Day 15

Yesterday I decided that one of my mistakes starting out was not thoroughly soaking my soil after preparing it in the beds. It dries out quickly because it started out dry and the watering doesn't penetrate very deeply. Note for next year: soak the garden BEFORE planting seeds. I tried to remedy it by holding the hose really close and soaking it block by block, trying not to disturb the soil very much. It's better, but some areas are still dry.

friday i went out and planted some more seeds. i lost some tomato plants and was afraid i wouldn't have any of two varieties: "cream sausage" (yellow) and "wisconsin-55" (red). i planted two of the former and one of the latter. i also pulled up three of my stressed eggplants and started them over from seed. i'll leave the other three to see if they produce anything. oh, and i also put out three more tomatillos to start from seed since my previous starts all died. i don't know if there is time enough in the growing season for the new tomato plants or the eggplant to produce fruit before frost, but it's all an experiment so i don't mind trying.

i think that's one of the reasons i like gardening. i have some control over how it turns out, but for the most part it's just put the seeds in the ground and see what happens. if it doesn't work, i'll try something different next year. and i'll start earlier.

yesterday i went searching for some of my missing plants. i had one square of "charantais" melon that hadn't come up yet, and one cucumber plant, so i went digging (gently, of course) to see if they were on their way or not at all. i think the charantais is still coming, but i planted another couple cucumber seeds because i couldn't find them anywhere. i also planted some more basil, and a square of marigolds that the cats dug up. darn cats.

i have a toad living by my house. he likes it where the faucet drips and makes the pan beneath overflow. i thought he just hung out under the bush there, but i caught him today crawling out from a hole beneath the house. i wish he lived down by my garden. they eat the bad insects. i like to have him around.