Sprouting Here and Yon

For years I've tried off and on to grow my plants from seeds. If I can direct sow in the garden, I've managed fine, but the "start four to six weeks before last frost" has always been plagued by leggy plants and dampening off, in spite of my best efforts.

I knew we hoped to have a bigger garden this year, so I decided to try again. This time I used the Jiffy Pellets in black trays with a clear lid and my plant stand at school, and prayer.
Well, let's just say I should've waited until "two to three weeks before last frost" cuz as you can see, they are ready.
There are eleven different type of tomatoes in this rather large bucket. Most of them are heirloom and none of them I've ever grown before. I am hoping for lots of tomatoes this year.

When I look out over the chicken yard, it's difficult to believe that less than a year ago we considered this area part of the woods. It was quite overgrown with all types of woodsy weeds and vines. Trees were lost during the hurricane winds and ice storm that followed, but the biggest change has been the chickie girls appetite for things green.

It wouldn't help if you could look closer, there's is nothing there-zip, nada, nudie.

If you recall, this is the chickie girl tractor Handy Man made me so I could take the girls out safely when they were just wee pullets.

I hated for it to just around feeling useless until we have more babies, so I drug it back in the chicken yard, scratched up some soil, and planted some wheat grass inside of it. A good rain and a dose of sunshine yielded a dense patch of green wheat grassy goodness in just a couple of weeks. This morning, I scratched up another patch, moved the tractor to where you see it above, replanted, then let the girls out.

Here is the dense patch of green wheat grassy goodness after a couple of hours.

Well, actually you would need your really strong glasses to look close enough to tell there are about two and a half sprouts left. That would be all- gone- hopefully turning into delicious eggs.

I turned over all the rocks that border my flower bed outside the kitchen window, just to see them scurry like crazy, inhaling everything tiny and wriggling. It is quite comical to see one come right up under another girl and snatch her catch right out of her beak. Protein-yummee!!

Ahh, such a glorious weekend-thank you Lord!

What's growing in your garden?