The Better Homemaking Network

(Check out Week 0 for tips on planting and a list of suggested supplies and suppliers.)

The vegetable garden looks like it is low on nutrients, but they aren’t due for food until next week. I’ll see if they perk up. The baby cucumber is still slow. I cut the eggplant and marble peppers down to one plant each before taking the pictures. (Thin them with scissors, don’t pull them, or you can damage the roots on the plant you’re keeping!)

In the herb garden, I replanted the cilantro, basil, and mitsuba, as well as tossing a couple more dill seeds in. Cilantro is HARD to germinate – I’ve had trouble even with the seed kits from Aerogrow. I didn’t file the seeds this time, I just bought some new seeds to put in. I bought new basil seeds (the others were just too old) and the mitsuba seeds should have still been viable, but perhaps not. Some seeds just don’t last an extra season, I guess. I don’t have more so I tried replanting the old ones. They had rotted so I hope I had just planted them too deep.

In the starter tray, most everything is growing well – and fast! I replaced a couple of pods in the middle that hadn’t germinated. I bought new lemon cucumber seeds and replanted them (the others were five years old, no wonder!) and also replanted half of the cantaloupes with a new variety. The seeds were brand new and fine; I had planted them upside-down so they couldn’t get their roots into the right place!

My vegetable garden, with baby cucumbers (back left), eggplant (back right), and marble peppers (center):

My herb garden, with cilantro, dill, sweet basil, par-cel, chrysanthemum, mitsuba, and Italian parsley:

My garden starter tray, two columns each cantaloupe, butternut, pumpkin, spaghetti squash, zucchini, lemon cucumber: