Of seeds and sprouts

I'm happy to report the birth of some cheerful companions: radishes in the double-dug bed and chard in the cold frame.

This morning I was also delivered an old, rusty wheelbarrow with a flat tire - thank you again, Freecycle! (Freecycle rules, people.) I'll be looking for a new inner tube for the tire, or better, heavy-duty patching tape for the old tube. It should be pretty handy for transporting compost and soil around when I get serious about double-digging.

My mini-greenhouse indoors is now equipped with a fan and - I caved - a lamp. We have zero windows that receive direct sunlight, and I really don't want to risk fungal buildup, so I'm going all out. I'm not really happy about it, but those seeds were expensive, and I want a garden before fall rolls around. If it doesn't work, then it'll probably be cold frame the whole way.

I sprouted lots of spearmint over the last couple weeks - probably way too much. I never thought the seeds were going to do anything, but I guess it can take a couple weeks or more for certain seeds to sprout. So I got overly eager and sowed spearmint in different ways at different times. Hopefully I'll end up with far more than I can handle.

watercolour, summer, 2000

And lo and behold, dear cousin Elizabeth has donated to the Garden project a packet of lettuce poppies from Tasha Tudor's garden in Vermont. Lettuce poppies (aka. opium poppies) are apparently the oldest poppies in cultivation. The seeds are highly appreciated, cousin!