Tuesday, February 26, 2008

erp and the bean stalk

Jack's mother peavishly threw the beans he got for the cow he was supposed to take to market down on the ground. She didn't give them another thought yet they grew into a mighty bean stalk reaching the sky. Taking my cue from that prodigious feat, I thought I'd try my hand at getting seeds to sprout.









To that end, I purchased the ingenious little miniature nursery pictured above which has 72 tiny cups of peat and will attempt with careful nurturing of same to grow two different kinds of sunflowers, cosmos and nasturiums. Directions, thoughtfully written in English and Spanish, tell me to place three seeds into each peat cup and then put the cover back on. When I see a little sprout, I should prop the cover up and when there are sprouts in all 72 peat cups, I may plant the whole little miracle of birth into the ground or into a larger pot. We''ll see.

Here's the nursery with the cover on.










Watch for updates right here at erp's.

4 comments:

monix said...

Good luck with the seedlings. My daughter is brilliant with such things but she didn't inherit that from either of her parents it's a skill that definitely skipped a generation.
I just bought some cosmos after seeing your picture in an earlier post. I'll let you know if I have any success with them, as I'm not growing them from seed they have a chance!

erp said...

I can't buy the plants around here, likewise the sunflowers or the nasturtiums, that's why I resorted to the seeds.

Your climate seems to be similar to San Francisco, not too hot, not too cold and very "misty." Bougainvillea thrive there. I wonder if you could grow it in a sunny spot. It's fabulous and easy.

monix said...

I'll look into that but we do get some frosts in the winter so perhaps the climate wouldn't suit. I do have a thriving wisteria that I planted about three years ago, I'll take some pictures when it is in flower.

erp said...

Eureka! Tiny 1/8th of an inch white wormy looking sprouts in about a dozen of the peat pots.

We had a bad storm the other night, so I brought the nursery inside for fear it would be blown down. Then yesterday was cold and cloudy, so I left it inside on the eastern window sill.

Today is bright, but cold, so I'll leave it there and check in again tomorrow morning.

Not promising, but there may be pictures.