Friday, March 20, 2009

Who's Playing Tricks On Me?

YES.... 'WHO is playing tricks on ME?!' is what I said when I pulled the plastic make shift greenhouse cover off of my Mesclun Salad Mix Seeds that I just planted a day ago. I couldn't believe there were sprouts in such a short time. WELCOME SPRING!!!!

WHO IS PLAYING TRICKS..... Could it be Mother Nature!?!

I am going to share a personal story about playing tricks on good ol' Bren! A few years back after moving to the country I was very nervous to go on vacation leaving behind my newly planted Veggie Garden. We had asked my Brother In Law if he could keep an eye on things around the house and garden while we were gone. I returned a week later to find in the middle of my newly planted Melon Patch a HUGE WATERMELON nestled in the vines filled with summer green leaves. WHAT???? How could this be? The plants had only been in the ground a few short weeks and there were only a few little blooms on the vine when I was last in the garden a week earlier? When I rushed over to pick the watermelon up under the fruit laid a Polaroid photo of my brother in law all smiles!

Here he is .... My 'trickster' Brother in Law all smiles! He truly did get me good but that store bought water melon was tasty!
I am the Seed Planting Fool this week! WOW.... I love these little 2" terra cotta pots I am recycling from an old craft project. Hopefully we will have some Lavender sprouts in a few weeks.

I planted most of my herbs and perennials for this year and even got an old hosta root in a peat moss pot. This little starter was from Leo Berbee & Son. It was a give away at the Olfa Show I attended in Columbus last fall for Greenhouse Growers. Can't wait to see if it will grow because it was one of those forgotten goodies that I found in the bottom of my garden tool tote. I also bought some onion bulbs and a bag of five RED HOT POKERS! I will have to wait till mid-April to get these in the ground. Remember - I am in zone 5B and we are not clear of hard frost yet this time of year.


Last night it got down to 44*in the unheated space I keep my starter kits. I am hoping to have my own greenhouse next year for planting. Here is the reading this morning after a night that got down to 22* outside. It looks like the taller basil / cilantro sprouts survived the night under the plastic as shown in the image on the top right. I was afraid to open the plastic for a photo for fear the warm air that was trapped under might escape!

Here is my little Betty Kitty waiting for me to come out and work in the garden this morning.

I hope you are Enjoying your first day of Spring as well.

Happy Gardening !



21 comments:

Rob (ourfrenchgarden) said...

What a lovely post.

I think your brother in law has got a great sense of humour.

Isn't it satisfying when seeds pop up way ahead of expectation.

Happy spring!

Rob

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

We had a neighbor in Germany who we were competing with for the first red tomato. In the middle of the night Peter had one of his friends sneak into our garden and hang Christmas ornaments on our tomato plants. In the morning we had all these red things hanging from the tomato plants. All the guys next door were up, waiting for us to see the "tomatoes".

Tara said...

That is too funny...that bro-in-law sounds like a character. Cute joke though.

Don't you just love springtime?

I encountered a huge king snake on my back deck this morn while I was outside painting. I will post about it later.

Lona said...

LOL! what a funny story. That was really sweet of him to do. I would have been scratching my head too :)
I hope you have wonderful lavender plants soon. Let me know how they are doing because I have a terrible time starting them. I think I need more sand in my soil when I plant them.They always die on me.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What a funny post!! Your seedlings did grow fast, hope they continue to grow nice and big. Have fun in your garden today!

Kylee Baumle said...

Bren, that is too funny!

I'm not surprised you have sprouts already. I've seen that happen with lots of things over the last few years, but it never ceases to amaze me at how they do that.

I checked my spinach seeds today and nothing yet.

Betty's a doll!

tina said...

Hi Bren, What a cute story about your brother in law. Sounds like lots of fun in your family. All I can say about those mesclun seedlings-they are ever so happy. I am impressed with your unheated area too. It stayed fairly warm; which is good. Happy First Day of Spring to you too! Have a great weekend.

Susie said...

Bren that is a funny story. He got you good!

Good luck with all your seeds. I hope they all do well for you. Happy spring to you!

joey said...

Your brother-in-law is my kind of guy! Happy Spring, Bren :)

Robin's Nesting Place said...

What a funny joke! At least it was one you could really enjoy!

I need to get busy and plant more seeds! I found some more that I'd forgotten about.

Nana said...

Bren,

What a fun family you live in!

I really like your blog. Thanks for stopping over at mine. You're right, we do have much in common. :)

Jackie

Van said...

Just visiting around in garden blogs - thinkin' about starting one...

Anonymous said...

Bren, Mother Nature doesn't play tricks :) it only shows us if we do things well...
thanks for visiting and commenting that great beneficial plants post :)

Unknown said...

Hi Bren, I made it back. Love what your brother in law did to ya. Whatta guy! Your starts are looking good.
Come by and see me - I put on a new type of flower today at the end of my post - a herd of elk! LOL

Nathan said...

great joke. Bet you were disapointed though!

Unknown said...

Oh Lady, I really wish we lived closer so you could help me out with my pathetic brown thumb of mine. I really want a beautiful balcony to enjoy, and I fear I will muck it all up. I love the photos (especially kitty!!!)! Certainly looks like Spring!

Anonymous said...

Your babies look great! You'll have to let me know how it goes with your Red Hot Pokers- mine never germinated :(- I would try to sow some more, but I have a list a mile long of seeds that need to be started- and I'm late on those! Going out of town this last week has put me in a crunch! Happy spring to you!

Unknown said...

You have your whole hand green, not only your finger! If you catch my drift... :)

Happy planting & gardening!

Roses and Lilacs said...

That's not the same kitty that was hitchhiking in the clean up trailer;)

I need to follow your example and get some greens planted.

Your brother has quite a sense of humor;) He sounds like a fun guy.
Marnie

Bren Haas said...

Marnie - We have eight extremely spoiled kitties who call the BGgarden Home! I need to dedicate a blog entry to them someday when things slow down in the garden.

Thank you everyone who posted comments. Your thoughts are cherished and I love to visit you all from the link that is left behind. It is wonderful learning more about making our world pretty from your thoughts on the blogs.

Happy Spring!

5 Vegas said...

Happy Spring...You're going to just love those Red Hot Pokers!!!