How does one grow anything when it’s either pouring down buckets of rain or blazing hot sun? These are some of the challenges I’ve come upon. On August 18 I planted seeds of lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and basil in small pots in my bodega (shed/spare bedroom).
A week later I had little seedlings poking triumphantly up from the soil. I moved them into the sun. And then half of them drowned while I was at work. I kept them under the patio roof during the day, and then they began to grow tall and spindly. *sigh* But I’ve been trying. The soil is a mixture of compost that I had built up over the past year living in my house, sphagnum moss, and some very fine dirt from a local nursery – $3.00 for a 50-pound bag. But it is so extremely well sifted that the compost and moss and necessary to keep it from compacting immediately.
Here are some photos of the seedlings one week after planting the seeds:
Here are the same plants three weeks later:
Here they are another 3 weeks later:
“Volunteer” tomato plant: This one was already growing when I returned in early August!
And some basil — this is the only herb that does incredibly well, no matter how much sun or rain!
Locavore del Mundo 