Gardening attempt: tomatoes

I've wanted to try my hand at gardening for a long time, and usually my attempts result in some epic failing. I tend to forget about my potted plants and once actually killed a cactus. BUT, I actually have my own yard this year and after spending literally DAYS weeding it after the winter rainy season (I had no idea yard maintenance was so much damn work) I figured I might as well make some use of it. So I started a compost pile with my giant pile of weeds, got some free tomato seeds from the school I work at (ok 7 year olds are doing it, it can't be that hard) and tried my luck. So far, success!

After about 5 days: first tiny seedling emerges


I was so friggin pleased with myself, I haven't grown anything from seed since they made us in elementary school, and that tiny seedling is surprisingly rewarding. Oh also, note my somewhat ghetto, but lets call it "green" use of egg cartons as seed trays because I read you could do it online, and because its free. It works really well though actually, and apparently these can be planted straight into the ground later.

Second week: everything is sprouting well, but now I have way too many plants o.o


I wanted maybe 5 or 6 plants, but I was worried they wouldn't all germinate so I planted extra, but they all came up. Some had 3 plants growing in one because the instructions said to plant 3 in one hole, but then I ended up with more than 20 plants. However, Gambit, being the little angel he is, decided to get up on the table and tear my seed tray in half, eat everything out of one of the little egg holders, an knock everything over and spill dirt everywhere. I ended up with about 8 survivors, 4 of which I gave to my friend, and now the seeds get to live up on the counter where he can't get them. So...I guess that turned out ok? They're just starting to get their true leaves now, so hopefully I can plant outside soon and see how many I can get to survive all the way to giving me some actual food. Summers here are pretty brutal, and I'm pretty forgetful about this stuff...so we'll see.