For The Record...

Irritant Contact Dermatitis and Allergic Contact Dermatitis are two different skin conditions.

Irritant CD occurs when you get prickled or scratched by something - let's say, a squash plant's spines - and the scratches get red and itchy and swell up. After a day or so, the swelling goes away and you've got little scratches which heal up as scratches do.

Allergic CD is often associated with poison ivy and other plants of that ilk. Guess what? Cucumber plants can also cause it for some people. Allergic CD is characterized by bumps and welts that itch like the dickens. It lasts for many days, and you're plagued by the constant need to scratch. I didn't realize this when pulling out the dying cucumber vines, and so didn't wash off my arms right away. In fact, not only did it have time to set, but it got on the inside of the sleeves of a jacket I wore later that day, and I suspect perpetuated my itchiness. I've never gotten poison ivy before, so it was quite an eye opener!

Who knew that garden variety vegetable plants could be so noxious!

Cheap trick: to save the costs of calamine lotion and antihistamines, wear gloves and a light-weight long-sleeved shirt while gardening!

The Actual Numbers

I transplanted petunias into 72 pots on Sunday. (Each pot has four or more sprouts in it, so that's really 288 plants, but I'm only counting pots for this exercise.) Meadow Farms has petunia flats for sale, three 6-packs for $25. That's $.72 per plant. So 72 of them would cost about $52.

(I was guessing $50... I was pretty close!)

And I started a new Jiffy pack of petunias. This time trying to be more careful about how many plants went into each cell, so I can actually leave them in there until they are ready to go in the ground.

The Hard(ening) Truth

I am good at starting seedlings.

"Hardening off" so they are ready to plant outside - not so much.

So far I have lost about half of my first indoor babies (various brassicas, spring onions and celery) to the vicissitudes of the outdoors. The wind, the rain, the sun, all have taken their toll.

I started off with plenty of seedlings in a Burpee Ultimate Growing System (which I adore, btw).  They germinated like crazy, and after a few weeks I transferred them to peat pots.  I used a mix of soil from my own garden, and potting soil, since some websites say that it's best to get the babies adjusted to their ultimate home.  That probably was not the best idea, ultimately, since my garden is largely clay, and the seedlings always seem to be drying out too much.  I lost a couple in the first few days due to the abuse of being repotted.  A few days to adjust to their new environment, and then I started the hardening off process.

So far, this has not been a terribly positive experience.

The crazy valley wind has broken stems, which were too long and spindly due to inadequate indoor light.  The sunshine - however gradual - has been too much for their little leaves.  Trying to keep them sufficiently watered has caused many to die of damping-off disease.  Right now I am just really... really... discouraged.

*Shiver*

The thermostat this morning says 33 degrees. That's after about an hour of morning sunlight on the backyard, so I'm pretty sure it must have dropped below freezing last night. I planted peas, carrots, and radishes in the garden last Sunday and the lows have hit at 32 twice since then. Curse you, date of last frost!

(This is why I've started so many plants indoors this year! My library looks like a greenhouse...)