Out of curiosity and because I was still awake, I grabbed
the torch last night and a bowl of water and sneaked outside to the garden to see
who was taking advantage of my reluctant hospitality. I had planted 6 capsicum
and 6 banana capsicum seedlings the day before thinking, not only were they big
enough but that because of the family they are related to no one would want to nibble
on them. Yesterday morning to my surprise, ALL the banana capsicums were gone (it
was like they hadn’t even been there) and 3 of the capsicums too. Luckily I
still had 3 extra seedlings of the banana I could replace them with but I had
planned to put those on freecycle. I replanted and covered with bottles but
needed to find the culprits! While fumbling around in a pitch black garden by
torchlight, I found 6-7 slimy suspects, one of whom was caught in the act, his
chops wrapped around a delicate bean shoot. He still had a mouthful when I
plucked him from it and tossed him into the bowl so I felt no guilt about his
demise!
I have awoken this morning (far too early thank you
Diesel...even the cat wasn’t too pleased!) and been greeted with pak choi, lettuce
and spring onion that have popped up overnight. Two melon I planted in a tray
have grown a little taller, sadly I have no idea if they will be a hales or
honey dew just yet because I had to plant both in one tray due to tray
restrictions. It will be a surprise I tell myself assuredly.
All the strawberry plants the Irish lady gave me that came
away, I planted into the herb planter the other day. Out of twelve plants that
looked almost dead nine bloomed, so that was pretty good odds. They seem to be
doing well with the exception of one unfortunate incident where someone, not
looking at anyone in particular *looks at dog disapprovingly* confused it with
a fire hydrant. After a good hose down (the planter not the dog, though it was
tempting) it is none the worse but I do need to place my hydrant somewhere it
won’t be hydrated by leg lifting woofers!
Went on a search for seedling punnets yesterday, could only
find flimsy, cheap looking ones at the local plant shop which weren’t too cheap
at all. Decided I would leave it as I can get some decent ones on the net that
are sturdy and will last quite some time, I was just trying to avoid the
shipping costs if I could help it. I did get four more trays which at just over
two dollars each are very budget worthy. They are longer than the normal ones
sold so fit more in them, I use two together if carrying very heavy pots. I
also have a poly box outside that I put potting mix into that is left from
unsuccessful planting attempts, at the moment there are about 4 or 5 little
seedlings in there that I have absolutely no idea about so it will be
interesting to see what those turn out to be. A little peruse over the garden this morning showed plants intact as well as a 1936 penny just poking out of the soil. My digging around must have unearthed it just enough for me to find it. A quick wash and scrub, it is now sitting on top of tonight's lotto ticket.
