than those of the celery.

Carrot seed, ones I had from two years ago, grew very fast and well. These micros were eaten last week by the many guests at Cafe International at Algonquin College, where Tarek used them in his menu.

Today I will plant some flowers (marigold, calendula, giant pansy, nasturtium) and soak some of my tomato seeds.

WFSD = Weekly Free Stuff Day (garbage day)

For Orayo and family:

We planted fenugreek, onion and celery last week and I am pleased to report that all three have sprouted! The fenugreek is ready for harvesting, while the others will need a few days longer (1 week for the celery).

mold.

My amaranth has grown, but I planted it far too thickly and it has become moldy; I will therefore start more. I am going to start more cilantro in the method outlined here: http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/herb/tips-for-growing-cilantro.htm as my cilantro micros have also failed to germinate.

Sprouts, however, are growing extremely well, and for the past few days Tarek and I have been eating salads comprised entirely of home-grown mini-vegetables. Nummy! I am about to have another such salad before getting to the cilantro starting.

peas and cilantro

Peas are starting to germinate. Peas that I got for $2.50 for a kilo, that is. I am pleased by this.

The cilantro micros are not happy, though; I think I'll restart them tonight, after reading a bit about germination needs for cilantro.

Thank you, Tarek, for taking care of the sprout cupboard this morning.

I've got my camera now, so when I find the cable for it, I will start posting photos (probably by Monday).

More seeds

I now have the following seeds sprouting/microgreening:

amaranth

onion

fenugreek

celery

arugula

sunflower

alfalfa (not my favourite)

peas (going to try grocery store dried peas next)

radish

daikon radish

broccoli

tatsoi (recovered tray brought home by Tarek)

lettuce

beets

swiss chard

cilantro

I think that's all for now. I have several trays of a few of these, since I like them a lot. Arugula, pea shoots, broccoli and sunflower are the favorites for now; they grow quickly and/or produce larger micros and shoots. I am now at about 1/3 homegrown ingredients for my daily salad! It takes a bit longer to harvest from the various growing trays than to pull it all out of a bag or box, but I like it.

gravity feed dripline

http://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/Chapters/Gravity%20fed%20irrigation%20System.htm

This is what I will be using for my outdoor, rooftop project this year. It will use the water left from washing veggies and soaking rice noodles.

amaranth and cilantro, day 2

My amaranth is sprouting! The cilantro looks as though it will send out rootlets very soon as well. I will have photos soon.

Cilantro too.

Here is what I have learned about cilantro microgreens, just now, from "the growing edge" magazine:

"Cilantro is a warm season crop and needs at least 22to 26 degrees C for germination - conditions similar to what's required by basil."

Anyway, that means the spot in the office where my worklamp is set up will work great, since the heater is right there and it is always very warm. They don't like to dry out, so the vermiculite/pearlite bedding I've been trying out is what they will get.

My beet seeds are starting to sprout, I just noticed! Nummy!

amaranth

Tonight I am going to start amaranth microgreens. Perhaps the seeds available at the Herb and Spice Shop will work just fine; I think they will.