Sexy Squash!

Delicata Squash Blossom

It took me by surprise.  Maybe four years ago now, I was admiring various parts of the garden one afternoon and took a good look at a plant from the squash family.  It was a volunteer.  I didn't plant it.  I certainly had no idea what it would grow up it be.  So I gave it a good look, hoping that something familiar would key my memory and tell me its name.

That's when I saw it.  And, yes, it looked very familiar.   My jaw dropped.  Boy and girl parts on the squash (turns out it was a pumpkin, and its boy and girl parts were really big).

Cucumbers and melons don't do this, but squash of all kinds do, and pumpkins are spectacular.

So just in case you've not had your daily dose of sex education today, being sex ed. teacher is one of the Things I get to do today.  I don't suppose any of you will have a hard time figuring out which is which here.

Start with a Pink Bucket

1.  Equipment: Potting soil, newspaper,
wine bottle with straight sides.

It's been going on for days.  When the seedlings from the indoor nursery have moved to the outdoor greenhouse play pen and begin to get their legs, it's time for their own pot.

2. Take a section of the newspaper, cut off the fold (paper cutter
is great), cut the sheet in half vertically so your resulting
sheets are about 5 1/2 x 23".  Wrap paper around the bottom
end of the wine bottle covering about 3" of the bottle.

I'm such a tender-hearted fool.  Not one of all the seeds stuffed into one tomato-seed hole failed to take hold.  And who am I to cut them off after such valiant effort?  Not me.

3. You want enough paper hanging over to fold/moosh into the
center cavity to "secure" the bottom.  Gently slide out the bottle.

The arithmetic tells the story: planning on 9 Oregon Spring Bush tomato plants--9 holes times 4 seeds equals 36.  And that is the way it went for nearly all the seeds I started. So I've been potting up tomatoes, cucumbers, zinnias, eggplant and peppers--114 all together--I just counted them.  It's taken days to settle them all in.

4. Quickly add a generous scoop of soil before the paper
changes its mind and decides to be flat again.

A meditative process, it is, scooping out the little clump of plants, talking to them sweetly and tugging gently to separate them from each other, then tucking them snugly into their new homes.  And that is where the rub comes: new homes for 114 plants!  Don't think I've ever had that many little pots to reuse--maybe if I'd saved them for ten years, but I haven't.

5. Add your seedling, more soil to snuggle it in.  Press it down
to remove air cavities around the roots.  Water lightly.

Here's where the straight wine bottle is a huge help.  First you drink whatever is left in the bottle.  Then, if you are able, follow the rest of the instructions--the pictures will help no matter what state you are now in.

6. These lettuce boxes hold six plants nicely and help keep the
sides of the pots moist.  WARNING:  this type of pot dries out
 rather quickly.  Keep an eye on them and water as needed.

 You really must begin with a pink bucket.

From Nursery to Play Pen

Cucumbers stretching out their second set of leaves

My, my! Don't they grow up fast! Every parent has probably thought their babies matured faster than average at some point.  No exceptions here.

"Galina" tomatoes headed toward 5th & 6th leaves

I was away for the weekend visiting my real baby who is now 27.  And while I was not looking, the plant nursery exploded.  It turns out that the first of the Things I get to do today now that I'm back at home is move the babies from the nursery into the play pen.

Baby pale-yellow sunflower--can you see its shining face?

There is a bit of high overcast sun today so their first day exposed to its light is soft and gentle.  Nervous first-time-this-spring mother that I am, all the rest of the things I get to do today will come between checking and rechecking on how the little ones are liking their baby steps.

Playpen with happy babies airing in the sun

Making Babies: The Blessed Event

Still, still, my beating heart.  After waiting nearly a week, I sneak into the nursery to see if any babies have yet peeked out of their compost beds.  And there, there are tomatoes coming up--slender leaves tied at the top with the seed husk, pointy green leaves spread wide.

This sunflower sprout knows everything about
becoming a pale yellow beauty

A juicy, tender cucumber in its early stages

These seeds were not too old, of course, just last year's packet.  And for several days nearly all the Things I get to do today revolve around checking for yet one more healthy baby to pop out of the soil in its own way: slender, thread-necked tomatoes, chunky-necked cucumbers, plump-necked sunflowers.

Righteous Red Zinnia

Seeds that are six-years old are showing green leaves and white necks, and I am thrilled.  So much life is still in that little brown speck--the wisdom to make a huge plant with dozens of tomatoes.














My heart beats in appreciation for this miracle--the miracle of birth and resurrection.

Making Babies: Planting

You have to have seeds if you are going to plant them.  Duh!  Well, maybe you could have figured that out, but it certainly caught me by surprise.  Things I get to do today said, "plant warmth-needing seeds," and I had not bothered to buy any.  I didn't even really know for sure what types I wanted to start.

In a bit of a dither, I shuffled through the stack of seed catalogs until the most familiar name appeared.  Page after page were filled with mouth-watering descriptions of the finest growies on earth.  I circled and checked far more than my garden could hold.  Finally, my wits crept back to me, and I thought of checking my left-over seeds from last season.



Amazing!  There in my hands were several packets of certainly-cannot-live-without-this-one seeds I had just circled in the catalog--even the same company.  Now this mama was really excited.  Rummaging through the backlog of seed packets produced everything I needed for the nursery starts: tomatoes (7 kinds), eggplant, sweet peppers, cucumbers (3 types), basil, a pale yellow sunflower and zinnias (big, brilliant red ones).

Little cribs in a nursery row

I planted all my old seeds--some from as far back as 2006--in sifted compost that I sterilized in our outdoor gas grill. Don't even think about doing it in your oven.

Lids to my baby "cribs" had labels that would shade
the young starts.  Pour very warm water over the plastic
underside of the label to soften the adhesive.
Makes removal quite easy.

Seed cribs with soft, compost mattresses and cozy, clear covers promise to grow very happy, healthy babies.  Now we wait (continued tomorrow).