How Does Your Garden Grow? - Small victories

How Does Your

Garden Grow?

We have a bell pepper sprout!

For the first time in her whole entire life, my mom was right and punishing my bell peppers in the dark while also smothering them with plastic wrap did the trick. It’s only one little sprout out of seven, but I’m taking it as a win.

In other news, I got bugs. When I got to work on Monday morning I killed several gnats while sitting at my desk. I’m not going to confess in writing that my compost bin was completely responsible, but it’s probably not a coincidence. Katrina Becker of Cattail Organics was 100% right, that tote should go outside.

It doesn’t smell awful anymore but I’m going to guess that is because it’s mostly comprised of coffee grounds which should not be surprising considering where the tote lives. Either way, I really like my job and I can’t be held responsible for an infestation.

Step one was solving the problem of moisture in my compost bin since that’s part of what’s attracting the gnats. I’m still not quite ready to admit defeat and drag the tote outside so I’ll continue to troubleshoot the issues that arise when one composts indoors. I probably haven’t been adding enough newspaper to my mixture. How’s that for irony? I added a considerable amount of shredded newspaper to my bin in hopes of drying things up a bit.

I also read that gnats like to get busy in drains, especially ones that contain organic matter, like a kitchen sink might. Our maid (me) is pretty meticulous, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious so I poured a diluted mixture of warm water and bleach down the two drains in the building that might be hosting any gnats looking for love.

Step four took place later in the week. I mixed one part of 3% hydrogen peroxide with four parts water for our office plants’ weekly drink. This is supposed to kill any gnats that might be living in their soil. I can repeat this once a week until the gnats are gone.

My husband’s aunt, Rhonda Mueller, of Medford, told me that one of her close friends has an electric compost machine that lives on the countertop in their kitchen, which is absolutely genius. I’ve been wanting to compost at home and the idea of being able to compost in my own kitchen is very appealing. I checked a few websites and saw that electric compost bins, which work by controlling heat, aeration, and mixing for some, can run anywhere between $350-$150. While this is a great option, it’s a bit out of my price range. There are a ton of compost bin options that would fit nicely on a countertop or in a cabinet with prices ranging from $35-$50 also available.

By now you should all know that I’m a tightwad. Rhonda is right, I should definitely be composting at home and I’m all for the easiest and cheapest option. I’m lucky enough to live on 10 wooded acres and I’m not short on space for a compost heap, so I really only need a countertop bin that can hold my scraps until I get off the couch and walk them outside. Next on my list is finding a cute little bin at a secondhand store that would fit in at home with my houseplants and my salt and pepper shakers. Then I’ll stab a bunch of holes in it and stuff it with rotting table scraps.

I’m not sure if starting my own plants from seeds is right for me. I love the process of recycling something old into something useful and I love the planning and the organization. I don’t even mind the bugs. But it’s way harder than I thought it would be. I’m going to stick it out since I bought a million packets of seeds, but I’m beginning to wonder if I would have been better off starting plants from seeds at home and buying seedlings for the office. I guess time will tell.

There are murmurs in the office about fruit. I came in one day to find a picture of a strawberry fruit pizza taped next to my strawberry trays like some sort of mood board, and Brian suggested that I think about fruit bushes and trees as spring supposedly looms closer. I like the idea of filling our back patio with plants that will provide us all (and the bees) with a sweet snack, so I’m on board. We do have some bushes and hostas planted out back which means space might be limited, but I think I can squeeze some fun stuff back there without disturbing too much.

Blueberries and raspberries go great on fruit pizza. Bugs, stunted seeds, and wet compost. This is not going at all like I’d hoped it would. I thought I would don my gardening gloves and a cute little apron, take your hand and lead you all gently through this process like Mr. Rogers or Bob Ross might do it.

Instead you’re stuck with me. Still, morale is high and I have faith that I’ll pull it all together in the end.

That is if I don’t get carried away by gnats first.

Mandee Ellis is a reporter at The Star News. Contact her at Mandee@centralwinews.com.