Sprout Day 9

There is something to be said about a good sprout. Our second true leaf has come out. It's looking very nice and it appears that I didn't kill it after all with the hot water. Phew!



The tomato plant is doing well, too. At least, now that I've decided on a place to put the poor thing. I must have moved it a half dozen times trying to find the place with the best sun. In the end, I had my husband put up a hook in the right spot. Meanwhile, the tomato plant has been growing.



I find that all the worries that I had with starting a garden this year have melted away. After reading horror story after mortifying horror story about destroyed crops, insect infestations, and bad fruit, its enough to make anyone think twice about trying to grow their own. But my gardening instincts have kicked back in and I'm remembering all the little things I used to do with my parents when we planted a much larger garden in Louisiana when I was a kid.

Most of the time, the plants tell you what they need if you just pay attention. It's much more simple to just sit back and let them do the growing.

Though, I am looking for new and interesting ways to garden. My father told me about a particular way he was considering growing his tomatoes. A five gallon bucket with three tomatoes coming about of the bottom and then holes about an inch above the bottom with more planted on the sides.

I that that was a good idea, but I think I'd have four or six coming out of the sides about half way up the 5 gallon bucket or perhaps varying heights from the bottom to help with root growth. We were thinking that the tomato plants would snap at the hole in the bucket after they got so large, but I think a nice two or three inch soft support like gauze or maybe a loose weave cotton would do the trick nicely and it would tie off on the bell of the bucket. We'll have to see, I'm not ready to dive into such a large undertaking just yet, I don't have the counter space to can tomatoes on that scale.