My fear has come true...
| Something is eating my seedlings... |  | Something is munching on my Swiss chard and rocket seedlings... |
I am sure it is every gardener's fear when they sow seeds: What if... what if something will eat the tender leaves of the new plants? And here I am, writing two to three weeks after sowing my seeds and watching them grow from totally vulnerable to becoming less so just for something to eat them.
It started just with the Swiss chard. I thought that they might be okay, and that nothing else would happen. But then a whole bed of newly sown Swiss chard and rocket seedlings were devoured. I have in the past overcome these disasters, and growing something in a new environment has its own challenges. But I am sure I will survive this challenge as well.
It is never easy, and neither does it leave me feeling good.
Luckily, I have planted a lot, especially the rocket. And I know that Swiss chard is very resilient, so maybe they will survive whatever has started eating it. It is most likely slugs or snails, I have not seen any of them yet though. Or I am not seeing the caterpillars.
It comes at the worst time as I am flying in less than twenty-four hours to visit family for two weeks before returning. I can do nothing about the situation now.
But it is luckily not all doom and gloom. The amaranth is growing insanely fast. It looks like young spinach leaves at this stage. We call it wild African spinach here, there might thus be a link even if just visual keys at this early stage. As they grow bigger, the leaves will develop a different shape. I cannot wait to make my first batch of amaranth leaves, onion, garlic and lemon juice! It is some of the best food you can eat, especially if you know you grew it yourself.
I might have sown too much in one spot... But this is what I always do. I am impatient and leave too few spaces between them. However, this has always worked for me, as I overharvest in the early stages. It might be a slight problem that I will be away for two weeks, but amaranth is also very resilient so maybe I will be good in this department as well.
Luckily, some of the salad rocket has also survived and grown well. I am really surprised as the climate according to my experience is not suited for them to grow now. They prefer cold wet weather, currently, it is very warm and dry-ish. But maybe due to the altitude, they are growing well. Or maybe I am talking too soon; they might not develop any more leaves and bolt in the two weeks I am gone.
In the meantime, the garlic chives also decided to make an appearance. I am hoping that these ones will grow super well. Even my girlfriend is rooting for them; she loves them in salads, sauces, and so on. We cannot buy them in the store, no one is selling them. So we might as well grow a bunch of them and try and sell them at farmer's markets! But that is just a dream. What I want to do with these garlic chives is to wait until they bloom so that I can dry the leaves and use them in some fancy cooking dishes. More and that when the time is right.
Hopefully whatever is eating my other seedlings will not be after the pungent taste of these herbs.
And lastly, the wild rockets also decided to show their heads. After a long wait, and wondering if the seeds would even sprout, the seedlings finally emerged next to the salad rocket. These seedlings are close to those who were munched on by the mysterious bugs, so hopefully these plants will also survive until the critters' appetites reside.
Growing your own food is fun and opens a new culinary world to explore, but the potential sadness and gloom when your crops fail should always be kept in mind as well. Even with this in mind, the feeling of loss will not reside. Alas, death is part of life; the death of something means life for something else.
In any case, I hope that your gardening endeavours will have much success! For us in the southern hemisphere, it is spring and I cannot wait for the summer herbs to be ready.
Happy gardening, and stay safe.
All of the photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300. The musings and writings are also my own.