The Day I Prepped My Seedlings for the Community Garden

It's early Friday, April 20, and the sun is shining in Greenwich, CT. Today I take stock of the seeds and cuttings I have prepped at home for my plot at Greenwich Community Gardens. I have cuttings growing and seeds germinating -- celery, scallions, cucumber, radish, beet, pepper, arugula, tomato and endive. 

Celery cutting shoots upward
from the center

My celery is taking off. I started the cutting two weeks ago by placing it in a glass with about an inch of water, then resting it on the windowsill in indirect light. Immediately it started to grow from the center of the cutting. Earlier this week I packed the celery in organic soil, and it is already taller and leafier. Yesterday I tasted one of the light-green leaves and it was delicious. So much fun! In the same container I also planted a few cucumber seedlings. Can you see them starting to pop up in the foreground of the container? I love me some cucumbers.

Cucumber shoots grow quickly

Cucumbers are rapid growers, though they are not as cold-hardy as I hoped. If they were hardier, I would plant them outside with leafy greens now. June will be safer. The Spacemaster cucumber is designed to grow upward in the 4x8 garden rather than to spread laterally through vines. In the egg carton, each cucumber sprout is one to two inches tall, several sprouts in each dimple. I also have sowed several cucumber sprouts in the community garden, a bit too early I discover, and I am eager to see later today whether they and the other sprouts I planted have grown (radish, beet, carrot blend).

Nantes carrots hold promise

What else is gaining traction among my seedlings? How about Nantes carrots. These are unusual carrots: They have a rounded end rather than a pointy end, and they are described as exceptionally sweet. The rounded end grabbed my attention when I saw the seeds at the nursery. I planted the sprouts in an egg carton as seedlings, and they are starting to grow, though they look now like blades of grass. According to the seed packet, the carrots are hardier than other vegetables. I can plant them in early May, about two weeks before the average last frost in mid-May.

Arugula sprouts start, so fragile

Arugula sprouts start to appear, too. I keep whispering to them “grow, grow.” So small, so fragile, such an aroma. I have planted arugula in my outside planter at home, but we haven't had enough sun to compel them to grow. Inside the house, arugula sprouts are starting to take hold. Once I tasted arugula, I never returned to lettuce.

This weekend, we have the community garden opening. All of us will be working at least two-hour shifts getting the garden into shape and meeting other community gardeners. The community spirit will be alive in the Bible Street branch of Greenwich Community Gardens. Until next time, how is your garden growing? Talk to me.