Monday Garden Update

So over the weekend I spent a little time hanging out in the garden, just checking out how the plants were doing. The short answer is they’re doing awesome!

I kind of laugh at myself because at the beginning of May when I took the plants out of the Aerogarden and put them in pots, you probably remember me crying about how they weren’t going t make it. There was some severe transplant shock (from aeroponic to soil environment) that they all went through, but a very wet May breathed new life into them. I think the secret was keeping the soil wet until the roots had a chance to grab hold in the soil. Now – the plants are large and beautiful and they have gorgeous blooms on them already.  The exception being the peas and beans which I seeded directly into the trellised pots (along with cherry tomato plants) just because it was easier. I fully expect to start seeing tomatoes and tomatilloes (and possibly even peppers) by the end of this month. I’ve been told heirloom plants aren’t as hardy or as productive as their hybrid cousins, but we’ll see. This is my first year growing nothing but heirloom varieties.

I still have tons of basil from the basil I grew in the Aerogarden in March.  While all the plants I have now are clones – they’re gorgeous clones. Speaking of cloning, the pine tree I cloned is still doing lovely. I’m considering moving it to its own big pot at some point.

Now to discuss the fruit trees. The instructions that came from the nursery told me not to fertilize the bare root plants and to leave my other fruit trees alone the first year. So I didn’t listen. First, I used some root developer solution right after I planted in hopes it would stimulate rooting of all the new trees. Yesterday, I gave them a little bit of plant food. Just a tiny bit.  I think it’s working. I’m pretty sure the lemon tree has grown a bit since I planted it and I know for a fact the blueberries  are doing something because Sunday afternoon there were leaves on the blueberry “bush”! Don’t forget that I didn’t plant mature blueberry bushes. I planted babies (because I’m cheap and I got them for four bucks).  So this year I’m really pleased with my garden’s progress.  Now truthfully, the magickal plants are another story. There won’t be any flying ointment this year. Maybe next. I need to try another approach since the dry climate and heat doesn’t simulate the native environment for belladonna et al. I love nightshades. So basically I’m going to retry the cold strat and try planting them in the aerogarden. Probably sometime this autumn or late this summer.

However, I did check on the controlling tincture today. It smells heavenly!  🙂  The Tezrian tincture is still brewing. I should probably check it out sometime in the next few weeks to make sure the glass didn’t explode.

That’s my update for the day. I suppose I better get back to other things – like writing!