My planting adventure - Part 1 a.k.a getting your hands dirty

Hello my dearest readers, 

I hope you have been well since last time I blogged something ( I had to look for my blog underneath the cobweb that placed itself upon it:) ). In my defense, I am NOT a lazy person... well not too much anyway, I just have a lot of stuff to do on a regular basis. 

Now I don't know how many of you know the following thing about me: I like love trying new things... I'm quite addicted to it actually so that explains why I decided to plant something all of a sudden and tend for it(yes, I do have a bad history of caring for plants... but this time is different ).

Lately I became obsessed (I always had it in me thou) with being more eco friendly, which, in my opinion also includes eating healthier and taking better care of myself (in a holistic kind of way) besides the environment. I also got inspired by the beautiful idea of having a little corner of garden on my balcony, and since I cannot really get along with flowers (I'm allergic to pollen), I decided to plant something else : cherry tomatoes.

Now only time will tell if I fail miserably or I succeed but I'm hoping it will turn out good and I'll have some pretty cherry tomatoes to tend for this summer. I also hope that I will enthuse you into planting and tending for vegetables, even if you live in an apartment building like me. 

Disclaimer ! I'm an amateur vegetables planter and tender so don't rely upon my words if you know better than me (also if you could leave me some tips on gardening, your kind gesture wouldn't go unnoticed) 

And this is how my journey beginnings:

Step 1: Buying the seeds and the essentials

Even though it was a pretty bad weather outside and I've read on the Internet that cherry tomatoes need lots of light and warmth I head out and acquire cherry tomato seeds. The tomato seeds I bought were stored in this little envelope and because I lack the knowledge as to how many seeds does an envelope contain and how many I'll require for my planting I bought 4 envelopes. I didn't even use half an envelope but that's another story).

Next stop, I bought the soil for the tomato plants and I have to say, I don't know if it was wrong of me but I actually didn't pay too much importance to it. The cute lady in the store assured me that all soils are actually the same, only the brand was different. This was the point when I also wanted to buy the fertilizers, but she started asking me so many questions about the type of fertilizer that I required and that's also when I realized I had to do some further research on the subject. 

Already feeling over enthusiastic about my tomatoes I made a next stop and bought 10 plastic cups and a very nice brown pot in which to plant my tomato seedlings when they make it out in the world.       

After I gave myself an imaginary pat on my back I headed home with a grin that left people gazing at me like I was some crazy person.


Step 2: The planting a.k.a the part where you get your hands dirty

After I got home and I changed into some suitable clothes that I hinted would get dirty, I proceeded with the actual planting. First things first thou. Initially, I turned on the stove and heated a pointed knife. Then, I used the heated knife to make holes into 5 of the 10 plastic cups that I bought, making around 9 holes into each cup. The point of the holes is that they will ensure water will get out of the ground in case you over water it. 

I then filled these cups with soil (leaving only around an inch of empty plastic cup on the top) and slightly watered them, making sure I don't put too little or too much water since I've read that the ground should be pleasantly moist. How I checked for that was easier than I've expected. I kept pouring a little bit of water into the soil, waited a couple of seconds and then checked it with my fingers. 

What I did after this was take a pen and make a small hole into the ground, pretty close to the surface. I then very gently (I don't think this is a requirement but the seeds seems so fragile to me) put around 2 or 3 seeds into each hole, after which I once again slowly covered it. Spoiler alert ! This is the part where all the soil gets underneath your nails.

I then took the plastic cups that had the seeds in them (these were the cups with the holes at the bottom) and placed them into the plastic cups that had no holes at their bottom. This will make it possible for you to get rid of the extra water in case you ever do that.

I then placed the plastic cups at my window pane, on the inside, so they get enough light and warmth from the sun.  

Step 3: The loving and caring part... so far 

For the next period of their life nothing interesting will happen... trust me, it's been a while (around a week or two) until I got a hint of life happening in those plastic cups. What I did meanwhile was to super excitedly check on them everyday and stupidly expecting to see fully grown tomatoes (or seedlings at least) every morning. 

You will need to make sure they get enough water, light and love (I like to believe love is essential for their growing:) ). So make sure that the room you are keeping them in is warm enough and the ground is always pleasantly moist. 


With these being said, the first part of my journey already ends and by the time the tomatoes will start growing a little bit I'll make sure I get enough info on fertilizers as to know how to apply them and what's the best choice. I'll keep you posted.

Wishing you the best,
Rachel