After a week of wondering how long it takes plants to grow, I finally started seeing a few green shoots.  While this may not exactly be the same as a mother seeing her child for the first time, I must admit I got excited.  Admittedly, all I did was go to Home Depot, buy seeds and equipment, and then spend an hour prepping and planting.  But I did have to water the plants every day and poke around the soil while I looked for green shoots.  That has to count for something, right?

So now that my plants are growing, I have to do something called “thinning” the garden.

Plants grow better when they can monopolize the nutrients.  Though competition might force a few of the stems to grow larger roots, many will wither from the competition.  I followed the instructions on the back of my seed pack: “Thin when shoots are 1-2″ tall, so that plants stand ~12″ apart.”

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