It’s March and it seems like Mother Nature is confusing “April showers” for “right here, right now!” The garden is thriving, and we have begun to harvest some of its treats, but there are still a few plants that just can’t seem to take hold in this wonky space.
Green is the scene
After a few weeks in the garden, the hassel of the parasitic tree roots is officially gone! The tree has been chopped (wood shavings saved for vermicomposting) and our starters are looking great!
The romaine has turned into award-winning beauties while the arugula and kale are not as gorgeous but still thriving. The arugula started to bolt in the last couple of weeks, so I pinched back some of the flowers.
Our family has even been lucky enough to add the romaine, arugula, and kale to our salads, and additional romaine to some homemade burgers. ((delish!))
Seeds can't pull it together
Unfortunately, with such tremendous growth from the leafy greens, it seems as if the new seeds can’t find a good root. None of the initial sunflowers, loofahs, or even the poppy seeds took hold this time around.
I had even attempted to start up some seeds for pumpkin, spaghetti squash (super excited about that one), winter squash, red pepper (from the fruit), and tomato. I have been disappointed to see very little start to poke through. The only thing that I have seen, is one little seedling for the winter squash (ironically enough, due to the odd shape of the garden, I had placed in a pot in the tight corner). When I looked at its progress the next day after noticing it, I was shocked to see that it looked like it had been dug out!
Upon one inspection, I did notice a pumpkin seed start to sprout out of it’s shell, and since the seed was laying on top of the dirt, I tucked it in very shallow in the ground.
Next Steps
The arugula has gone crazy with flowing. With all the rain Arizona has seen recently, I worry the plant may have bolted in the such a shift in the weather, but hope to begin collecting seeds.
The romaine is just simply amazing, and will continue to harvest it’s bounty!
The kale… well it’s there, but still struggling.
With the romaine doing so nicely, I want to try a technique I saw from MI Gardener on YouTube a while ago. In the video: What Happens When You Put Healthy Leaves in a Blender to Help Sick Plants? The Results are Amazing Luke had tested a method of increasing the microbiome of stressed plants from the pulp of healthy ones (like our romaine). The trick I have right now is the lack of non-chlorinated water. Thanks to the safety of our city, the water from our taps tend to have added chemicals like fluoride and chloramine. These additives can actually hurt the biomes needed for this process to take shape (it can also hurt worms if you vermicompost). But, we shall see what happens. More rain is in the forecast, so I will do better to collecting it for the next garden watering!
