IT'S ALIVE!!!

It's official, I have the very beginnings of several seedlings already. I noticed the first signs of seedling life late Monday night. I had tried to take pictures but couldn't get anything close and detailed enough...that is until my mom provided me with the uh-huh moment: close up mode, duh. Why I hadn't thought of it I don't know, but even with this setting I can't get quite what I need to show you what exactly is emerging from such small seeds. Regardless, here they are.

Here are my Hollyhock seedlings emerging. They were the first ones to appear.

Here is a picture of what they will look like by the middle of summer. Some can reach 8 feet tall as my mother can attest to.

Next up: Sweet Alyssum. I have to say that I was more than a little surprised to see growth so soon since I just planted these seeds last night. That's right, it has only been 24 hours and you can clearly see that something is already coming out of that little seed. There are quite a few too.

Destined to be...

Last but not least, and almost unnoticed, my little Dichondra seedling.

These little guys won't be covered in colorful flowers, but they have their own sense of charm.

And you thought you would have a little more time before you would have to endure ridiculous numbers of pictures of nonsense, but you were soooooo wrong.

Mission Accomplished

I am officially done planting seeds...YAY!!! The final tally is about 550. There would have been more, but some plants (such as my beloved Monkey Flower pictured below) like to make the smallest seeds possible.

Just to give you an idea, here is a picture of a package containing 50-60 Monkey Flower seeds: next to the package are three hollyhock seeds, one of which is bigger than all 50 of the other seeds.

So how do you plant such small seeds you say. Well I will tell you. Using my handy dandy tweezers I grab about 3 little brown specs at a time and shove the tweezers into the dirt hoping that at least one will make it where it needs to be and grow into a plant. Out of 50 Monkey Flower seeds I got a whopping 18 pods planted and if I am lucky I will get about a dozen seedlings (cross your fingers for more). Aparently I need to start planting by microscope. By the end of the week I should be getting at least some Alyssum seedlings, maybe a little something more if I am lucky. Until then I bid you adieu.

Pooped

Me, April and Riley went on an awesome bike ride today. We went all the way down to the skate park (which is at the end of Montgomery St. almost to the Riverbend park), then we went down the levy and over to the park by the Gary Nolan baseball field, over to Harrison Stadium and PCP, then over to Raley's and back home. Man what a ride. After running what must have been at least two miles someone with four legs and a striped furry body is, simply put, pooped.

I must have taken at least six pictures of him with a bright flash and it didn't even so much as interrupt his snoring pattern. Too bad he will wake up with a full tank of energy in the morning. I will just have to enjoy it while I can.

Holy Seed Pods!!!

When I finally decided to get my arse into gear around 1:30 this afternoon I really kicked ass on my must-do list.
Laundry removed from couch...CHECK
Finished clearing out dead plants from front planter...CHECK
Sink empty of dishes...CHECK (at least for a while :)
Seeds planted...almost CHECK (aproximately 400 planted)

There is little seed pods everywhere. David looked at me like I had escaped from the insane asylum as I explained to him how he must leave the bathroom door closed over so that the seeds that need cold (which I chose to place in the bathroom) will stay cold, the seedlings taking up an entire drawer in the refrigerator needed to remain undisturbed for the next 2-6 weeks and that we must do at least two or three loads of laundry every day to keep all the seedlings in the garage nice and warm (since our dryer vents into the garage). Little does he know that I am not done yet. I still have about 250 seeds to go. I would have been able to finish if there had been another hour of daylight, but I will have to wait till tomorrow.

I was much more organized this year than last year. It took me almost two hours to write down the stats of all the seeds I am starting this year. I had to summarize their germination requirements, how many seeds were in each packet and sort them in groups that had similar requirements and germination times. Basically I sat on my couch surrounded by books and a notebook looking like a super plant geek. This was a good way to use one of my empty notebooks that I seem to have collected over the years.  And I also have an entire day planner that is being dedicated to recording the stats on all of my 650 seeds. Super nerdy I know, but I'm sure it will come in handy later. Besides, how else am I supposed to keep track of all the different feeding schedules and actual germination times?

There are pods in plastic trays, there are pods in egg cartons, pods on counters, shelves and in the refrigerator...pods everywhere!!! They are amazing little nuggets that start out very condensed and after soaking in water for about 1-2 minutes fluff up to about the size (and consistency) of a marshmallow.

I am officially warning everyone now that in the next few months you will inevitably be overwhelmed by dozens of pictures of seedlings, seedlings, and more seedlings. There will be big ones small ones tall ones and short ones, and to me they are all unique and amazing little pieces of life. I have been known to cry over lost seedlings, so lets hope for the best this season. I am also going to apologize now for my tendency to lead long and intensly tecknical conversations about all kinds of plant topics that I am sure you will have little or no interest in. TOUGH, it's my blog and when it comes time to have a 1000 word posting all about damping off, then that's just what time it is. Get ready everyone...it will be fun, I promise.

What a Day

My week has been quite the roller coaster this week. Yesterday was a terrible day at work for many reasons. It was just one of those days even though all of this nice weather has made it hard to be down. I was moping about the state of utter chaos my house had miraculously transformed into in just one week. It was one of those days when you realize that there will never be enough time and/or money to do everything you want. But apparently while sleeping in my immensly comfortable new bed last night I gave myself a little pep talk. I woke up this morning not knowing that today would be so great (especially after yesterday). I went to school and aced two tests, got done in lab early so I was able to be home a little after one. While walking to class this morning I decided that today was the day. I have been talking about tearing out all the weeds on that strip of dirt between the sidewalk and the street for months now. So today when I got home from school I was on a mission. I went to the conglomerate of societal decay aka Walmart and got several bags of landscaping bark to fill in the area soon to be cleared of weeds. While on my adventure to Walmart I also found some amazing treasures. I found my little pods that I need to start my seeds (unfortunately the ones I had ordered with my seeds were on backorder until the middle of March, which is way to late to plant little seeds). I also found some B E A utiful Ranunculus that I just couldn't resist which will help me with my front planter makeover this weekend.

I apologize for my terrible picture quality of my wonderful new flowers. I was in a big hurry and to be honest the sun was glaring on my viewing screen and I couldn't see a damn thing so I was kind of just pointing and shooting. I am a little sad that you can't tell that the middle plant is actually pale yellow with pink edges, but I guess I will just have to take a better picture of it later so you can see. 

So, back to my original mission. Here is the before picture of the funky strip of dirt in front of our house by the street...

As you can see, it is just weeds, and lots of excess dirt. After about two hours of shoveling dirt and trying to save all the worms I could from certain death we are about 1/3 of the way done. I really didn't expect it to take so long. After filling David's truck to the brim with dirt and acquiring three very plump blisters (one of which no longer has skin and is the size of a nickel in the middle of my palm: doesn't feel good AT ALL) we called it good for the day. This is what we accomplished today...

David's poor truck...I don't think it could have handled much more.

I can't believe what a difference it's making already, I can't wait to finish! Although I have heard through the grapevine that we are not expecting the same great weather that we have had all week, I am determined to finish this thing as soon as possible.

I am too tired to proof my posting so if you find anything retarded please let me know. I am officially all talked out and it is almost ten o'clock and way past my old lady bedtime, so off I go to my bouncy bed. Here's to another great and productive day tomorrow.

My Must-Do List

It is official, I have been very very lazy...

Do you still have your christmas trees up and it is almost March...CHECK
Do you still have your brown dried up plants from last year hanging out in your front planter along with foot tall weeds...CHECK
Have you neglected to sweep for two, yes I said TWO weeks...CHECK
Do you have at least two loads of laundry on the couch and a sink full of dishes...CHECK

I am ashamed to admit all of this, but by putting it all out there then I have no choice but to attend to my neglected home this weekend. So I am sure you can tell what I am going to be doing on my days off this week. But I am most excited about starting all of this year's plants this weekend. I am a little late because I was waiting for some stupid supplies that are now no longer coming. I will post lots of pictures on my gardening adventures this weekend so check back in :).

And since I don't like to post without a picture, here are a few just for fun since I really love baby animals. Mom, the cows are for you.

My Grown Up Bed

Last night, for the first time in at least 5 years, I slept on a real bed. I have been sleeping with my mattress on the floor for seriously 5 or 6 years. I know it is sad, I am ashamed to admit it. It's just one of those things that I have never acquired. I felt like a little kid who had to climb into their big kid bed. It is amazing how much bouncier my bed is with a little space underneath too. So now with my new comforter and a new to me bed frame to go with it I officially have my first grown up bed. Sweet dreams to me...now I am going to go put some fresh clean sheets on the bed and go to sleep. Goodnight everyone.

I believe that everyone, even those that are not Catholic or even religious at all, can appreciate the absolute magnificence of one of my favorite places in New York: the Saint Patrick's Cathedral. I don't think that I could ever take a picture that would give you the same feeling you get the first time you walk into the cathedral. It will take your breath away. It even makes me speechless (which is unheard of). It will give you chills allover. You can't help being overwhelmed with a sense of awe and humbleness. I don't know exactly what it is that I love so much...it's just everything. I hope to one day go to New York for fun with my family and David, then I could share all of these wonderful experiences with the people I love. It is so strange when you walk into this cathedral and things are going on as if there aren't 50 tourists in the back taking pictures. I have gone in once during Sunday mass, and this last time when I went in there was actually a wedding ceremony in progress. It was a little strange being an uninvited guest to a stranger's wedding, but it is just another part of what makes this piece of New York history so interesting.

Other than amazing places, my favorite thing about New York is that everywhere you go there is history intertwined with modern society. The Saint Patrick's Cathedral is surrounded by modern skyscrapers, yet there it is just as it has been for over 100 years; still standing. It's like that all over the city. Dozens of buildings that have stories that I am sure we couldn't even imagine. It's like you can feel the age of the city and all of the people that have been there in decades past. It's just not the same on the west coast. Even our old buildings are young compared to what is still around in New York. I just can't find the words to describe what it feels like to be in a place of so much historical and even modern day importance.

Goodbye New York, I'll see you again soon I hope...................