Decorative Grass vs. Cat

This weekend allowed for some excellent garden plant searching time. Friday, I traveled to three different vendors finding the perfect petite flowers to complement my veggie garden on the porch. Sadly, the weather changed from the sunny 70's to rainy and windy 50's. Because of this, I moved my new additions inside to wait for warmer weather. (Luckily, I am transplanting my seeds so they need not suffer the chilly early spring!) Anyway, the point of this story is that my curious, devious cat is always on the lookout for a good hearty meal. He found my decorative grass and grazed while I soundly slept not more than 10 feet away. Luckily, I find him to be absolutely adorable and can forgive him any trouble he may cause. Notice the "trimmed" leaves on the left side of the pot.

On another note, my sprouting seeds are coming along nicely. The green beans seem to have shot up over night while my tomato is being very shy. I have moved the beans, lettuce, and cucumber out of the plastic bag so as not to hinder the growth of the stems. Hopefully, I will be able to start moving the seedlings into their permanent home (my buckets) this week but it all depends on the weather. Clockwise from the very left: cucumber, lettuce, and two green bean plants.

After further research, I have also decided to not transplant the carrot seeds to the bucket because I don't want to chance damaging the roots. So for now, I won't have any updates on them, at least not until I move the other plants to the containers for the porch.

Practice Makes Perfect

When I think about all of the reasons I decided to become vegetarian, I never have a doubt that it was the right decision for me. Recently, I have been doing more research into vegetarianism/veganism and it only confirms the choice I have made. During my 3 months as a vegetarian, I have "cheated" three times...which in my mind makes me a psuedo-vegetarian. I never changed my diet to be flexible in the meat eating department so I have seriously disappointed myself.

Why did I "cheat"? Sadly, I don't have a good reason. I don't feel like eating the chicken bbq was worth it, or the chicken strips for one dinner was forgivable. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to stick with my choices and know that I made them for a reason. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

I can't beat myself up over those mistakes. All I can do is move forward and know that I'm not perfect. I made a mistake but I've learned and now I can move on. This next week, I am going to seriously look at my diet and nutrition and plan out my meals so I have no excuse to fall back on my old habits. Vegetarianism is new for me, so I understand that I am learning as I go. I am serious about this lifestyle choice so no more psuedo-change! I am a strict vegetarian!

In The Beginning...

Okay, so day 1 of my garden has commenced. I have decided to tackle 5 different plants. In the past I have worked on 3 at most and they have mostly consisted of herbs. I did try a small pepper variety in a pot last year but the results were not so great.

This year I am trying something new. I am starting my seeds in pellets and will transplant them in a few weeks once there are a few leaves on each plant. Previously, I have started seeds directly in the pots they mature in but with the crazy weather this year (I am over the snow...didn't nature get the memo, it's not winter anymore!), I am trying a new approach.

In the picture, you can see that I have expanded the pellets and planted the seeds. I am using an old storage container to hold the seeds for now and am covering it with a plastic bag. The bag should help hasten this growing process which is good for me since I have little patience. The plants are (from left) tomato, lettuce, cucumber, green bean (2 plants), and carrots (2 plants). I will get into the specific varieties at a later date.

So for now, all I need to do to prepare for the transplanting is ready my containers (all purpose buckets from the hardware store) and find an appropriate potting soil. I am so excited for these seeds to sprout, for me this is the hardest part of the whole process. I am all about instant gratification so this will be a good test in patience.

Welcome!

Like millions of other people, I have decided to blog about certain aspects of my life that I think are fascinating...and others that are not so. Recently, there have been some big changes in my lifestyle such as deciding to become vegetarian (purely a personal preference based on my dislike of meat) and starting a vegetable garden from seed.

I have been a meat eater for 25 years but never enjoyed touching, cooking, and eating animal flesh. So at the beginning of 2011, I decided to become a full fledged vegetarian. I respect other people's choices and am not going to try to convince anyone one way or the other on their diet preferences. My husband is a carnivore and that will never change (he could eat a whole package of bacon in one sitting!!!). Obviously this leaves the challenge of finding vegetarian meals that can be complemented by animal protein but is easy and cheap to make. Did I mention I am doing all of this on a budget. Being unemployed doesn't allow for much excess spending in our household.

I have also decided to grow a full fledged vegetable garden! The constraints: no yard and a budget. I live in a second story apartment with a tiny porch. The goal is to grow a variety of veggies all in containers and all from seed. I guess I could have taken the easy route and just bought plants that already have growth but I like to jump in head first. I want the final product to be completely my doing and that includes starting the seeds, transplanting the sprouts, and harvesting a bountiful crop (from my containers). It may seem like extra work, but I look forward to the challenge.

Okay, so that is a quick intro about me and my inspiration for this blog. I hope to be able to share everything I learn about being a vegetarian (with a meat loving husband) and a vegetable gardener (if that is what you consider a container garden on a 5' x 8' porch). I will also be adding pictures along the way for something pretty to look at. Wish me luck!