Photo update
November 5, 2008 at 9:41 am | Posted in Aurora peppers, Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce, Pole beans, Purple tomatillos, Tomatoes | Leave a commentMy garden is doing well. No mildew or other icky things going on at the moment. I have lots of flowers on my tomatillo plant and four or five teeny tomatillos. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they turn into actual, usable tomatillos. Both my tomato plants have flower buds starting. I have lots of bean flowers, but no beans yet. There are several Aurora pepper flowers and two peppers already. I started some mesclun mix in a shallow pot last week. It’s growing well, but no true leaves yet. I trimmed back my mint significantly to make way for the new growth that is faring much better than the old stuff. I also have a new addition: An aloe plant from a friend’s garden!
My setup is, from right to left: Marglobe tomato, Purple tomatillo, four purple-podded pole beans, Aurora pepper, Everglades cherry tomato, lettuce, mint, aloe
Tasty summer drink
August 11, 2008 at 11:50 am | Posted in Herbs, Recipes | Leave a commentI concocted this potion after realizing I’d better do something with my flourishing mint:
Green tea bags (use however many to get desired strength)
10-15 mint leaves
Pinch of sugar or Splenda
Steep tea outside until desired strength. In drinking glass, muddle mint with sugar and just a small amount of tea until mint is crushed and releasing all that minty goodness. Fill glass with tea and ice; garnish with more mint as desired.
It’s quite tasty, I promise!
Recent happenings
June 15, 2008 at 6:00 pm | Posted in Gardening, Herbs, Peanut, Pole beans, Tomatoes | 1 CommentI don’t have pictures to share yet, mainly because my camera batteries are dead and I haven’t figured out where I packed the battery charger so I can unpack it and use it. That will happen soon, I hope.
My garden is doing ok. I’m worried about my tomatoes. I expected tomatoes to start forming shortly after the flowers blossomed, but no such luck. Some of the blossoms are starting to turn brown and wither. I read something somewhere that recommended planting tomatoes here in South Florida in late August and then again in March or something to have a nearly year-round supply. Except, of course, for June and July. I fear I’m smack in the middle of the tomato blackout. If nothing else, I’ll plant again in late August.
My peppers are doing well. The bell pepper that Peanut ate is growing new leaves quickly. I hope they bloom. The aurora pepper has these bud things that look promising, but I haven’t decided if they really are flower buds or if they’ll lead to more leaves.
My beans are plugging along. I replanted a seed in the place of the one that Peanut ate and it sprouted within three days. I was blown away. It took at least twice that long for the seeds to sprout in Illinois. The bean supports are supporting well. All the plants just keep growing up and up and getting new leaves that just get bigger and bigger. I don’t know what to expect from here. I wonder when the bean pods will form…
I fertilized the peppers and tomatoes the other night with a 12-10-5 formulation specifically for tomatoes and vegetables. I agonized over that choice. I’m still agonizing over it. I didn’t see any other option with less nitrogen and more phosphorus, and I think that would have been better. Fingers crossed!
Surprisingly, my cabbage is thriving. It seems quite sturdy and keeps growing. The pot is placed away from the screen, so I think the shade is helping keep this cool-weather friend safe.
The last herb standing is the parsley, and it’s doing well, too. I haven’t found a garden center here yet, but Home Depot does have mint, cilantro, and basil. I’m going to pick those up next time I make it there. I have a wonderful sunny kitchen windowsill and I’m contemplating keeping the herbs inside.
I’ve been doing my research on dwarf lemon trees. They’re a little tough to come by, especially since I haven’t found a garden center anywhere in a 20 mile radius, but I found a web site from a nursery in Tampa Bay that will ship one to me. They only ship on certain days, though, but I should have my very own meyer lemon tree soon. I can’t wait! I’d order a key lime tree, too, but they’re out. It’s next on my list.
Beans!
May 18, 2008 at 2:26 pm | Posted in Cooking, Gardening, Herbs, Pole beans | Leave a commentIn light of the recent beanheading, I was convinced the other bean seeds wouldn’t sprout. For days, they hovered just beneath the surface and I figured they knew what had happened to the last bean sprout that poked his head through the soil. I was wrong, though. They have all appeared! They seem to be thriving. I can’t wait for purple-podded beans.
In other gardening news, I’m worried my plants aren’t doing so well. It’s been so windy and rainy here. The soil looks odd, but I’m wondering if that’s because I did my own mixture of potting soil and compost, and I’m not used to how compost looks. Wishful thinking? One of my tomato plants has some light tan spots on them. I heard that could be because the plant is waterlogged, but the soil looks so cracked and dry! I know it’s not likely they haven’t been getting enough water, though. We had to do a major rescue mission Thursday night after work. It was pouring down rain and the plants just had water standing in their pots. I hope I can salvage them all…
We did enjoy a lovely tomato, basil, and mozzarella pizza for lunch today, made with basil from the garden. It was so fresh and delicious. I can only imagine how it would taste with fresh tomatoes.
Garden Day
May 10, 2008 at 2:20 pm | Posted in Cool-weather gardening, Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce, Planting, Pole beans, Tomatoes | Leave a commentI have everything planted! I had a great morning; we woke up early to get first pick at the Common Ground Co-op plant sale. It was so worth it. I had been dreaming about Aurora peppers ever since I saw the seeds on www.seedsavers.org. I really wanted them, but decided to try to find another hot pepper and start from a transplant instead of from seed. I never thought I’d find the actual Aurora, though. Guess what…there were four or so plants at the sale. I snatched one up and I’m so thrilled. It’s my pride and joy. 
The picture is fuzzy, but it’s such a cute plant.
After the co-op sale, we headed to Prairie Gardens. I bought three types of tomatoes: Early Girl, Golden Boy, and Red Cherry. We also picked up a lilac bell pepper and parsley, basil, and cilantro. Here are some shots of my garden areas. Beans and some lettuce (in the small round pot) are in this little dirt area. On the patio, I have a rectangular pot of lettuce, then my cabbage and more lettuce. The next row of pots features my two pepper plants and my herbs. The far side of the patio holds two tomato pots, and the third tomato pot is on the ground next to the patio. Ignore the mud and ugly doors.
As if today wasn’t already great enough, I realized one of my purple-podded pole bean seeds is starting to sprout. Welcome to the world, bean!
In terms of supplies, we ended up with:
3 14″ round pots
2 10″ round pots
2 8″ round pots
4 5″ round pots
2 rectangular pots
5 5′ tall wooden supports
3 tomato cages
2 40lb bags compost
2 40lb bags potting soil
1 20lb bag potting soil
It’s official. I’m obsessed.
April 15, 2008 at 7:51 am | Posted in Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce | Leave a commentThe Prairie Gardens jingle has never been quite so true for me: I just can’t wait to garden!
I’m really obsessed. Seriously. All I can think about is gardening. I’ve been keeping a close eye on my cabbage plant and lettuce seeds. So far, so good. I’m a bit worried about some windy/stormy weather that’s in the forecast for the week; my plant might have to spend a day inside. I don’t know, though. What do other people do? I guess plants in the wild survive wind. I’m being a little overprotective…
We measured the areas we have to work with in terms of where to place containers. Junior is going to draw me a diagram and I’ll move around little pieces of paper that represent pots until my arrangement works. I think we’ll end up encroaching on some common areas, but our two neighbors are pretty relaxed, so I’ll talk to them about it before committing to anything. My plan is to bribe them with produce.
If we work out the space issue, my plan is:
- Three pots of tomatoes (Early Girl, Tiny Tim, and one more TBD)
- One pot lilac peppers
- One pot purple-podded pole beans (yes, purple!)
- One pot that’s currently the cabbage and lettuce (it will become something else once it’s too warm for the lettuce)
- Three or four pots herbs: cilantro, basil, lavender, and maybe parsley. (I might forgo the parsley. I could comfortably do without that if needed. I could, I suppose, forgo the lavender, too. But I don’t wanna.)
That’s nine to ten pots! I know that’s ambitious, but my heart is set on it. Keep your fingers crossed it works out for me.
Gardening notes
April 7, 2008 at 7:16 pm | Posted in Gardening, Herbs | 2 CommentsI read more of The Bountiful Container tonight and want to jot down some notes:
- I’ll grow either orange or lilac peppers and buy plants at Prairie Gardens to plant when the nighttime temperature is 55 degrees and the daytime temperature is 70 degrees. I’ll look for dense and compact plants, plant them according to directions and my book, and remember to move them into the shade during heat waves.
- I’ll grow two types of tomatoes: Early Girl and Gold Nugget. I’m especially excited about the Gold Nugget variety; they sound delicious. I’ll look for plants that are stocky with rich, green leaves and not a lot of stem and plant at the same time as the pepper plant.
- I’ll have to investigate fertilizers a little bit more, but I’ll look for a balanced blend and stay away from those with added nitrogen.
- I’m pretty sure my herb seedlings aren’t going to fly, but I’m not giving up on them yet. I’m very confused on the issue of covering them with plastic. The book says to keep ‘em covered until the true leaves form; the woman at Prairie Gardens said the plastic is only needed until they sprout. I think I’ve just completely screwed up my current seedlings, so I’ll buy plants if needed and try again next year.
For the future gardens of my dreams, I’ve decided a blueberry bush is a must. I’ve always loved blueberries and I’m so enticed by the description in the book. It seems like a blueberry bush needs a larger, more permanent container, so I’ll wait until we live somewhere a bit more permanent and then indulge. I can’t wait!
Whew
April 4, 2008 at 6:07 am | Posted in Gardening, Herbs | Leave a commentTags: Bountiful Container, Herbs, seedlings, transplanting, true leaves
I am thrilled tonight because I bought a copy of McGee and Stuckey’s The Bountiful Container. I’ve read enough about vegetablog‘s success and online reviews to know I had to have this book. I really am excited. This is going to keep me tuned into container gardening and will prove a highly useful resource. But for the moment, let me just say, “wow.”
I know absolutely nothing about growing things. Nada. Zilch. It’s awful. It’s embarrassing. No wonder every plant, flower, and herb I’ve ever attempted to grow has died a miserable death! I read just the first few chapters, and it’s clear I’ve been doing everything wrong. Good grief.
I shall not despair, though. I now know what I should have done and what I should do in the future. This means I may have to restart my herbs from seed, but from what I understand, I’m certainly early enough in the season to do so and I have plenty of seeds. On the bright side, this now means I’m far more equipped to plant tomatoes this summer. I’m relieved to have this book and will keep reading. So far, here’s what I’ve learned:
- No way are my herbs ready to transplant. I need to wait for true leaves, and all I have now are the seed coats. (Seed coats are the clamshell-like leaves that appear when a seed first sprouts. These will be shed and true leaves will appear.)
- I need to trim back multiple seedlings so others can survive (I did that just a few minutes ago).
- I should have been keeping my seedlings covered in plastic. I’ve done this now, but I fear it may be too late. If so, I’ll just start over.
- I knew planted seeds didn’t need sunlight, but I thought sunlight was needed as soon as I saw anything sprouted. Not so, apparently. The seedlings don’t need sunlight until true leaves appear, and when that happens, they need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.
- Before I can transplant, I need to wait until I see three sets of true leaves on my seedlings.
- I should transplant on a cloudy day with a forecast of a few cloudy days.
- Once the seedlings are transplanted, I’ll need to slowly acclimate my seedlings to the outdoors. I’ll start by setting them outside for 1-2 hours on day 1, and then gradually increase the outdoor time over the course of 4 days.
There’s much more to learn, but I’ll take it one step at a time. If my learning points are off in any way, please let me know. The information is overwhelming but exciting. 
hehehe
April 2, 2008 at 7:30 am | Posted in Herbs | 2 CommentsMy husband graciously gave me permission to share this story:
When he was a kid, he was mowing his parents’ yard. He plugged along and mowed over their cilantro planted in the garden and didn’t realize it until he thought, “Hmm, something smells good.” That story in itself is a good one, but…
I was commenting this evening that my cilantro is getting really tall but that the stems don’t seem very strong and they’re leaning over quite a bit. Junior says, “Cilantro is really resilient.” I quickly responded, “Yeah, unless you mow it over!” We both had a good laugh about that. Me, I laughed a bit harder and even had tears in my eyes. I think Junior saw the humor in it, though. He’s going to get me good, though, if my cilantro really does fail. He already has plans to tease me about a lawn mower being more caring to herbs.
In terms of miscellaneous updates, things are going well. Nothing too major on the herb front, although all six of the parsleys have sprouted. I was so concerned about the Great Parsley-Peanut Paw Mishap and it hasn’t seemed to matter one bit! I did start to get slightly paranoid about the lack of lavender sprouts, so I planted some more seeds (in a separate “pot” fashioned out of one plastic cup with a hole in the bottom nested inside another plastic cup–I came up with that myself and am very proud). Then I realized lavender’s germination time is at least double the other herbs. I may have gone overboard, but I’m chalking it up to being a new gardener.
I’m beginning to wonder when I should transplant my seedlings to pots. When I planted the seeds, I thought I had it straight in my head and would be able to tell, or perhaps I would automatically have a green thumb just because I’d planted seeds. Now, I’m not so sure. I’ll have to do some research, but I don’t think it’s critical yet.
I’ll update soon and hopefully post some pictures of my herbs!
Herb update
March 27, 2008 at 6:42 pm | Posted in Herbs | Leave a commentWe officially have five seedlings of everything but the lavender. The parsley started sprouting this week, which is a huge relief, but there’s still one lonely lavender. I’m secretly rooting for that one because I love lavender and hope it turns out ok. Keep your fingers crossed.
The cilantro is still the clear leader. All the herbs grow daily, but the cilantro gets taller and taller. Is it bad that my mouth waters and I immediately think of salsa when I see it? Mmm…salsa. With homegrown tomatoes! Even better!
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