I can’t believe how quickly time is going by. The garden centers are full of baby veggies in cute little pots. The temptation is real. I tell myself that food prices are sky rocketing so this year I will put all of my effort into growing vegetables - again.
I picked out some plants that are easy to grow, like tomatoes, green beans and green peppers. I also stretched my abilities by purchasing flowers, flower seeds and some herb seeds so the butterflies and bees will visit. I remembered reading about a kindred spirit who bought plants every year at the same garden center. The sales person asked her if they should kill them there, or will she wait until she got home. I laughingly mentioned that to the cashier as she rang up my plants. She knows me well enough not to comment. She pursed her lips into half a smile. I told her that this year will be different. These plants will enjoy living with me and I may even bring her some of my excess vegetables.
In order to better ensure the health of my plants, I also purchased a plastic green house to give them a perfect place to start out and to protect them from the critters that seem to like my young veggies before they get a chance to develop. Not this year!
When I got home, I transplanted them into larger pots, added plant food and showered them with water. The weather was perfect. Every day, I took care of them and watched the seeds begin to sprout and the small plants start to show new shoots. For three days, the plants and I were happy. When I woke up on day four, I found that the temperature had gone down to 28 degrees overnight. It seems that a plastic green house doesn’t protect from freezes. I sadly lost a few flowers and vegetables that weren’t hardy enough to live with me. I am not giving up. I just hope that when I go back to purchase more plants, there will be a different cashier.
