Thursday, April 1, 2010

rad radishes and millipede love

my first three direct-seeded radishes came up today! i was losing hope, thinking the birds got them or i messed up somehow, but now i realize i planted them just over a week ago...seems like longer because i’m so anxious. i think i glimpsed a beet seedling emerging, too.


i have more than 20 tomato plantlets growing, and another batch germinating. they keep coming up and i keep having to cobble together new planter ideas, like this soup can/soda bottle one i made today. it’s out of control, my whole yard is going to be tomatoes.

the rain has been relentless this week. it hailed for a while today, and snowed a bit too.

i know they’re garden pests, but how beautiful are millipedes? they’re welcome to nibble the roots of my plants from time to time as long as they keep being gentle, sweet, photogenic little friends.



9 comments:

Andrea said...

Your photos are so lovely you almost have me convinced millipedes are beautiful!

Andrea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JJ said...

I won one! my radishes came up two weeks ago. I don't believe that stuff about tomatoes. You do know that tomatoes and aubergines are different, don't you? And I concur about the millipedes. Fabulous pics. They actually look cute. I must admit, I can't kill anything - not even slugs. It isn't their fault that I provide things for them to eat, is it?

Emily said...

thanks andrea! i think just about anything can be beautiful if you look at it the right way. but millipedes are downright gorgeous no matter what.

and jeff, congratulations! it does seem like a race sometimes doesn’t it? everyone’s a winner eventually though. i think you and i must live in pretty similar climate zones, judging from the indicators you’ve mentioned on your blog.

i don’t kill slugs either...and i get mammoth ones, sometimes 5-6 inches long. i go out in the middle of the night with flashlights, pluck them and relocate them to where they can’t do damage. last year i probably plucked around a hundred, and not until after they’d eaten all of my sunflower sprouts and a few other young morsels. my friend katherine and i had some fun with one of the slugs: http://yourapplesaremyoranges.blogspot.com/2009/05/slugfest.html

JJ said...

Good on 'yer with the slugs, Em. Blessings on you for that. Must admit, my radishes are in the greenhouse. Is that cheating? I have early broad beans shooting in there, too. And the strawberry plants are surviving the cold nights so far. Would I want to know what fun you and Katherine had with the slugs? Don't forget I'm British!!!

Emily said...

of course that’s cheating! just kidding. i tried starting some radishes inside a while ago and they didn’t seem to work very well, so i waited to plant more until i could plant them directly outside.

haha i don’t think our slug fun would offend your british sensibilities, we basically just used them as props in a photo shoot. the link i posted got cut off, didn’t it...here it is in two parts:
http://yourapplesaremyoranges.blogspot
.com/2009/05/slugfest.html

JJ said...

As usual, the link didn't work. It never has yet in my limited experience of Blogger. Could you give me the date of the blog so I can check it out?

Emily said...

oh certainly. it's under 2009, the month of may, and the title is "slugfest."

JJ said...

Thanks. I looked. Google wouldn't let me comment. Typical Google!

Anyway, I found it fascinating, surreal. I like surreal.