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rebeccmeister...I decided to defy the upcoming weather forecast, and got started with germinating some tomato and pepper seeds on plant trays at work. I am not yet as systematic as ranunculus about my seed germination methods, but I did take her advice on making/using a "dibbler" to make holes in the soil to drop the seeds into. Mine was just a piece of a bamboo skewer, because that's what I had lying around in my lab.
This will be the second year in a row that I will try and start a whole bunch of different varieties of tomato, and maybe this will be the first year that I actually keep track of where they wind up going in the ground. This strategy was reasonably successful overall last year, although the plant density was a little too high, which resulted in smaller, more spindly plants. I am pretty sure that I know which tomatoes were the big yellow ones thatscrottie loved last summer, and the good news is I have tons more seeds for that variety. I don't remember what they're called right this second, because all the seed packets are still at work. But I'm glad to have that underway.
I would like to start some lettuce seeds at home, but have some dilemmas to address first. Previously I set up a wire shelf on the porch for germinating and growing plants, by putting it on top of the door-desk so it got maximal light from the porch windows (and the height was convenient to access). But S wound up wanting the door-desk for extra desk space in his office, so now the wire shelf is back on the floor on the porch and too low down to be a good plant growing station. I was thinking about maybe getting some cinderblocks to elevate it, but today I found that the nearest Ace Hardware franchise doesn't sell cinderblocks, argh, and I don't want to shop at either of the big-box hardware stores if I can help it. So I'm not sure what I'll do on that front yet.
I also finished a jeans alteration project. A number of readers here are familiar with the issue where jeans that fit in the quads don't fit in the waist. Back when I was living in California, I tried sewing my own jeans, but that was a real journey and I don't know that I'll be ever up for that again. So as a compromise, I figured maybe I should try my hand at an alteration.
In the wilds of the Internet, this particular video was one of the better resources demonstrating a pretty good and thorough method for taking in the jeans waist.
My sewing machine was *almost* up for the job, except for the very end where I had to finish sewing on the belt loop by hand because there were just too many layers of denim for my poor sewing machine to manage.
Anyway, here's a picture of my butt so you can admire my handiwork on these jeans:
It's not perfect but it's pretty darned good! It is 100% worth it to have jeans and pants tailored so they fit well, is all I'm saying.
ranunculus about my seed germination methods, but I did take her advice on making/using a "dibbler" to make holes in the soil to drop the seeds into. Mine was just a piece of a bamboo skewer, because that's what I had lying around in my lab. This will be the second year in a row that I will try and start a whole bunch of different varieties of tomato, and maybe this will be the first year that I actually keep track of where they wind up going in the ground. This strategy was reasonably successful overall last year, although the plant density was a little too high, which resulted in smaller, more spindly plants. I am pretty sure that I know which tomatoes were the big yellow ones that
scrottie loved last summer, and the good news is I have tons more seeds for that variety. I don't remember what they're called right this second, because all the seed packets are still at work. But I'm glad to have that underway.I would like to start some lettuce seeds at home, but have some dilemmas to address first. Previously I set up a wire shelf on the porch for germinating and growing plants, by putting it on top of the door-desk so it got maximal light from the porch windows (and the height was convenient to access). But S wound up wanting the door-desk for extra desk space in his office, so now the wire shelf is back on the floor on the porch and too low down to be a good plant growing station. I was thinking about maybe getting some cinderblocks to elevate it, but today I found that the nearest Ace Hardware franchise doesn't sell cinderblocks, argh, and I don't want to shop at either of the big-box hardware stores if I can help it. So I'm not sure what I'll do on that front yet.
I also finished a jeans alteration project. A number of readers here are familiar with the issue where jeans that fit in the quads don't fit in the waist. Back when I was living in California, I tried sewing my own jeans, but that was a real journey and I don't know that I'll be ever up for that again. So as a compromise, I figured maybe I should try my hand at an alteration.
In the wilds of the Internet, this particular video was one of the better resources demonstrating a pretty good and thorough method for taking in the jeans waist.
My sewing machine was *almost* up for the job, except for the very end where I had to finish sewing on the belt loop by hand because there were just too many layers of denim for my poor sewing machine to manage.
Anyway, here's a picture of my butt so you can admire my handiwork on these jeans:
It's not perfect but it's pretty darned good! It is 100% worth it to have jeans and pants tailored so they fit well, is all I'm saying.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-22 03:23 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2026-02-22 03:51 am (UTC)Go you!
>> I did take her advice on making/using a "dibbler" to make holes in the soil to drop the seeds into. <<
They are convenient. My seed-starting kit came with a couple of double-ended tools, one of which is a dibbler. In the past I've just used a pencil, my finger, or a random stick outside. Other times when I'm making a row, I drag the trowel to make a trench. But currently I use plastic snow netting to keep critters out of freshly seeded beds, which gives me nicely spaced holes in the mesh, so I poke holes in the soil for planting there.
>>This will be the second year in a row that I will try and start a whole bunch of different varieties of tomato, and maybe this will be the first year that I actually keep track of where they wind up going in the ground. <<
I cut down empty water jugs into strips to use as plant labels.
>>It's not perfect but it's pretty darned good! It is 100% worth it to have jeans and pants tailored so they fit well, is all I'm saying.<<
Looks good to me.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-22 04:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-22 05:18 am (UTC)I need to look at that video, NONE of my pants fit me.