Planting Woes

Yikes, we're in need of a medic here! My poor little baby seedlings are almost a complete bust. I'm so sad! I tried my very best to revive them. Talking sweet words of encouragement to them, and taking special care with them.

Here's how they looked on top of the fridge at 9 days old:

They had a strong start & were looking good. The only thing that hadn't sprouted was oregano & green peppers. Even those tiny basil seeds I had little hope for, they were growing-every one of them! I was thrilled!

My contender beans seemed to grow very tall quickly & so I removed the bio-dome lids. All the seedlings still survived for a few days & then they seemed to be withering up. I think I had the grow lights too close to the plants. So I tried to move them & give them some space. This was the result of that (*warning-graphic plant carnage, don't look if you are sqeamish..)

The 1st photo is all of the starters I had to pull because they'd died on me! I lost 1 flat of seedlings-60 potential plants! All of the zinnia bit the dust & I have very few tomatoes left. Only now, are those darling green pepper plants sprouting! Argggh! I feel like I have a curse of the green thumb or something! Looks like my investment was a botch & I'll have to buy plants in the next few weeks. So sad, to bad. I'm completely bummed!

Today I drove to the next town over to buy some more Briwax to finish some furniture. In such a thriving metroplex, I still drive 16 miles away to buy the stuff! No one local carries it & this store carries the complete line of Briwax. I bought 2 jars to complete all my projects. Then on the way home I treated myself to window shop Tractor Supply.

O glory, I was just so happy to be bouncing around in there-lurking at all the goodies! I wanted to spend hours there, but had to go pick up Ben from PreK. I managed to splurge on 2 things: I absolutely love these girly pink John Deere gardening gloves! Yes, I will wear them even if nothing grows in my garden this year. I swear I will, don't laugh! Okay, at least laugh with me, not at me. Lol!

I have wanted to take a look at Mary Janes magazine after visiting her website. http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/video-library.asp What a perfect little pick me up to an otherwise "blah" day! I love Mary Jane's article on 'Farmgirl Buzz':

"Anyone who so much as dreams of raising chickens, goats, or pigs or growing vegetable, herbs, berries, and flowers-even in the tiniest garden in the back yard, or heck even on the balcony of a city apartment building-is a farmgirl in our book."

Woo Hoo-I am an offical Farm Girl!! I love it! Friends & family around me don't get it. They know we live in the suburbs & don't have plans to move to the country. (I can dream) The reality is, we have a special needs child & prefer to be close to hospitals, doctors, specialists and the latest in therapies. The idea of being miles away on a farm & having an emergency happen is frightening to me. Presently, I'm not in a place mentally to take that risk. Although I do think that all of our quality of lives would improve in the country-I'm much to much of a worry wart, to fathom actually moving to the country, just yet.

All that being said, I have also just completely fallen in love with country/farm/ranch life! I think it's probably in my blood & I have more in common with my ancestors each passing year. I'm still going to redecorate our home into farm country style, work on our little garden, shop the local farms & the little chicken ranch for eggs. This is my thing & it makes me feel whole, whether or not people understand. So next time I happen into Tractor Supply, I'm buying me one of them TShirts: Sittin' down for a spell & reading this cover to cover:All while sipping on my sweet tea! He, he.