Coppertop Kitchen: Garden Update!

Every step of this gardening project feels scary, and yet every time I do something it seems to turn out OK, so onward I go! I find myself constantly amazed; amazed that when I open the seed packets, the seeds look (duh) just like the seeds on the inside of vegetables I've eaten my entire life. Amazed that anything germinates, that they sprout more leaves, survive transplants, and un-wither themselves when I forget to water. I think constantly of analogies between parenting and gardening, and I'm sure I'm not the first. Plants and kids: resilient.

My tomato seedlings are completely out of control, having lost all their baby fat and grown into unruly teenagers. I keep looking nervously at the calendar and the ten-day forecast, wondering when they should move out to the roof. I know they will more than likely be fine, but I known them since they were seeds, you know? Anyway, even as I type this, they are enjoying their first field trip (in the front yard, where I can keep my eye on them). They'll having increasingly long outdoor play times for the next week or two, and by mid-may, they'll move to their forever homes on the roof!

The cool-weather crops are all doing great! I planted sugar snap peas, arugula, and carrots in pots on the roof (the same big pots that will soon house the tomatoes, although I'm not sure how the timing will work out) on March 30. Hopefully I can harvest the arugula before the tomatoes need to go in, and maybe I'll get a few baby carrots. I'm toying with the idea of growing the sugar snaps and tomatoes together for a few weeks, and then direct-sowing some basil when the peas are done. The tomatoes are my real priority, though.

And now, a photo tour!

From left to right, just after planting: arugula, sugar snap peas (x2), and carrots.