I was very excited about planting kale for a winter harvest in my sun room.  It was with great glee that I lovingly planted several seeds in each of my starter pots and laid them out on a baking sheet.

They started coming up after only a few days, and I was giddy thinking about my fresh harvest during the cold winter months.

Well, I underestimated how hot it would get in the sun room this last week. I noticed one set of buds that got wilted, but I thought it was a fluke and ignored it. The next day… complete ruin! They were all gone beyond help.  I guess it’s time to regroup.

On a positive note, I found a healthy-looking potato plant sprouting up in my compost pile.  I decided to dig it up and put it in the sun room to overwinter.  I hope it survives better than the kale!

I need to fertilize all my indoor plants, and I was excited to find worm castings at Garden Time in Rutland.  Last year I bought some fertilizer made from fish guts that was very natural.  The problem is that it has a VERY strong smell (as you can imagine, since it’s made of fish guts!).  I spilled it on the way home in the truck, and it took FOREVER to stop smelling.  And then when I opened it up this year to use, I spilled a few DROPS in the kitchen and totally freaked out because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get the smell out.  I ended up using lemon juice to do the trick.  After that, I had to put it outdoors because I was afraid of it!

I think the worm castings will be great.  I will use some “as is” in the soil, and some I will turn into a tea mixture.