Monday, June 21, 2010

Its Hot and Humid... I am a miserable gardener

 I haven't watered the plants. I feel guilty, but I'm too much of a wimp to go outside unless I have to, like going to work. Early this morning on my way to work it was already in the 90s. It is almost 6 pm now and  it is still hot. My poor plants are thirsty and droopy. There is no water to give them from the rain barrels because it hasn't rained in days. I also haven't fixed the barrels to receive water directly in the top holes but even if I had there still has not been rain. Tomorrow I will try to be brave and venture out in the early morning before work to water my plants. Or I will just have to do it in the late evening, but that will only bring in more bugs..... right now I'm not sure what to do....  Did I mention how hot it is even indoors? Maybe in about an hour I will go water my plants and then stand under the water hose myself. Cold water sounds great! I'm thirsty too.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Cilantro Seeds, Rain, Rain...


I decided my two cilantro plants have given all they can give in this weather. They bloomed. The blooms died and then little balls began to form. I figured out these tiny green balls were the seeds. I left them out to dry for a few weeks and then a few days ago I cut down the dried up plant and collected all the stems with dried up seeds. I hand picked them all off and right now they are sitting in a plastic container.

I've never grown cilantro from seed. Do I plant them straight into the ground? What should the weather or season be like for best results? I guess I will have to do a little reading and a lot of experimenting to find out.

I am trying to do all of the same things with my parsley too, but it has not dried up and stopped giving completely. Next to it the recent rains have made the basil strong and it's tiny leaves are growing large.

Many of my plants in the front yard are doing very well. In the back only the mint, the squash (I'm not sure which type yet) and the cucumber are growing strong. The recent rains have helped a lot. I'm not sure if I should just till up the rest and start all over. Maybe I should just begin throwing seeds out there again and see what takes and what doesn't.