Mother's Day

I have been growing seedlings in my living room for the last six weeks. My seeds are old - I haven't been able to afford to buy new ones in years - so the germination percentage is very low. For that reason, I've been re-planting seeds every two weeks, once it became obvious that some of the seeds were not viable.

Cilantro

In addition to the seeds I've planted, my husband was amazing and decided to buy me seedlings for Mother's Day (we celebrated early for personal reasons). The first garden center had a great sale (buy 5 get 1 free!). I chose chives, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, peppermint, and spearmint (though I'm kicking myself for not getting sage). There was also a sale on celery - four seedlings for under $2, so I snatched them up.

Spearmint

A second store had a good deal on a blueberry bush, and a pack of 55 gladiola bulbs for ten dollars. I also grabbed a few low-priced pots and two more bags of soil, and that was it for my shopping spree.

Rosemary to the left, oregano on the right - empty pot as a placeholder for future sage.

Or so I thought.

The next day, my husband called me from the grocery store and said "They have fruit trees here for ten bucks. You can have one if you want." He ended up buying me two - a Granny Smith apple tree and a Stayman Winesap apple tree.

James and the Granny Smith on the left,
Jacob and the Winesap on the right.

I did some research and discovered that both trees do really well when paired with Golden Delicious as a co-pollinator, so I'm on the prowl for a third apple tree.

I'm truly excited - my little homestead is gaining ground!