Matt's Journal

Here goes an experiment. I was given some cheap seeds from a local dollar store. Can I grow them? Here I will record the first steps. Later I will add results. In the process I will gain experience with WordPress. I’ve used many editors but none quite like this. It’s simple but I don’t know it well. I will after this is done.

The seeds are for edibles and ornamentals. They were four for a dollar, which might mean that they’re old. There’s no guarantee they’ll even grow. (I like the ability to easily embed pictures like this, inline)

Our house seems poorly situated for growing vegetables. They need lots of light, but our backyard is shaded by an enormous camphor tree and an army of mature camellias planted by the last owner. They are beautiful this time of year but they block much of the light that gets past the camphor. Furthermore, it’s on the north side of the house which blocks the sun during most of the year. It’s cold, dark and damp and it’s a challenge to grow vegetables in this environment. Pots might work better because they can go in the sunny front yard. Whether I want to risk neighborly and spousal ire by turning the existing lawn into a vegetable garden is yet to discover. It’s easier to try pots.

A backyard totally unsuited for vegetable gardening, unless you eat camphor berries. Squirrels and robins seem to like ’em!

First step: research. I pulled a book off my shelf that I’ve not used before. It’s about growing food in containers.

A glossy softcover from our library. These are cute blocks.

First to locate some pots. We brought a slew of them from the old place and they’ve been in the back for years. We once considered raising spiders for food and this was the habitat we designed for them. Yes, I’m being sarcastic. I extracted some of the pots and washed them. Then I found some potting soil. It had some oxalis growing in it, and on further digging was found to have been taken over by camphor roots that had grown from beneath. That tree is a Survivor! Sometimes, to our dismay. I got what soil I could and put it in two of the pots. I will need to buy more.

To be continued…