Several weeks ago, I got this determination to grow my own organic garden. With all I've been learning lately about what companies do to the food we eat, I thought "What better way to know my food is safe, than by growing it myself!?". Problem is, living in New York, it can be quite cold around this time of year.
For those of you that don't know me, I suppose I should tell you that I don't have the patience to wait for anything.
That being said, I did a small amount of research about gardening indoors (Probably should have done a bit more). Then I went to Home Depot to get some supplies.
After reading the back of almost everything plant related, I decided to get this eco-friendly kit. It came with a tray with individual slots for each plant, drip tray, germination sheets and these compressed starter "cells" that you add water to expand right before planting. The seeds were separate and I pretty much got one of everything they sold. I also got some daylight bulbs since I don't have too much direct sunlight in my house.
The next morning, after the morning routine with the kids (brushing teeth, changing, breakfast, coffee, ect..), my daughter, Alexa, (2 1/2 yrs) and I started our garden. She was very helpful with soaking the cells and planting the seeds. Then we covered them with the germination sheet and kept it under the light for warmth. All that was left to do was wait.
Of course, I didn't have high expectations for the seeds and ended up planting 5 times what the directions said to. And, of course ALL of them sprouted, most within the first 24hrs. While this is very exciting, it was kind of sad to have to trash so many. Although, I'm assuming it's normal not to have the space for 700 plants. :)
I did a lot more research on successful indoor gardening after all my plants had sprouted and I replanted them into bigger containers. Even with all the thinning Alexa and I have done, I believe I'm still a bit over my head for having them indoors. I think I should have looked up pictures and dimensions of full grown plants before planting seeds intended to stay indoors. Some I'm hoping I can keep alive indoors until the weather warms up, some I know for sure can stay inside and I guess the rest I shall have to just wait and see about. I think the phrase "Live and Learn" applies quite well to my situation but I'm not at all regretting my choices. I've continued to take care of my vegetable plants and they are all growing nicely.
I plan to continue what I'm doing and really look forward to the day I get to eat these vegetables that I've been putting so much effort into. Alexa asks me (almost every time we water them) if she can eat one so I'm sure she will be just as excited as me when its finally time to try everything. She loves smelling them too. I suppose this experience is quite educating for her, which makes me happy. The one I'm most anxious to harvest is spinach. Since I consume this nutritious leafy vegetable everyday, I'm hoping it is the most successful. Also, I'm really looking forward to juicing some wheatgrass because of it's soaring nutritional value.
I've very recently learned that all this time, I've been saying brussel sprouts when actually they are called brussels sprout.
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