After the initial shock of getting transplanted, the plant seedlings are slowly getting bigger and stronger.

This is probably the most noticeable with the strawberries. I had seven separate plants growing in a small patch of a planter pot. Separating them all has meant that some of them got a bit of a shock (roots torn and all), but now they’re quite happy and expanding- no longer withering and dying away. A few of them have flower buds coming up, so I look forward to eating fresh strawberries in the not too distant future.

I don’t know about other people’s experiences, but I’ve found that capsicums seem to drop the initial few flower buds… So while I’m excited about these ones having buds, I’m also wondering whether it’ll just fall off, too.

This tomato is the biggest plant I’ve got, and it has what appears to be a small fruit growing near the top. This one is an heirloom variety (‘Black Russian’), so I’m looking forward to eating it. I grew it about six years ago, and it was pretty tasty.

The newer bed has slightly smaller seedlings, but they’re also growing quite well, too. The tomatoes (‘Tommy Toe’) on the left hand side had teeny, somewhat pathetic looking root systems, so they struggled a little initially, but now they’re growing quite well.

I’ve also been throwing stray earthworms that I’ve found around the garden into those garden beds. I’m not sure if they’ll survive in there, but I hope they help maintain soil health. I’ve also got a separate worm farm, so I can use the ‘worm tea’ from that to top up the microbes…

The shade cloth has definitely been helping these plants out a lot. We’ve had some sunny days, but yesterday we got absolutely hammered with heavy rains and wind- having the cloth over the top of them meant that they didn’t get as battered. I imagine any hail would have some trouble damaging the plants, too, which is great. Last year I had the same sort of crop, which got decimated after one bad hail storm. I’d rather not have that happen again.

So far I haven’t encountered any pests. Nothing has eaten the plants (*touch wood*). I do have a bug and bird proof net that I can pop over both beds, ready to go, so if I notice something, I’ll use it right away.

In the mean time- it’s really nice to have things growing in garden beds again. 😊

Categories: General

ABugsLife

A Ph. D graduate in Microbiology, residing in Victoria, Australia. Currently working in multiple locations but still in the STEM field. 👀 🦠 🧫 🧬