5 of the 6 marigolds seedlings are still alive (the 5th might be dead due to being stepped on by a workman). Maybe 1 of the sunflowers came up. Some of the alyssum might be coming up but unsure. One of the nasturtiums came up.

It doesn’t seem they do well direct sown, probably because the spot is a sandy dust bowl and I don’t go out there often enough to keep the seeds moist. They’re fairly drought tolerant but probably need to be a bit more established first.

I’ve been raising more in paper cups and a foil tray and today planted out 3 nasturtium seedlings I grew inside. The mix of nasturtium, alyssum and sunflowers I sowed in the foil pan show signs of things coming up. I also got some kind of poppies.

I wish I’d been able to weed and dig over the dirt properly but I don’t think I can plus there’s a weird hard compacted layer of sand that would be difficult to break through. And that stupid tree is still sucking everything up and obstructing with its roots. Even if the plants were safe there (they’re kind of not - hence cheap disposable annual seeds) it would take a bit of work and time to make it suitable for growing food.

But I saw another native bee buzzing around my zucchinis so I might be getting somewhere.