Creation is a messy process

It's just too much fun to approach re-potting in the sloppiest way possible!

I had to harvest bunches of aloe. Now I've got to figure out what to do with it and how to get the juice out of the leaves. I've always just kept it for burns and that never happens!

This week, I've purchased peppermint, parsley, patchouli, and rosemary in 4" pots. I'll wait to re-pot them for two weeks just in case they were recently re-potted.

Bell Pepper Harvest

This is the extent of my crop from the bell pepper plant. They only grew to about one eighth the size of the seed mother. They are quite usable in stir fry. I prepared a tofu stir fry and added thin slices of one of the peppers. It added texture and crunch to the dish.

baby bell pepper

Look what we have here! Isn't she just adorable?

This is a red bell pepper plant that I grew from seed that I dried after eating the fruit. I am making sure to set it on the front porch on the weekends so it will get lucky, or, get pollinated at any rate. I figure the tomato's were cursed from the beginning since the balcony is screened.

I'm almost completely vegetarian now, though I will have a week here and there where I'm craving chicken or hot dogs.

I make it a weekly practice to soak dry beans; lentil, black, etc., for use as side dishes and in recipes. It's such a simple thing to do, I wonder why we ever got used to buying them in cans. I have learned to boil them on a lower heat than high so that the beans don't break up and shed their skin. I would like to find a place to buy the beans in bulk and learn about the shelf life. I've made bean sprouts from the lentils, but would prefer soybean and alfalfa sprouts.

My Publix has changed the vendor for their organic produce from Noah's Farm in Sarasota to a vendor from South America. The flavor is just not "there". On the other hand, they are stocking an organic orange juice from Clermont and it's very good.

Summertime re-engagement

The tomato plants led an unfruitful existence. Only one plant of the sixteen produced one tomato. That was from Audrey II. I blame the seeds. All that remains of the tomato plants is in the compost bin at this time. When I try tomatoes again, I will choose a smaller variety. The green onions proved to be a useful planting. When I cut them, more grows back. They are nice in recipes, soups and salads. My parsley plant was generous for more than a year, providing an ample supply to my table, but now the parent stem is aged and is producing very stout leaves. I have cut it back and am hoping for a re-generation from it. My Queen Basil is hearty in it's third generation, but I must confess I use store bought basil still and mostly enjoy it as an ornamental. I have red and yellow bell pepper plants growing from seeds I dried from market peppers (three to a pot) but forgot to label for color. One is doing better than the other and has small pepper-buds on it.

Isadora's Latest Avocado

Back in the '70s, a massive add campaign from the California Avocado Growers Association created a serial cartoon that appeared in most major women's magazines promoting the in home propagation of California avocados. The main character was Isadora, the quintessential "single girl on her own". Isadora showed us, step by step, how to stick the tooth picks in, which was top from bottom, and the level of water to maintain. She talked openly to her plants and her avocado grew happily on the window sill of her modest, single girl apartment.
I followed her instructions and thirty five years later, my mother has a twenty foot high tree that produces generous amounts of huge, tasty, Florida avocados.
Without Isadora's help, I have failed many times in getting my avocado pits to sprout roots. I thought I was missing a step and would give up after two weeks. That was my problem, it took a month of patience to see the roots.

Tomato Sex

Today I concerned myself with the fact that I have had several tomato blossoms, yet no little green balls are beginning to form anywhere. I had the idea, that in order to attract an admiring bee, I might need to roll the coat rack with the plant hanging on it out my front door for a few hours a day. I was relieved to find out that effort would not be necessary. Tomatoes are quite capable of pollinating themselves. Check out the web page I learned this from:
http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/vege016/vege016.htm

Mardi Gras Queen Basil

I had a little crafty fun today and made a pot for some basil that popped up in the middle of my thyme. I used a milk carton draped with a pretty plastic shopping bag. I felt a bit fancy and added the mardi-gras beads at the end.
Hey, I think I figured out something with my camera that makes the pictures better! I send them from my phone to email. This time I opened "view" first, then "save as.." and I got a nicer pic. Yay!

Fertilizing with Terracycle Worm Castings

We had a two-day cold snap so the plants are inside. I gave them all some fertilizer before moving back to the sunshine. Following the directions, I added a teaspoon to each 4" pot (even newly planted or transplanted) 2 teaspoons for 6" to 10" pots, and 3 teaspoons for anything larger.

New Planting

Today I seeded three 4" pots with sage, cilantro, and rosemary. The soil was a bit chunky with twigs. The soil I used was Ortho organic soil since my compost is not ready. I wet the soil before setting the seeds. I made three teaspoon sized depressions in the soil of each pot and spilled 1 to 3 seeds in each then pressed down. Expected germination is 2 to 3 weeks.

Composting Hindsight

The compost that is in the last stage is telling me that the dry leaves need a second look as to when and how they enter into the process. They have not broken down at all. I imagine this could be resolved by the introduction of worms at the last stage. Additionally, since I must scale this operation to work in an apartment, perhaps I need to pick up a food processor to help speed up the process.

Drying Thyme & Basil

A garden offers so much more around an apartment than does furniture. Everyday there is something new to pick and pluck, plant and water, smell and taste. I feasted on my one strawberry. There are five more growing that should be ripe at the same time. I think I will have them on a bed of salad greens with walnuts and a nice vinaigrette.
I snipped a bunch of thyme and a bunch of Basil. I am drying them and at the same time, they add a subtle aroma to the dining area as well as a festive blessing to the whole apartment. Peace

Wah Lah..the color red..how does nature do this magic?

How pretty.. my first bloom dropped from the budding plant weeks ago and the center of it swelled into a piece of green fruit. Overnight, the green fruit mystically changed to red. A scientific explanation would dismiss the magic but not my fascination at this moment.

Audrey II is holding her own. She is hearty and has a firm stem. I will wait another week to make more like her.

Simple..but it works

Two totes stacked staggered. The bottom tote is holding supplies such as bagged potting soil and spare pots, the top has my last stage compost in it which I stir daily.

Earth Hour is Coming

Audrey II

I killed the first tomato plant that I placed in the Publix bag upside down. I was lackadaisically toying with her while relaxing on the patio. She had too much pressure on her from the additional soil, water, and rocks in the bag for her young roots to endure. She simply snapped.
I mourned for a week, waiting for her replacement to gain in strength and circumference. I chose the strongest and made a rolled chute around her in order to thread her through the hole. I promise not to touch her as she grows. I will carefully water only the interior edges of the bag wall so that her roots will go undisturbed and she will aspire to draw herself to the water source, thus strengthening her in her private places.

As Tacky As A Clothesline

Yikes! It looks like I'll need to find a way to disguise the rolling wardrobe stands that will be holding the grocery bags! Maybe I can wrap them with plastic vines for now. Any ideas? The grocery bags themselves are also a little Bithlonian.

In The Bag

...Grocery bag, that is. I spent the morning checking out sites about growing up-side down tomatoes since it is now time to flip mine. I had no luck at "smash melting" the two liter soda bottles and buckets will take up too much room. I had to innovate. I used a re-usable Publix grocery sack.

In from the cold

We've had several nights that dipped into the low 30's here in Florida, so all my plants are inside. I don't know if I am correct in doing so, but at the end of the day when the plant leans toward the sunshine (coming through the sliding doors), I turn them 180 degrees thinking this will ensure a strong stem.
I was hoping to pick up a gallon of Terracyle's liquid worm poop at Target this past weekend and none was in stock. I bought the last 20oz bottle on the shelf. I hope that they will continue to stock this as it is really remarkable.

Bloom!

Just like that! My strawberry plant has a snow white lotus blossom looking bud on it this morning. I am really wanting a better camera.

Compost Backup

I resisted the urge to have an adequate composting bin shipped to me and purchased three large plastic containers (made in USA) with lids. These only cost $3 each and were purchased at Lowes's. I figure that they will serve some other purpose if I'm not able to modify them for use composting. If a garden supply shop as large as Lowes has does not sell composting bins, perhaps no one does. The problem that I have not resolved is how to get rotation and movement inside the container. For the time being, I will shift it around daily.

The green onions are over-due for transplanting. They seem too delicate to handle, but the seed package states to thin at 1 to 2 inches high. Mine are close to 4" high.

My older plants are all showing new growth since starting the weekly spraying of the Terracylce Plant Food (or worm poop). I will need to purchase the gallon size soon.

Made in China

I walked up and down the entire seasonal isle at the CVS where a current display of Valentines blasts your eyeballs with pink and red, lifting each item to see where it was made, and everything comes from China! The entire isle!
I checked the clearance baskets of Christmas merchandise, such as wrapping paper, ribbons, and tags. Same thing! China!
We don't even need these things. The idea of a handmade valentine is so much more endearing than the cellophane offering at the drugstore.
I've been unaware and slack. I've been a partaker in all of this sedated consumption. My gift-giving will be more thoughtful going forward. While at the thrift store, I will snatch up second hand lace, ribbons, etc, that can be used for wrapping. I will make my own greeting cards.
Most important of all, I will speak it. I will bring this to the attention of others whenever I can. I will tell them how we our selling out the very foundation of the United States by consuming cheap, off shore goods, products, and services over those produced here.
By the mid 1950's we had accomplished so much in the way of child labor laws, food and drug oversight, fair wages, and onward into the 1970's with anti-discrimination laws and so on. Then what did we do? Ooh, let's get our goods cheaper from countries that can't afford to evolve. It didn't matter to us that a twelve year old made the sneakers we wore. We rationalized that without that job, the kid would probably starve anyhow. If this is a truth, why are we furious about the prospect of child labor abuse on our own soil?
The most ridiculous statement concerning this country's abuse of illegal immigrant labor is: "They are doing jobs nobody wants to do anyway" Give me a break! So it's ok exclude certain jobs from labor and wage standards as long as we can create the fear of deportation in desperate migrant workers? Nobody wants the jobs because they do not pay a living wage.
Now that I have gone from Valentines to national policy, I will close.

With Love,
Belle

Hello Baby!

Sprouts! I had six of these guys in the onion tray yesterday morning, now there are six more and one tomato.

People Worth Listening To

http://nativeharvest.com

This is Winona LaDuke. She is the ultimate earth mother and a pretty damn good speaker as well. What she says is really worth listening to. You can find some of her speeches on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxnj2tk54JY

Salvage Soup

When I returned home on Saturday with the vegetables, I pulled my vegetable bins out to clean and put the newly purchased produce in. In amongst the old stuff was an almost limp stalk of celery and bunch of green onion. They weren't quite ready for the heap, so I decided to make soup. I finely chopped these and other ingredients: one organic carrot, one of the beefsteak tomatoes, a can of stewed tomatoes, a can of vegetable broth. I added tarragon, basil, seasoned salt, barley, and towards the end, leftover brown rice. The end result was a robust soup that rivaled my previous favorite which was made with a soup bone and bits of sirloin. Yum!

Winter Park Farmers Market

Saturday is a great day to shop at the Winter Park Farmer's market. It is located in and out of the old train depot at 200 W New England Ave. The market opens for Saturdays only at 7am and closes at 1pm.

My whole day up to this minute has felt just lovely and I am sure it is because of the fact I started the weekend off in the farmers market.

A variety of vendors display their products throughout. I purchased $16 dollars worth. I bought Florida beefsteak tomatoes, one very healthy potted Gerber Daisy, one bunch of fat asparagus, two humongus Honeysweet apples from NY, ginger root, baby eggplant (just because they were sooo cute) and about six green tomatoes. It's a good thing I didn't bring my radio flyer with me. I would have also purchased a 10" pot of rosemary for $10 and a 15" potted assortment of herbs. The greenery was lusty in the least.

I was not able to identify any vendor as local or with organic produce. I'm sure they must be there and I will look closer next time.

Gusanito Factory of Worms

I am shopping for the next stage of my farm. My bin is almost full and it is apparent that I will now need a compact sized composter that will not take up much space on the patio. The one at the right sells for only $68 online. It looks like it would work well for my needs.

First Planting

I had to drill holes for drainage in the bottom of my containers. I then added the soil, wet the soil, then planted two rows of "Evergreen Long White Bunching" onions in the swifter container and three seeds each "Brandywine Red" Tomato in the 2LT containers. The tray for drainage capture is the lid to storage containers that I have in ample supply.

Worm Poop

I purchased a sprayable plant food that is made by the most amazing American company I have ever heard of. Their name is TERRACYCLE. This nutrient is sprayed directly onto the plant's leaves and soil surrounding the plant once a week. The company packages their product in reused plastic containers. I bought mine in a reused 20 oz soda bottle. What's more, there is no way this will burn your plants in the process. The ingredients are simply worm poop that has been made into a liquid.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, I have been fashioning the equivalent of 4"inch pots by cutting off the top 3/4 of 2 liter soda bottles. They are too tough to simply cut drainage holes in the bottom, so I am considering tooling a hot iron to make them. I am following HARRIS' Farmer's Almanac recommendation and waiting until January 6 to plant. I also purchased a 3-tier shelf for this first planting. Unfortunately, the shelf is made in China.


http://www.terracycle.net/index.htm

Pine Needles and Plant Trimmings

The tree came down today and it sits bundled in a sheet in the corner. It's kinda like having a corpse in the room only it's scent is pleasant. The scent of my compost bin is aromatic as well since it received the cast off dry needles I swept together. Christmas is over for another year. I will definitely have a fresh tree whenever I can in the future. Even undressing the branches of the bulbs, ornaments, garlands, and lights was an enjoyable task.
I live in an apartment that does not recycle, so today I will make arrangements with a friend to leave the tree curbside for recycling. I understand that Orange County recycles yard trash per their website:
http://cityoforlando.net/public_works/solidwaste/swmfaq.htm#holidays