Esteban's Garden

It's officially the halfway mark in the semester! Gardening is fun! I took this class to fulfill a credit requirement for the semester, and it has been the greatest decision of the semester. Gardening has actually helped me stay ahead in my other courses because of the time frame gardening requires. Watering my plants daily and planting new seeds in my garden week after week have not only given me more purpose and structure, but something to look forward to every time I see my garden. To update on the garden: I went to Lowe's and bought a wooden plant box for my seedlings as they ran out of space in my first box. I was able to fit them into the box but I'm worried I might not have given them enough space. I also moved the location of the garden boxes because I think they might not have been getting enough sunlight. Independently I also bought some flowers that I plan on planting around my house as I have really wanted to try landscaping more since taking this class. I...

This week, the seeds we planted directly into our garden grew. It has been exciting to see them sprout and grow so quickly in comparison to the germination station. The radishes sprouted first, then the wax beans sprouted and dramatically grew bigger than the radishes and sunflower sprouts, which grew only a few days ago.  Germination Station Our germinating seedlings needed to be thinned in order to continue developing. After weeks of growing inside we had to separate the bunches of seedlings for them to have enough room. Sadly, my Zinnia seedlings have almost halted growing and wilted. The loss of my first seedling has taught me something about patience. Even though it was my first seedling, it still ended up dying yet my other plants, which I never thought would grow have all started doing better than the Zinnia. It goes to show it’s not always the fastest performing that performs the best .  Now that we’re separating our seedlings and maintaining our garde...

The germination process was easier than what I anticipated. The zinnia seeds sprouted into a seedling that is growing every day. While the cucumber and bell pepper seeds have yet to germinate, the tomato seed has just started to sprout. My greatest difficulty has been finding a place to keep them without interruption. We had my brother’s graduation this weekend at my house and the increase foot traffic meant the windowsill would not be a viable location. I figured storing them with my garden box outside the door should be safe.  And for the zinnia sprout it was, it grew taller every day it seemed. But my other seeds could not seem to germinate outside, especially with the temperature reaching 100 degrees and storms hitting us every afternoon. Just another week in Florida, it’s great to be a Florida Gator! This week we planted directly into the garden soil. We planted wax beans, radishes, and sunflowers; making sure to label and space out the seeds. I hope by looking up t...