A tiny garden
My seedlings have miraculously survived and thrived my tender loving care so far. They are getting their first and second sets of leaves and their roots were spreading way past the peat pods and intertwining in the vermiculite below. I figured it was time to start thinning them and repotting into bigger pots. I had a dozen or so peat pots and several plastic pots for plants that I was giving away to friends and family. Provided they all lived of course. I don’t have extreme faith in my gardening skillz given my past history.
For this project I mixed very roughly 1/3 seed starting mix, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 potting mix. Why? No reason other than I had all three items on hand. I mixed them all in a huge mixing bowl by hand, moistening loosely as I went. Note to self: mix all dry matter first THEN add water.
Then it was just a matter of filling up the pots about half full, inserting the peat podded seedling inside, handling very gently so as not to damage the fragile stems, fill up with more mix and water very gently. I screwed up at least two plants – one by tearing off a very long root when I was lifting it from home base, and a couple by repotting them too early – they still had only the cotyledons up, not any true leaves. However, their roots were escaping the pods and entangling with other roots so I figured they’re better off getting their own pots, but both books are silent on this subject so I can’t begin to guess. If they make it it’ll be a miracle.
To help them deal with any shock to the system I left the blind slats open but down to give them a more filtered light than the full beams, but it turned out it doesn’t matter as it’s cloudy and snowing today anyhow. Calgary rocks.
While I was replanting the seedlings, I thinned all the pods (all tomatoes) where all three seeds germinated. Steve Solomon suggests that when a plant has a set of true leaves thin the seedlings down to two, and when they get two sets of leaves leave only one plant. You want to choose the healthiest survivor – the one that’s the most vigorous and bushy. I just used scissors to chop off the stalk at the base and let me tell ya, it felt like murder. I had no idea how protective I felt of each little plant and to thin felt so cruel! They made it! They grew! To snip the tiny little stem was incredibly hard, and the only thing that allowed me to do it was Steve Solomon’s admonition that in order to do right by each plant you cannot have them competing for resources in any way. That stresses the plant and affects it’s future health and productivity. Nature does the same thing he says, only more so. A wild plant will produce thousands of seeds to compensate for all the ones that won’t make it whether eaten by birds or scattered in a hostile environment. When humans signed on to growing plants we made them a deal: you grow what we need, i.e. bigger roots, tops and fruits, sweeter and more fragile produce, longer harvest, and we will ensure that you will grow stress and competition free. So in order to hold my end of the bargain I sighed and thinned.
The small and cozy restaurant has plain white walls with Hungarian themed decorations, and red and white checkered tablecloths. The lighting is quite dim as the place has almost no windows, but there are charming pots of silk flowers and tealights on each table. We started with wine – a lovely red Hungarian cab for myself and a white sauvignon for Jen, and since I know next to nothing about wine, my description will end here. Being rather hungry and wanting to sample a variety of dishes we asked the waitress for her favorites, and she suggested the Wiener Schnitzel, Chicken Paprikash with Home-Made Dumplings and Beef Stew with Pasta, Feta Cheese and Dill. While we waited a bread basket arrived with slices of light rye, a few fresh sliced jalapenos, and a couple of containers of butter. The food arrived steaming attractively just as we were emptying the basket. We’re not know for our restraint. 
Chicken Paprikash was the mildest tasting dish on the menu. The meat was fall apart tender, with perfectly cooked tiny chewy dumplings. The sauce was a gentle pink blend of tomato and cream with smoky undertones. It was a lovely and comforting dish, perfect on a cold day or if you feel like the world has been too abrasive lately. 
Beef Stew with Pasta and Feta was our mutual favorite. The feta was not gritty in texture or overwhelming in flavor as in some dishes but almost as if it was whipped with cream cheese. The salt and tang were muted and lovely over the bland foil of pasta. I adore dill and the herb added a bright familiar note to the sauce. The stew was dark and thick, tomato based with thick cubes of beef that were barely holding together. 
The Wiener Schnitzel is where Jen and I disagreed. I thought it was a superb dish – very crisp breading, proper amount of salt, a large portion and chewy but not at all tough meat made it a winner in my book. Not at all oily, with fresh lemon juice squeezed over it, it was a tasty delight. The potatoes served with it were great too – very soft chunks tossed with dill, butter and salt they were a perfect contrast to the crispy schnitzel. What looked like frozen veggies served with it didn’t add any value, nor take any away. Jen was underwhelmed and said that had she found out it was from Safeway she would not have been surprised. 
I’ve already endorsed my main gardening resource by my man Ed Smith, and it’s a wonderful beginner’s book. However, just yesterday I received, opened and fell in love with another wee gem unusually titled Gardening When it Counts – growing food in hard times by Steve Solomon. I’ve heard lots of great things about this book from many a reputable source, but since it wasn’t available on Amazon (whom I single handedly keep in business some months, I swear), I’ve never tracked it down to check it out.
