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esemeEmboldened by the fact that I had not killed any of the houseplants that made their way to my apartment from Maine, I have spent a lot of time this spring and summer expanding my gardens, both indoors and out.
This is part of why there have not been many (okay, *any*) updates to my LJ in months. I've been spending a lot of my time on various hobbies and on trying to clean and organize my apartment. And that job that takes much of my time...
Anyway, in May I got to arrange for an herb container garden workshop at the library. This meant I got to make an herb garden. It is doing reasonably well- it really needs to be watered daily, and I manage about every other day. The parsley, chives, and hot and spicy oregano are doing well. The tarragon is drying out and not happy, but I don't really use that one in cooking. The lemon thyme keeps trying to take over the world, or at least the cactus next to it. And I later got new pots of basil and normal oregano. The oregano keeps drying up and then springing back to life when I frantically water it. The basil is just kinda small, but lovely.
I've cooked with my herbs. Chives and parsley in eggs, and I used chives, parsley, oregano, and basil in my veggie couscous. It's pretty neat to cook with stuff you've grown.
Next I expanded outside, buying the oregano (two pots, one outside, one inside), six cherry pepper plants, and three roma tomato plants. There is a small area next to my patio that I am allowed to garden in. It was dry as a bone, with only three weeds when I started. The lack of weeds worried me- the soil had to be REALLY bad. And it was- like dust. So I got 80 pounds of topsoil and dumped about 60 pounds in there. I planted, and then added about 40 pounds of mulch. No weeds so far!
It turns out this area was so dry because it is under an overhang from the roof. So I water thoroughly every other day or so. The plants are doing well, after a small scare when all my pepper plants had holes in their leaves. My sister recommended making a hot pepper, garlic, and biodegradable soap spray, and that seems to have worked. One pepper plant didn't make it, but I still have five.
I started with some more gentle fertilizers - coffee grounds around the plants, and eventually added small amounts of a chemical fertilizer.
The peppers plants all have small green peppers, and as of today I have small green tomatoes!!
*does a happy dance*
The plan is to harvest and can the tomatoes and possibly the peppers. Then I can use them to make pasta sauce and other dishes throughout the year. My mom does this, and it works out really well.
My first try at canning was in late June, when I went strawberry picking and brought back eight quarts of berries. I made two batches of jam, and had extras for shortcake too. It is supremely cool to have jam that you made yourself from berries you picked. I hope to go blueberry picking this weekend. More jam!
This is part of why there have not been many (okay, *any*) updates to my LJ in months. I've been spending a lot of my time on various hobbies and on trying to clean and organize my apartment. And that job that takes much of my time...
Anyway, in May I got to arrange for an herb container garden workshop at the library. This meant I got to make an herb garden. It is doing reasonably well- it really needs to be watered daily, and I manage about every other day. The parsley, chives, and hot and spicy oregano are doing well. The tarragon is drying out and not happy, but I don't really use that one in cooking. The lemon thyme keeps trying to take over the world, or at least the cactus next to it. And I later got new pots of basil and normal oregano. The oregano keeps drying up and then springing back to life when I frantically water it. The basil is just kinda small, but lovely.
I've cooked with my herbs. Chives and parsley in eggs, and I used chives, parsley, oregano, and basil in my veggie couscous. It's pretty neat to cook with stuff you've grown.
Next I expanded outside, buying the oregano (two pots, one outside, one inside), six cherry pepper plants, and three roma tomato plants. There is a small area next to my patio that I am allowed to garden in. It was dry as a bone, with only three weeds when I started. The lack of weeds worried me- the soil had to be REALLY bad. And it was- like dust. So I got 80 pounds of topsoil and dumped about 60 pounds in there. I planted, and then added about 40 pounds of mulch. No weeds so far!
It turns out this area was so dry because it is under an overhang from the roof. So I water thoroughly every other day or so. The plants are doing well, after a small scare when all my pepper plants had holes in their leaves. My sister recommended making a hot pepper, garlic, and biodegradable soap spray, and that seems to have worked. One pepper plant didn't make it, but I still have five.
I started with some more gentle fertilizers - coffee grounds around the plants, and eventually added small amounts of a chemical fertilizer.
The peppers plants all have small green peppers, and as of today I have small green tomatoes!!
*does a happy dance*
The plan is to harvest and can the tomatoes and possibly the peppers. Then I can use them to make pasta sauce and other dishes throughout the year. My mom does this, and it works out really well.
My first try at canning was in late June, when I went strawberry picking and brought back eight quarts of berries. I made two batches of jam, and had extras for shortcake too. It is supremely cool to have jam that you made yourself from berries you picked. I hope to go blueberry picking this weekend. More jam!
