A little planning saves the pocketbook

11 years ago

Or in my case, lack thereof causes it to cry. I didn't start a single thing from seed this year, and you all know that I'm usually the one bringing about 80 or so tomato plants to the swap, so it was definitely an off year for me. I hate it when life gets so busy that it's the end of April and I still haven't planted a single seed... *SIGH*

However, O'Tooles loves my procrastination. I must say that those cute little pepper plants in their little pots, even at $1.39 each, add up AWFULLY dang fast, as do the gallon tomatoes (and dad gummit if their only Amish paste tomatoes were the $10 "grafted" ones! I can't not have my Amish maters!). Of course, I always have to pick up a few "new" things to try, including a stevia plant (I figure at the very least, I can dry the leaves and use them in teas and tinctures...) and some chamomile. $347 later, I looked in the back of my Bronco and thought to myself, "Hmm, smells like a tomato factory in here!" I just hope that it's all worth it in the end... and that I have enough room for everything. I got WAAAAAYYYYYY too many peppers, but then, one can never have enough peppers, right?

Everything survived the crazy weather weekend, and now I am giving these things an hour or so every night (I can't do much outside in the "breezes" that we had this weekend or I get a headache), starting with the ones that dry out the fastest.

For the record, I have decided that, even if I don't get to them until the end of April next year, I will be planting things from seed again. Yes, it's a pain in the neck, dirt in the house, water spilling in the basement, setting up the lights and fans, moving everything as it gets bigger because I only have one light setup. Paying more on the electric bill. Daily drudgery. Getting burned out earlier in the garden season. But I'll be danged if Mr & Mrs O'Toole will be sending their kids to college on MY dime next year!

Pardon me, I'm going to go do a "Please Lord, do not let it hail" dance, now!

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Comments (3)

mstywoods
11 years ago
Yeah, O'Tooles is so conveniently close to me that I do pick up some plants there, but not often as their prices are so high! I was able to get some plants started by seed, thank goodness, as well as picked up a couple at the swap. I didn't get my broccoli started, so planned on buying a start of that. But I haven't found any yet - I tried HD a few weeks ago, and O'Tooles yesterday. Neither one had any! I may try one more nursery, and then pick up some seed if no one has some. Not sure if that will be too late, though, to get much off of it this year - but I'll give it a go.

I'd love to know how you do with the Stevia plant, mayberry!! I saw those at HD and was tempted to buy one, but didn't. Do you know how to harvest and prepare the leaves?

I'm trying Edamame for the first time this year.
digit
11 years ago
Posted by mayberrygardener . . . I hate it when life gets so busy that it's the end of April and I still haven't planted a single seed... *SIGH*

Umm, it's the end of May, Mayberry'.

I don't know this O'Toole's. Maybe it's a God-send! I mean, I am so cranky right now from watching the weather and trying to keep all those plants-started-from-seed, happy and safe!!!

Hey! I've spent over $300 some years on seed! (Not this year, I had so much left over from splurging in years past. ;o)

So, those plants that you had against the westside of your house for 1 or 2 days, those were from O'Toole's? Tsk, Tsk!

I think you should send them a note of gratitude that the start of the growing season didn't turn you into a nervous wreck like that guy in ID/Waa!

Steve
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mayberrygardener
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes, yes, Steve, it was the end of May when I posted, and at least a good six weeks past when I should have planted the last of the seeds. Should I have gotten something in some dirt by the end of April, I would still have counted myself much less to enrich O'Toole's coffers, but alas, this was not to be the year.

I hear you on spending more on seeds some years... Last year, I bought only a few begonias and started everything else from seed, and still managed to spend more than I did this year, between expanding the count of containers as well as the dark stuff to fill them--a truckload of topsoil and compost blend "only" ran me a hundred bucks, and 10 containers was $300, so I guess I got off cheaply this year, especially since I did bring home several tomato plants from the swap--Bonnie, those sad little wind-whipped one somehow escaped my attention that I should probably prune them so they could recover, so they're actually pretty sad-looking in that I waited until planting time to prune them. Skybird always tells us to cut things way back, and I know I should have, but... well, apparently, procrastinating is quite a strong characteristic of mine, which is how I got into this conundrum to begin with!

I must say this about O'Toole's, prices, and it is a sad fact indeed: they are about 25-30% less expensive than Broomfield's "Garden Center" on 120th. And those buggers got some of my money this year too, now that I think of it, as they had some big tomatillos when I was itching to begin...

*sigh* beating months of being a nervous wreck spoiling my own babies is about the same as my current nervousness, watching out the window as the sky continues to darken and threats of hail pervade the mind. Let's not mention that some of those lovely peppers that have been so lovingly staked so that the wind doesn't simply snap them off at soil-level have been so wind-whipped that I am wondering if I'll ever get anything out of them. Mother Nature must be in quite a tiff these weeks!