We've been planting tomato seeds and cress lately indoor and none of them has fared very well.

Homesteading Challenge

When @kiaraantonoviche posted the latest theme to her #homesteadingchallenge it gave me the kick in my behind I need to share some things with you.

I'm not sure why I haven't shared that we planted these seeds yet? Maybe because I've had to focus on my thesis and my health? Maybe because there has been nothing to report?

Anyway, here are the meagre results we've had so far.

Cress

Growing cress indoors is a no-brainer and typically done during lent here by all small children. Our seeds were very old (about 10 years I think). I was not sure of any of them would sprout, but we might as well give it a try. I'm not going to buy new ones as long as we have some that sprout. My son has taken to grazing on the cress whenever we are in the kitchen cooking. The plants suffer for it because even when a 2-year-old picks the top as gently as possible, the whole plant inevitably comes up. I encourage him to be gentle and to eat as much as he would like. That's the important part to me.

---

Tomatoes

I was going to show you how we had two pots with 5-6 seeds in each and nothing to show for it. Then when I went over to take the photo, because we need proof, right?!, wouldn't you know it a plant had popped up overnight! In all fairness, it probably popped up yesterday, as I didn't look at the pots then. This means there is still hope. It may be snowing outside today but there is hope we'll get a few tomatoes inside this year. We've tried growing tomatoes indoors before but we've always gotten them started late, which means we've had decent sized plants but no fruit. This year, I'm really hoping we'll get some. It'll be hit or miss though as we used seeds from store bought organic tomatoes. We know a couple who grow all their tomatoes this way every year so hopefully, it will work for us too.

---

Regrowing lettuce

The final thing we are growing is not from seed. Instead, we are making use of a lettuce head we bought at the store and have one big leave and 2-3 little ones coming up. I'd love to have 4-5 of these going at all times, then we might be able to become lettuce independent, as we don't eat that much of it. On the other hand, if lettuce was free (only the cost of water), we would most likely eat a lot more of it - that's just how it goes, right?!

---

As you can see, we haven't had massive success yet this year with the things we are growing, but there is still hope.
I got really discouraged about homesteading in February, but some wonderful people reminded me of all the things we already do. To us, they are just normal day-to-day things, but to others who are just starting out on a homesteading journey, they are really big things. It's good to have poeple like that in your life, the poeple who will remind you of what you are actually accomplishing. Thank you @kiaraantonoviche for reminding me to share what seeds we have planted and the progress so far.