This is my raised box! It is now nearly filled with little plantlings and it looks wonderful. The full story is to come!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Raised Box: A Preview of Things to Come
This is my raised box! It is now nearly filled with little plantlings and it looks wonderful. The full story is to come!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Thursday Night Gardening
For my first weekday night in a long while without anything planned, I rewarded myself with some gardening action! I bought a lemon cucumber plant at the farmers' market on Tuesday night that was begging me to plant him. And, I've been putting off replanting some succulents that my parents gave me since LAST JUNE. Those are some hardy, hardy plants.
You can't even SEE the little cucumber plant in that picture... but he's there. And he's planted now. Scary garden moment of the evening: when I picked up the succulent that looks kind of like a rose (the pink one), there was a huuuuge spider underneath. I was quite adult as I jumped back and DIDN'T scream. The weird part was how slowly and strangely the spider moved away from me - it kind of went in spurts, and side to side. I bent down to check it out and noticed it was a mommy spider and had quite the sac. I would've killed it - spiders are terrifying - but because it was both preggers and outside, I let it free. My rule is that if there is an insect in my garden, and it is not actively destroying the garden or responsible for past destruction of said garden, it gets to live. I think those are pretty sane rules, especially given that I'm kind of invading the insect world with my garden.
Here are the newly-planted succulents, hanging out with their more mature friends:
Once I get my raised bed happening, I'll spend an afternoon repotting my succulents. It's been about 2 years since a lot of them were planted, and they all deserve some loving. Next goal of the night: finish my picture frames, and perhaps turn one into a jewelry holder!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Another year, another garden
It's way past garden time in LA, but I'm determined to make one happen! Progress on this front: Chitty and Amanda got me a raised bed kit for my birthday. I was going to put it together this weekend, but... didn't happen. But, what I did do this weekend is get a few new friends for indoors! Meet my Money Tree:
The orchids are also new - thanks Brian! There were a bunch of ferns at the plant store, but I restrained myself and only got this guy. I like him. I think I'll enjoy having it next to my bed.
In non-garden news: I am refinishing some picture frames that my grandma gave me the last time I visited her. The goal is to have them all done and filled with pictures before Mother's Day weekend, so I can show her! Update on that front to come.
It's gonna hang out w/Richard Feynman for a while. My other new indoor addition: the little Button Fern:
The orchids are also new - thanks Brian! There were a bunch of ferns at the plant store, but I restrained myself and only got this guy. I like him. I think I'll enjoy having it next to my bed.
In non-garden news: I am refinishing some picture frames that my grandma gave me the last time I visited her. The goal is to have them all done and filled with pictures before Mother's Day weekend, so I can show her! Update on that front to come.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Roses and thorns
Sometimes at summer camp, my cabin would do roses and thorns: at night, before going to bed, we'd all go around in a circle and describe the day's roses (good things) and thorns (not so good things). Here are my garden's roses and thorns for the past week and a half or so, starting with the thorns so that we end on a good note! Sadly (?) this post will probably be less about which boys were talking to who and more about which plants are growing.
Thorns:
1. My basil plant is basically squirrel bait.
Just when I think it's looking good... the squirrels dig up at least one of the growths. I don't think they're actually eating anything - maybe they're looking for the rocks they buried in the fall (sigh) - but it's definitely not helping the plant's growth. Now that Robin and I have basil pen pal plants, I really want this little guy to survive and give me lots of good basil!
2. Something is up with my lettuce.
I don't know if it's just the growth of the chard relative to the growth of the lettuce, but... it doesn't look like much has changed on the lettuce front. Quite the opposite, in fact: I think more lettuce has died than has grown. Sad! I am going to try to figure out how to help my little lettuce, and hopefully by the next post it will be on its way towards getting huuuuuuuge.
Middle of the road:
1. My strawberries are growing, but are kinda meh!
Also, there were two growing when I left for Mammoth, and only one remained when I got back. This time, the squirrels went TOO FAR. But I can't blame them, the strawberries are pretty good. I place them in between Ralph's strawberries and farmers market strawberries.
Roses:
1. The green onions are looking less and less like sad grass!
Before:
After:
Ok ok, the first picture is kind of unfair because it's after a squirrel rampage, but still: each little onion is standing up straight and has new growth. I just hope that this pot is deep enough for them to grow in.
2. Things are getting huge out there. Look how big the tomato plant has gotten relative to the bell pepper plant!
It's getting big to the point of me needing to obtain a support system for the plant and I should also figure out how to prune it correctly so that it grows as best it can. I'm looking forward to seeing blossoms!! And my bean plants are freaking loving it out there:
So lush, and so many blossom-y type things, which might actually be new leaves but I'm hoping for blossoms.
3. Squash blossoms!! They're almost here!
It's a little blurry (haven't quite mastered the art of close-ups with the phone camera yet) but the round growths at the base of the plants are fo sho blossom-type things! I am so excited - there are like 20 blossoms if you count the other plant, too! Exclamation points!
4. Just overall... things are a-growin' out there. This picture is from April 12. Please note the huge difference in tomato size and relative bean plant lushness (the bean plants line the left side of the picture).
Seriously the tomato plant, I am just so pleased. Next time: more thoughts on how to care for my plants now that they're planted? Fertilizer? Pruning? WE'LL SEE!!
(Oh, though in adventures in pruning: I decided to de-flower my thyme plant (har har) to see if it helps divert more energy towards actually growing the leaves instead of the flowers. Update on that to come!)
Thorns:
1. My basil plant is basically squirrel bait.
Just when I think it's looking good... the squirrels dig up at least one of the growths. I don't think they're actually eating anything - maybe they're looking for the rocks they buried in the fall (sigh) - but it's definitely not helping the plant's growth. Now that Robin and I have basil pen pal plants, I really want this little guy to survive and give me lots of good basil!
2. Something is up with my lettuce.
I don't know if it's just the growth of the chard relative to the growth of the lettuce, but... it doesn't look like much has changed on the lettuce front. Quite the opposite, in fact: I think more lettuce has died than has grown. Sad! I am going to try to figure out how to help my little lettuce, and hopefully by the next post it will be on its way towards getting huuuuuuuge.
Middle of the road:
1. My strawberries are growing, but are kinda meh!
Also, there were two growing when I left for Mammoth, and only one remained when I got back. This time, the squirrels went TOO FAR. But I can't blame them, the strawberries are pretty good. I place them in between Ralph's strawberries and farmers market strawberries.
Roses:
1. The green onions are looking less and less like sad grass!
Before:
After:
Ok ok, the first picture is kind of unfair because it's after a squirrel rampage, but still: each little onion is standing up straight and has new growth. I just hope that this pot is deep enough for them to grow in.
2. Things are getting huge out there. Look how big the tomato plant has gotten relative to the bell pepper plant!
It's getting big to the point of me needing to obtain a support system for the plant and I should also figure out how to prune it correctly so that it grows as best it can. I'm looking forward to seeing blossoms!! And my bean plants are freaking loving it out there:
So lush, and so many blossom-y type things, which might actually be new leaves but I'm hoping for blossoms.
3. Squash blossoms!! They're almost here!
It's a little blurry (haven't quite mastered the art of close-ups with the phone camera yet) but the round growths at the base of the plants are fo sho blossom-type things! I am so excited - there are like 20 blossoms if you count the other plant, too! Exclamation points!
4. Just overall... things are a-growin' out there. This picture is from April 12. Please note the huge difference in tomato size and relative bean plant lushness (the bean plants line the left side of the picture).
Seriously the tomato plant, I am just so pleased. Next time: more thoughts on how to care for my plants now that they're planted? Fertilizer? Pruning? WE'LL SEE!!
(Oh, though in adventures in pruning: I decided to de-flower my thyme plant (har har) to see if it helps divert more energy towards actually growing the leaves instead of the flowers. Update on that to come!)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Strawberry, cont'd and major planting
Lots of news to report on the gardening front. But first: the saga of the first strawberry of summer continues!
Maybe it could have waited another day, but I was convinced that I had never seen a prettier or tastier-looking strawberry in my life. I picked it like the internet told me to - pinching the stem above the strawberry and letting it roll into my hand - and I felt proud. This strawberry made it with my help!
Ok, I need to work on my indoor food pictures. But. It was so perfect! There were a few markings at the base of the strawberry, but nothing too major. I sliced it into quarters and brought each of my roommates a piece (after I ate mine, of course). The general consensus was that it definitely tasted like a strawberry, but it wasn't the BEST strawberry ever. But definitely still tasty!
Since today was the first day I had free since turning in the official 1st draft of my final paper yesterday (!!), I spent the early afternoon researching supplies I wanted to get from Armstrong (since I had a groupon for that particular garden store). There was certainly more on my list than I ended up getting, but here is the bounty, pre-planting:
In order from the top down: zucchini, orange bell peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes! Note the bag of potting soil and vermiculite to the left. My garden book recommended a mix of 4:1 potting soil to vermiculite, so I ended up sprinkling a layer of vermiculite every so often when I was filling the pots up. Hopefully it'll help my plants grow! It's supposed to help water-retention, which should be useful for potted plants (since they dry out more quickly than plants in the ground). Here is the rest of the purchase:
Here we have: swiss chard and lettuce in the rectangular planter and bush beans below. Beyond getting a bunch of plants, I also bought a few tools (which I used a TON): a little hand rake and a trowel. I was tempted to grab my backpacking trowel, but I decided I could stand having two. I also ended up with a few little terracotta pots for... we shall see. Maybe planting more onions, but maybe getting a handle on the craziness that my succulent garden has become.
After a few hours of weeding and planting, I have what looks like a garden!
Left to right, top to bottom: swiss chard, lettuce, bush beans, tomatoes (yellow pear), orange bell peppers, bush beans, zucchini, cucumbers (lemon, they'll be little and yellow, aww), and green onions in the bottom row. I replanted a bunch of them 2.5" apart, but still have about a million left and no pots to put them in - I'm considering going door to door trying to hand them out, but I am also interested in finding random places to plant them. In the front yard? In a patch of ground somewhere in a street median? We shall see! But for now, I am just so excited to have all of these in the ground and growing. Tomorrow I won't be gardening, but my next task is to do some succulent control and to figure out where to put my new snake plant!
Maybe it could have waited another day, but I was convinced that I had never seen a prettier or tastier-looking strawberry in my life. I picked it like the internet told me to - pinching the stem above the strawberry and letting it roll into my hand - and I felt proud. This strawberry made it with my help!
Ok, I need to work on my indoor food pictures. But. It was so perfect! There were a few markings at the base of the strawberry, but nothing too major. I sliced it into quarters and brought each of my roommates a piece (after I ate mine, of course). The general consensus was that it definitely tasted like a strawberry, but it wasn't the BEST strawberry ever. But definitely still tasty!
Since today was the first day I had free since turning in the official 1st draft of my final paper yesterday (!!), I spent the early afternoon researching supplies I wanted to get from Armstrong (since I had a groupon for that particular garden store). There was certainly more on my list than I ended up getting, but here is the bounty, pre-planting:
In order from the top down: zucchini, orange bell peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes! Note the bag of potting soil and vermiculite to the left. My garden book recommended a mix of 4:1 potting soil to vermiculite, so I ended up sprinkling a layer of vermiculite every so often when I was filling the pots up. Hopefully it'll help my plants grow! It's supposed to help water-retention, which should be useful for potted plants (since they dry out more quickly than plants in the ground). Here is the rest of the purchase:
Here we have: swiss chard and lettuce in the rectangular planter and bush beans below. Beyond getting a bunch of plants, I also bought a few tools (which I used a TON): a little hand rake and a trowel. I was tempted to grab my backpacking trowel, but I decided I could stand having two. I also ended up with a few little terracotta pots for... we shall see. Maybe planting more onions, but maybe getting a handle on the craziness that my succulent garden has become.
After a few hours of weeding and planting, I have what looks like a garden!
Left to right, top to bottom: swiss chard, lettuce, bush beans, tomatoes (yellow pear), orange bell peppers, bush beans, zucchini, cucumbers (lemon, they'll be little and yellow, aww), and green onions in the bottom row. I replanted a bunch of them 2.5" apart, but still have about a million left and no pots to put them in - I'm considering going door to door trying to hand them out, but I am also interested in finding random places to plant them. In the front yard? In a patch of ground somewhere in a street median? We shall see! But for now, I am just so excited to have all of these in the ground and growing. Tomorrow I won't be gardening, but my next task is to do some succulent control and to figure out where to put my new snake plant!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Strawberry!
It is hard for me to put into words how proud I am of this little strawberry. It got red so quickly! I am also beyond excited to eat it - maybe tomorrow or the day after? And then its little green friends should be ripening up shortly after. The first harvest is so close!
Today is the first day that my groupon can be used, but I'm going to save it for the weekend and will be doing some major gardening on Saturday. I am going to make a list of plants and materials I need - I'm sure it'll make its way onto this blog at some point as a study break.
Goal for today: not to check the strawberry's progress every hour. We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Squirrels.
Back in the fall, when I was trying to grow kale, I kept on finding the plants uprooted, but otherwise untouched. I blamed the squirrels, who were surely burying their bounty in the loosely-packed soil around my newly-planted kale. It sucked. Also sucky: when I dug up the kale a few days ago, I found what they had been burying: ROCKS. Lots of rocks. How do these squirrels survive??
But in recent news: they've attacked my basil and my green onions!
Whyyyy squirrels whyyy. I don't know how to stop them. Chicken wire? Moving my plants up to the balcony (where I bet they could still get them)? The basil plant was particularly heart-breaking because it was looking SO happy this morning!
Also, please say hello to my two new additions:
On the left we have my lovely strawberry plant, which was given to me for my birthday along with the variegated thyme plant. New word: variegated! It means that the leaves have green and yellow, oooooh. I am so excited for that first little strawberry to finish ripening - it's got some red showing now... and the rest of the blossoms all have little green strawberries growing!
Watering: got the strawberry and variegated thyme going - the others were all pretty moist still.
But in recent news: they've attacked my basil and my green onions!
Whyyyy squirrels whyyy. I don't know how to stop them. Chicken wire? Moving my plants up to the balcony (where I bet they could still get them)? The basil plant was particularly heart-breaking because it was looking SO happy this morning!
Also, please say hello to my two new additions:
On the left we have my lovely strawberry plant, which was given to me for my birthday along with the variegated thyme plant. New word: variegated! It means that the leaves have green and yellow, oooooh. I am so excited for that first little strawberry to finish ripening - it's got some red showing now... and the rest of the blossoms all have little green strawberries growing!
Watering: got the strawberry and variegated thyme going - the others were all pretty moist still.
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