return of the son of revenge of the peppers (and one onion)

[edenfalling]

I had so much fun growing peppers last summer that I decided to try again this year! But partly because carrying seedlings home is a pain (not to mention getting to Agway in the first place is a pain), I decided to take the hard route and grow them from seeds, which I could conveniently purchase at my grocery store.

I planted thirteen seeds on Friday, April 11th, and left them on the table beside my kitchen windows. As of tonight — Wednesday, April 23rd — six of them have sprouted! The sprouts are tiny, but still. Sprouts! I am very excited.





I also happened to have an onion that I had purchased with the intent of, you know, chopping it up for pot roast or chicken soup or whatever, but which had plans of its own and unexpectedly sprouted. So I stuck it in a pot — also on April 11th — and it’s still sitting out on my deck, placidly growing despite the best efforts of the local squirrels to discover what strange and fascinating nut might be buried next to the bulb. *shakes fist at squirrels*

So yeah. Dilettante tabletop gardening project year two is GO. :-)

Comments

[eos_joy]

Oooooh oh oh oh!!! That sounds amazing! ^^ Best of luck!

[edenfalling]

Thank you! I will take all the good luck I can get, since my green thumb is, shall we say, somewhat erratic -- to say nothing of the potential for squirrel depredations once the baby peppers are large enough to repot and put outside. *wry*

[eos_joy]

Damn squirrels. *lol* Well you did well last year so hopefully this year is even better!

[heliopausa]

Oh, wonderful! :) I'm looking forward happily now to following their story.

[edenfalling]

The miracle of new life! :-) I hope this year's story will be a bit less exciting than last year's -- I would rather not lose any plants to squirrel attacks, and I could do without the endless rain and consequent algae infestations -- but I'm sure it will be fun regardless.

[via_ostiense]

Yay! Growing things feels so rewarding, doesn't it?

[edenfalling]

It really does! Which may be another reason I have so many houseplants, come to think of it. :-)

[autumnia]

The nice thing about growing veggies is that they look pretty in pots (or in the ground) and the result is free (or at least very, very cheap) food. :-) It kind of reminds me of a victory garden. I'm looking forward to seeing how the onion turns out -- I usually either cut away the sprouted rings of the onion and just cook the rest, or I end up tossing it away.

[edenfalling]

Well, there is the cost of pots and potting soil, but the pots, once purchased, are good for years and the dirt can be recycled to some degree if one has a storage container, so yeah. There's an up-front investment but after that you're paying in time and effort rather than cash, which makes the end-product feel more like a proper reward.

I have never tried growing an onion before -- I usually have simply tossed them into the trash if they sprouted on me -- but I figured the worst that could happen is I end up with no onion, which was going to happen anyway, so why not have some fun along the way? :-)

[branchandroot]

Go, little seedlings, go!

Also, squirrels, omg, they are the gardening plague. I honestly took to making shots out the screen door with my little starter recurve bow one year, after they dug up my bulbs once too often.

[edenfalling]

A seventh one sprouted on Thursday while I was at work. 7 of 13 is over 50%, so yay! :-D And the ones that sprouted Wednesday are already starting to open their teeny tiny first pair of leaves. They are ridiculously adorable, omg.

I think if I had a proper garden-in-ground, I'd be equally worried about deer -- I've never spotted one in my yard, but I've definitely seen them at the high school which is only a few blocks away -- but deer don't usually climb onto decks so squirrels are my chief enemy. *shakes fist of rage at them on general principle*