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.