Seedlings

Three weeks into starting this fall's tomato crop has proven to be challenging for seed starting. Of the 11 seeds I had started, only 3 have sprouted up. Since starting seeds over the past few years this has been the most difficult time I've had. So, I have started new seeds and am now up to five seedings growing nicely and soo to be transplanted into pots, the last step before going into the garden. I'm not sure if its just bad seeds or bad soil cubes causing the low germination rate. I may need to stick with the seed savers exchange as I've not had problems with them in the past and have always gotten seeds to start rather quickly! Either way, we should be getting some plants in the ground next month!

The rainy season has been a good one this July for our part of town. A half inch of rain yesterday boosted our monthly total to 8.50". Official rain records for Tampa are kept at the airport and while I got a half inch out here, much lighter rain fell at the airport. And speaking of the airport.......if you were flying into Tampa late yesterday afternoon there was a good chance your flight either was in a holding pattern or diverted to Jacksonville! As I drove around the ramps yesterday waiting for the British Airways flight to arrive, I felt the strong wind shaking the vehicle. Wind became so gusty it created a large swirling cloud of dust near an old airside construction site and caused a Delta and Northwest flight to miss their approach to the runway. It was, however, the bright and brilliant lighting bolt a mile away the made me turn around and head inside! After having 3 people in Tampa get struck by lighting the day before, (1 in the Sam's Club parking lot near us) I had no intention of being number 4!

That's about all for this update, I'll be getting some pictures of the tomato seedlings up soon!