It's Bean a Trial

After several false starts, I finally had two little bean sprouts that broke soil yesterday afternoon ... hooray!   I don't know what was different about these two, but I'm hopeful that I can get a few more to follow their lead, as just two bush bean plants will hardly be worth the effort to keep them alive.  I also planted the single bean that didn't mold in the paper towel, so hopefully that'll pop up in the next couple of days, and I still have two beans sitting in teabags that I'm keeping an eye on, but see no signs of life there yet.

Two beans and a couple of tomato seedlings
(Click to enlarge)

It was a beautifully warm and sunny day, so I took advantage of it and put my little pots outside to enjoy some natural light.  Both the beans and tomato seedlings soaked up the warmth and reacted favorably.  One of the little tomato stalks had been looking a little droopy, but perked up nicely after some Vitamin D therapy, and by the time I brought them in late in the day, the beans were visibly taller in just that couple of hours.  They continued to do well overnight, and are both even stronger this morning.  It's supposed to be another hot one today, so they'll go back outside in a bit.

The five lettuce sprouts are still hanging on. Since they're a cooler weather plant, I haven't brought that pot inside at all, and it hasn't been cold enough overnight to bother them.  I'm hoping to keep it going through the summer by moving that pot around to where it won't scorch in the NC heat. I need to thin these out soon too; two of them are right on top of each other, and two others are also too close to grow to maturity where they are.  I'll probably yank two of them and see if this pot can hold three, at least until large enough to transplant safely.

Lettuce sprouts

If I decide to plant more lettuce, I'll probably do so in a bigger, light-colored pot where it will take a little longer for the soil to absorb the heat.  I don't know if it'll make any difference, but it sounds logical and won't hurt anything to try.

On today's agenda is to get a couple more tomato seeds and beans planted, and maybe I'll get the first cucumbers planted too.  The yard is badly in need of a haircut (me too!), but first I'm going to head out for a much needed walk, something else that I've been neglecting, before it gets too hot.

~ Marie Anne