Thinning was hard. Deciding which of three (or more!) good plants to keep was very difficult. I had no criteria to go by. I really hope I made good choices. There were two ways that I found to do it. First, I could pull the extras out by hand, root and all. Or, I could snip the extras off just at the dirt level. It seems like the second method is preferred so you don't disturb the roots of the plant you keep. So, that's the method I chose.
The peas and beans were the hardest. I started with two clusters of beans like this:
And I ended up with these two guys. Six down to two.
And my pea square went from twelve down to four.
I went from eight cucumber plants to two. My lettuce, tomatoes and cauliflower are still a little small and they were very small seeds so they have many more than three seedlings per hole. I thinned them down to three and will thin again once they get bigger.
I also thinned down my herbs. My basil is growing very well. I had probably 30 baby sprouts in my tiny little pot. I thinned that down a lot-- probably down to 10 or fewer.
My poor oregano is having a tough time. I watered it last week and within a few minutes all the sprouts in the middle were laying down and eventually just died. There are three left along the outside. I'm going to let them go for a few more days and then I might plant a few more seeds in the center.
My cilantro seemed just about right so I didn't thin it either. There was a proud moment for my cilantro this weekend-- it's getting its big boy cilantro leaves!
And last, but not least, I put the weed fabric down under the strawberries. I cut holes in it and pulled the strawberry plants through it and then staked it down with some stakes we had in the shed. I'm happy that the berries are out of the mud.
Last night was cold and frosty and I think tonight will be the same. I'll need to cover it up tonight again. Hopefully this is the last of frost.
