Today #1 had eleven teeth pulled. Eleven!! They were all baby teeth that hadn't been pushed out by the adult teeth that came in behind them. I felt so bad for her, they gave her laughing gas and used numbing gel before the Novocaine injections, but she still felt it. And then they came back and gave her more Novocaine when they confirmed with the orthodontist that they would pull two or three additional teeth, this time without the numbing gel. My poor girl. The dentist had to get tools to pry one of the teeth out, it took several minutes. The sounds of the teeth being pulled made me sick. I understand why many parents don't go back to the room with their kids. Yikes! She's uncomfortable now, of course. I'm hoping that her mouth will be mostly healed by Monday when she goes in to get braces put on to straighten the adult teeth.
I felt the need to share some photos. The rhubarb looks alright. I think both of the damaged stalks are going to die off, but I see new growth on the leaves already, so I'm hoping for the best. This is one of the plants coming from GRIN, so it will be posted on the Research page once I have some sit down time to get a page set up for it. The peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes look wonderful. The peppers are getting so big, I'm wondering if I'll see blooms on them soon. The cucumbers are flowering like crazy and tiny cucumbers are now turning into easy t- spot cucumbers. The tomatos continue to surprise me in how well they're growing. Some varieties are still struggling behind the pack a bit, but some have really taken off! I'm concerned they may start fruiting before I can transplant them outside. I'm not sure if that would shock them into stopping tomato production in favor of branching off more roots. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. This week I've been trying to work on getting stuff listed for sale on eBay as they have a 25,000 free listings promotion going on, but I'm finding that I really have no time at all. Between all kinds of errands, appointments, and breast feeding every two hours, there's not a lot of extra time to play on the computer right now.
Today #1 had eleven teeth pulled. Eleven!! They were all baby teeth that hadn't been pushed out by the adult teeth that came in behind them. I felt so bad for her, they gave her laughing gas and used numbing gel before the Novocaine injections, but she still felt it. And then they came back and gave her more Novocaine when they confirmed with the orthodontist that they would pull two or three additional teeth, this time without the numbing gel. My poor girl. The dentist had to get tools to pry one of the teeth out, it took several minutes. The sounds of the teeth being pulled made me sick. I understand why many parents don't go back to the room with their kids. Yikes! She's uncomfortable now, of course. I'm hoping that her mouth will be mostly healed by Monday when she goes in to get braces put on to straighten the adult teeth.
0 Comments
The cucumbers are in full bloom - lots and lots of yellow flowers! And now we're starting to find tiny cucumbers too! Of the two remaining pea plants (that are now smushed to the dirt from the cats repeatedly sitting in the containers to look out the window) - we have one pea growing so far. So exciting! Today I got a rhubarb plant in the mail from the USDA/GRIN (research). I will be planting it in a container indoors until it's warm enough to safely plant it outside. I'm very excited for this one, as I will be buying a different variety from the local store as well so we can compare them as they grow. This one is called "Cherry Red" and the one from the store I'll be picking up is "Victoria." If either gets big enough to harvest this year, I'll post my mom's Rhubarb Coffee Cake recipe with photos of our home grown creation. The last 24 hours were busy when it comes to animals. Yesterday our last two rabbits found a new home. Today Sheep, my favorite baby guinea pig, left to her new home, and today I also got confirmation that Othello will have a home lined up once he's weaned. He will be going to live with one of #1's friends.
We're expecting kittens in the next 8-21 days. The kids are guessing how many Mabel will have. #1 is guessing 6, #2 is guessing 5, #3 is guessing 5, #4 is guessing 4, Dad is guessing 6, and I am guessing 4. Since this is her first litter, it wouldn't surprise me if she only has one or two, but we're hoping for more. We are very excited and have the vet on speed dial in case anything comes up. The kittens will be F2 sphynx. Henry (dad-to-be) is a blue and white blue-eyed sphynx. Mabel (mom-to-be) is a dilute calico, half sphynx and half Cornish rex. It's good for the genetics of sphynx to be outcrossed to other breeds to offer more genetic diversity. I've created a page for Henry and Mabel and their upcoming kittens here. Today's mail delivery brought three new seed varieties...
Churchill Brussel Sprouts (heirloom) Connecticut Field Pumpkin (heirloom) Yellow Pear Tomato I guess the Brussels sprouts are supposed to be started several weeks in advance, much like tomatoes and peppers, so I'll be heading back to Fleet Farm to buy yet another seed starting tray. The herbs that #2 planted are starting to come up now, and the last seed tray I started (with tomatoes and herbs and odds and ends) needs to be moved under the light - which means moving the pepper tray out and transplanting them all. Sounds like I know what my weekend project is going to be! And in other news, we're about to hit a new milestone - our very first sleep-over. Our oldest (#1) has a friend over, and they're trying to get a hold of her family to see if she can spend the night. This will be the very first time we've had a sleepover at our house. How exciting! The new aquaponic tank is half set up. The tank itself is set up and Kernel Mustard is enjoying his mansion, but we have not yet set up the top portion for the plants. I'm letting #2 pick what he's going to be growing. The kit came with three packets of Wheat Grass, and one of Genovese Basil. We won't use the Wheat Grass, so it will be going in the Seed Bank as soon as I can snap a photo and get it posted there. I think the plan is to use the new basil, but I'm not sure which other herbs he will choose. He has plenty to pick from. I received another variety of seed from the GRIN (USDA), this time Black Beauty Eggplant. They will be planted outside in the spring to be compared to the store-bought eggplant that we already have. I also got an email from them asking if I was still interested in the rhubarb I had requested. Hopefully that means it comes soon. We had a rhubarb plant when we moved in, but the neighbor put up a wooden fence just feet from it and lack of sun killed it within a season. The Black Beauty Eggplant, and the rhubarb (if and when it comes) will be monitored on the Research page. The projects today included shopping, staking, identifying, and planting. So far I've accomplished three of the four. I stopped by Dollar Tree and bought garden twine, a strainer (for seeds), and plastic baggies. Then headed over to Fleet Farm to pick up some Jiffy Strips (to plant more seeds), seed starting potting mix (Miracle Glo), dowels, craft sticks, and I bought more seeds (Mortgage Lifter tomato seeds and Columbine flower seeds - though we called the "honeysuckle" as a kid). I put the dowels in the pea and cucumber containers, and then used the garden twine to tie the plants up. I used the craft sticks to identify each container. They look so much more neat and tidy now! As of posting this, I have not gotten to planting the new seeds yet. I have plans to put five new varieties of tomato into my new potting mix. I'm a little hesitant as I've still seen no results from the three varieties of tomato I've already planted.
I sent a second request for seeds from GRIN, but got an email back from one of the facilities saying that home schooling is not an appropriate use for their seeds. I'm a little upset by this, as they clearly state that they provide seeds for educational use. They have a clause that says they will only provide seeds to people who can't use commercial seeds. I tried to explain that we wanted to make observations that count. Anyone can search Google to find out everything there is to know about Oregon Sugar Snap II peas, but do a search for Konservenstolz peas and you won't find much. But alas, we are not scientists, we do not have a laboratory, and we lack any kind of PHD in plants. I'm curious how other people have gotten seeds through GRIN, as I've found several online who got many varieties for their home gardens seemingly without a hassle. The world may never know. Oh well. It was a good plan and a thoughtful attempt to help science while teaching my own children. We'll just have to be happy with the handful of seeds we have. The grape tomato seeds I am currently fermenting are doing as they should (bubbling and molding on top), so I'm not entirely sure what I did wrong with the Roma seeds. I'm still waiting to see if they'll come up or not. I'm very tired tonight for some reason, so this will be a short post. The research seeds are doing well. Both beans and both peas have now sprouted. Of the three varieties of lettuce - one has sprouted all five seeds, one has a single sprout, and the other is still waiting. More information on them available (with photos) on the Research page.
No progress yet on either of the tomato varieties (green zebra or roma). I have started fermenting some sweet grape tomato seeds. I'm hoping this time I can figure out how I botched the last fermenting. In doing random research yesterday, I came across information about sprouting lentils. I guess they'll sprout if you soak them overnight and then keep them warm and moist for 24-48 hours. You can then either steam them for 5 minutes and eat them, or plant them to grow your own lentils. I've never eaten lentils before, but for some reason had a bag of them in my cupboard that's been there for a number of years. So of course, what have I got to lose? I've left them overnight and now they're staying moist and warm in a plastic bottle with a little warm water in the bottom. We'll see how they turn out tomorrow. I'd like to try eating some, and growing some too. Last night #3 and #4 helped me to plant some black eyed peas in the ice cream containers we emptied during movie night. They too were from a bag in the back of the cupboard that we've had for years, so who knows if they'll grow or not. Having never eaten them, this will also be a new experience. Perhaps we'll grow enough lentils and dried beans to make our own soup over next winter! The mail brought a lovely surprise. I had sent off five stamps to someone to get three new varieties of tomato seeds (tigerella, black zebra, and Juane Flamme), but she was super generous and sent large barred boar, lemon drop, and kosovo tomato seeds too! I had to look these varieties up but they look tasty! I'm going to be a busy tomato gardener this year! I had planned to plant the black krim tomato seeds today, but I didn't get to it. Maybe tomorrow. I have a few more apple juice containers I could cut open for planting in, and they're just begging me to use them. Today I also looked into options for schooling #1, as the current Montessori school only has curriculum to 6th grade, so she will be aging out this year. She is reading at a college level, and despite getting "too bored" and only answering half of the test questions, she still scored higher than the state average in her math skills too. I want to home school her, but lack the confidence and finances to purchase curriculum and feel like I know what I'm doing. So instead I'm looking in to an online school that will allow us to build on what she wants to learn about, offers extra curriculum, and advanced classes. The program I'm looking at now also offers college credits to over-achievers, and I think that #1 might just be able to enjoy learning again once she's given the opportunity to excel with new curriculum. I have signed up for an informational meeting next Thursday to get more information. I will leave you with another photo of the mango. My four-year old (#4) was out sick from school today with a cough, sniffles, and a low-grade fever. We decided to plant some more tomatoes together. I had attempted to ferment some seeds from a couple Roma tomatoes we'd eaten, but I can't figure out if I did it right. All of the online information indicates that there should be a layer of mold over the top and that it should smell foul. It's been over a week and no mold on top, but the seeds have separated (seeds on bottom, gunk on top). When I opened it, there was a foul smell, but not overpowering like I thought it would be. So, I'm not sure if these seeds will actually grow or not, or if they'd already started to germinate... So #4 and I planted them straight out of the jar (rinsed first of course). I only had nine little containers, but we had a lot of seeds, so I let her do the planting. She put probably 20 seeds in each little container. If they all come up I'll be doing a lot of frantic last-minute replanting, but I'm not sure any will actually come up. We'll see what happens! The mango is starting to show green underneath the pink growth. I have no idea what these parts are properly called, as I've never grown a tree from seed, much less a mango. It's exciting to see the progress though! Putting it under the grow light seems to have sped up the progress. The peppers are thriving under the grow light. Most are growing a third leaf, and some are already budding a fourth leaf! The challenge seems to be keeping them moist, as being under the light dries the soil out daily. Two of the five seed varieties I planted from the GRIN research seeds have sprouted today. I'm impressed, as it's only been 3 days since I planted them. All five of one lettuce variety (Treibsalat Presto), and both of the beans have sprouted. Much to my surprise, one of the beans has sent a root all the way to the bottom of the container (7cm) in the amount of time it's taken the top to break the surface. Check the Research page to keep track of the progress on these plants and to see photos.
In other news, today was the last day of school before spring break. I now have nine days with the kids and the weather is supposed to be warmer than it has been in a long time. Yay! I see all kinds of fun projects in the making... Today I set up and planted all five of the seed varieties that I got from the USDA/GRIN on Saturday. I planted five seeds of each lettuce variety, and two seeds each of the bean and pea varieties. I'm hopeful that they'll have good enough germination rates that they'll sprout. I didn't want to plant too many and have to thin them out. That seems like a waste of rare seeds.
In the garden, the bell peppers seem to be doing great for the most part. The ones under the grow light are growing quickly and their leaves are larger than those of the plants not under the light. One of the three peppers in the aquaponics system is dying, but the other two look alright. My cucumbers are dying in both the aquaponics system and under the light. They're looking wilty, but otherwise alright in the south window. Today Tony stopped by Ace Hardware and picked up five new packets of seeds. He got Garden Beans (tendergreen improved), Chives, Dill (Long Island Mammoth), Sweet Basil, and Cilantro - all are American Seed brand. They were only 79-cents per packet. All of the cloth diapers are washed and air drying. I wonder why we didn't try cloth diapers sooner. It's not really as hard as people were telling me it would be, and #5 seems to enjoy wearing them more. No sign of diaper rash since we have been using cloth diapers, and while we have to wash them every day, that's not such a big deal. With seven people, we have a lot of laundry anyway. I got all five of the new seeds from GRIN inventoried. Each seed packet was counted, weighed, measured, and photographed. I plan to start some of the lettuce seeds this week as a test. They'll be planted indoors and placed under the grow light for optimal plant health. Of course, as research subjects, all data will be recorded on the Research page under each specific variety.
I got an email from one facility that was supposed to send two varieties of potato, but they said neither was currently available (despite them being marked as available on the GRIN website). I also got an email from the facility that has the berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries), and it turns out they ship them in the fall and winter, so no berries to research this year either. I'm still waiting to hear back on a few other seeds (tomatoes, pumpkin, etc.), so we'll see what happens with them. So far I've done the basic documentation on two of the three varieties of lettuce, and the peas. I plan to finish investigating the beans and the last variety of lettuce tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see if any of the peas or beans come up considering the age of the seeds. I have a sneaking suspicion that they just sent me old seeds they were going to throw out because they're likely beyond any good germination rate. We will see when we plant them. No date in mind just yet though. I think I'd like to try the lettuce varieties in the aquaponics system once they're sprouted (again, just planning now - not planting yet).
More of the cucumbers are wilting. I watered the seedlings that hadn't had water since they were transplanted and will see if they perk up tomorrow. The bell pepper plants are loving the new grow light! They're growing much faster than the ones in the aquaponics system and the one in the indoor garden. The peas continue a steady growth. I can hardly wait for spring! Today I got my first package back from the USDA for the seeds I requested. Each facility has different seeds, so because I ordered multiple types of seeds, I expect to get seeds from multiple facilities. I'll admit I'm a little upset with the results so far. This particular facility should have sent me one type of lettuce, two types of beans, two types of rhubarb, and one variety of catnip. Instead they sent three varieties of lettuce, one type of bean and one type of pea - none of which are the varieties I requested. They also sent a letter saying they don't work with home gardeners and pretty much told me not to make any future requests. I understand they don't want every gardener to try to get free seeds, but I was very clear that we intended these to be part of our home-schooling curriculum. Yes, it's a veggie garden - but it's also about weighing, measuring, documenting, photographing, and keeping records. As long as we're doing observations, why not do so with rare and exotic plants where our observations may be of some use?
In spite of the treatment I got, the seeds being not what I wanted, and the fact that all of the seeds are old (the peas are from 1994 and the beans are from 1987), I intend to continue on with the plan to use them for research. I have set up a research page that lists each variety of seeds I receive from the USDA. Each variety will get its own page with all pertinent information. For right now I'm documenting the basics; seed color, size, shape, number, weight, and where it came from. Once they're planted I also want to add information on germination rate (how many seeds actually produce a plant), as well as a time line for each variety (time from planting to seedling, from seedling to transplant, from transplant to blossom, and from blossom to fruition), and document any resulting fruit (size, color, number per plant, etc.). I hope that our observations are helpful to someone out there. |
Amanda's BlogAmanda's blog about everything, important and trivial. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|