June-July 2014 in the garden

These two months mark the beginning of the end of blooming season for the edibles I have in the garden. From what I have read they will restart in September. I cannot wait.

But I have a few updates for these months, yes I do.

The thing about new gardeners, we are enthusiastic, but we are also greedy. I ended planting a few more plants in my little patio and am happy to say that none have died...yet.

I bought two raised garden beds (2.5X1.5 ft) from Lowes and a few more pots and Everything including my heart is in full bloom. The raised garden beds have only edibles and a few of the other pots have more colored roses.

Here is a list of plants in my Green -little greedy- garden:
The Edibles:
2 Okra plants
3 Tomato plants - two patio/pot varieties, one Sun Gold cherry tomato
2 cucumbers
1 Bell Pepper
1 Jalapeno
1 Habanero
1 Orange - A variety that grows in a pot. These are generally trees grown in tropical regions.

The non Edibles:
2 Yellow roses: One Julia Child and one Grandma's yellow. the 2nd one had a 3 month wait list at my nearby garden store !!)
1 wild red rose
1 Pink Rose
1 Pink Jasmine

Raised beds:

My Bell pepper has decided to sprout out one baby:
If you leave the bell pepper long enough on the plant before harvesting, it changes color to red/orange/yellow. That would be interesting to see. Of course the coloured varieties are sweeter than the green bell pepper and just as tasty.

My husband and I came to the conclusion that the blooming season for the roses was done and pruned all our shrubs down to a foot in height. And were we taught our place or what. The roses have decided to grow back crazy fast and bloom like never before. I park right outside my patio and it is a pleasure to come home everyday to this sight.

The potting bed layers:
Potting soil + organic slow release dry fertilizer + more potting soil + top off with very thin layer of calcium&magnesium and just ruffle the soil so the layer is just below the top.
For the Orange: potting soil + Compost in a 60X40 mix + 1cup of organic fertilizer 5 inches below top + 1/4 cup of cal&magnesium mixed as top layer.


Now to wait for September for further garden exploits.

2014 The year of the horse? - Part 2

May 2014

Now the plants have a pretty good hold of the soil. Blooming season is almost come to an end, but the plants are beautiful nonetheless. I live in Texas and I have to make sure the plants do not die in this martian heat.Over spring and immediately after I have to ensure the plants are pruned to a more manageable growth. I will remove any brown laves or sections of the plant which look like they are eating up nutrition without really showing much growth.

What I have been doing: 

1. Pink Jasmine - I removed all the flower stems and brown-ish leaves. This plant has entirely given up on blooming, but is healthy. I will keep it well watered and pray it blooms again next Spring. The Jasmine plant is more like a creeper. I have simply gathered all the stems close to a central support stick. I prune it if any stem gets too long for the central stick.
Update: A tomato cage works wonders in keeping this one from reaching out to any nearby hold.

2. Lily: the Lily plant has also stopped blooming, but it has a strong stem and i'm not very worried about it's survival chances in the strong winds here. (but fingers crossed anyways)
Update: Oh well, Lily is no more :( The lily probably could not absorb the water everyday. Or maybe the soil wasn't firm enough, Or maybe the plant only lives a small amount of time. Either way, I do not have a perfect explanation of why this didn't work.

3. Tomato: This one grows like a weed. I will buy one of those tomato plant weed barriers called tomato cages. This will not only keep the plant growing in a controlled area, it will also prevent anyone from constantly brushing against the plant (I feel this might damage the plant)

4. Jalapeno and Habanero: These plants are finally blooming and I am hoping I will see a few fruits in a couple of weeks.
Update: It didn't take very long for the first yield :) this is what the plant looked like by the end of May.

Update: My first Tomato and Jalapeno yield that actually went into cooking :) (One of the jalapenos in the picture is frozen and this holds for several months in the freezer)

5. Rose: This one has been blooming wonderfully. I clip the rose once it has bloomed. Now that spring is at a close, I also prune out the stem to a shorten the height once I remove the flower. My hope is that the other remaining stems with Rose buds get a little more nutrition.

As a last rite to the roses, once droopy I pull out the petals and am building a little rose petal potpourri.

2014 The year of the horse?

March - April 2014

More like the year of the Garden Rat in my case.
I did say I would write about 'this and that', and this month it is about Gardening.

My plan is to use this blog page to create a little cheat sheet of how to create your own little garden in your patio (No you do not need a big yard). Oh yes, all this while I try this for the first time too. If I am not successful, then at the end of this at least the 'what not to do' will be clear. My quick troubleshooting source has been Google.

To buy:

Pots:  They have to be good looking, No - this is not an important contribution to the growth of plants. But, It makes you want to go look at the plants in your little patio. Now for the technicalities - the pots should have proper drain holes. This helps the excess water drain out.

Plants: For a beginner I would recommend perennial plants. These are easier to take care of, grow back year after year. If you live in a windy place, then make sure the plants are the ones with a strong central stem. Young plants tend to get damaged in strong winds.

Potting Mix: Get a sack of this mix - something that has at least a 6 month supply of fertilizer. This ensures that we beginners don't have to muck with the soil in the pot too soon before the roots are strong enough.
Fertilizer: You could of course get an easy to mix fertilizer like 'MiracleGro' the kind that can be simply mixed in with water. There are also options for organic fertilizer for any edible produce (tomatoes, jalapeno...).

Organic fertilizer for edible produce, regular fertilizer for the flower (I promise not to eat these):

Other things you might need:
      Coffee filter cones
      Flat and wide pebbles

Tools: There are many garden specific tools that are available in the stores, but the only tool I have needed has been the bypass pruner. As an interesting exercise you could check the options on the internet for converting your regular milk gallon can into a watering can, and maybe even a big mud scoop.

To pot:

I find that adding the potting soil directly to the pot is a lot of wastage since a significant amount simply falls out of the drain holes. Two solutions: Add a layer of wide pebbles at the bottom of the pot before adding the potting soil. OR, keep two to three coffee pot filter cones (paper) over the drain holes before adding the potting mix.
Next add enough potting soil to fill the pot 1/4 of the way and set the plant on this (with the soil around it's root) to check if the height is sufficient. You might have to do this a few times. Trial and error is the way to go here.
Once the height is to your liking (Make sure the top of the root is not level with the top of the pot. It should be a few inches lower), put in enough potting soil around the plant to secure it in place. Pat down gently yet firmly, the soil should be not too hard but definitely not lose. This way you are allowing for some breathing space for the soil.
Watering the plants at this point helps settle the soil some more and you can decide if you need to add more.

Mulch: 

The final step is to add mulch. The point of this is to arrest the evaporation of water. The most common option is bark mulch. Most gardening stores have sacks of pine bark mulch. Bark mulch not only prevents quick evaporation, it also absorbs water from the atmosphere or dew. The same can be achieved with a few layers of newspaper, only this doesn't look as aesthetically pleasing as bark mulch.

My muse:

Socially awkward but highly ambitious

1. Social awkwardness - Yes that is still the first stage
2. "I want to make new friends" stage
    * Try really hard to talk to new people, and not look intrusive in the process - unfortunately you are still the outsider
3.  "People pleaser" stage
    * Do and / or say things that the acquaintances like and / or do
    * The "they are always right" -attitude
    * Lose all self-importance in the process
    * Try your best not to overdo it OR you will be branded 'People pleaser'
4. Social awkwardness - It hasn't gone away yet...But you are trying - Bravo!
5. Attend all the parties, Laugh at all jokes, postpone all of your work to be 'seen' with the right crowd
    * Be painfully aware that you are invited as required 'head-count'
6. Eventually start seeing that you don't fit in
7. Sudden self-importance build up
    * It is everyone else's fault that they are not seeking you out
    * It is everyone else's fault they don't find you appealing
8. Social awkwardness - Oh well...This hasn't gone away yet, has it?
9. Lesson

Lesson:

1. Everyone has an idea of an 'appealing individual' - all different
2. People pleasing is an arduous task - everyone likes a 'somebody' and that's way too many bodies to be at any given time
3. The cliche (probably true) - Real friends like you for who you are. Chances are there aren't many who like 'who you are'
4. A 'Don't-care' attitude is the other extreme, and you are fooling yourself that you can pull it off
5. "Once Socially Awkward - Always Socially awkward" is an escapist strategy. But Giving-up is a strategy that works

On an active imagination

I find it insanely difficult to meet new people and barge in on groups. Seem to have a very active imagination of what will be said about me. And when I do not barge in, I have this conviction that now it is "she is so bad with mingling with new crowd".

Active imagination = whole lot of alone time.
A lot of time alone = more active imagination.

What a rut...

I guess most loners don't really want to be alone. They probably spend their time over-thinking every action and end up not doing anything. Oh well.

The plot

I have watched many a sitcom, soap, tv series and all the remaining synonyms. I enjoyed many of those too. There are a few key points used while writing out the plot. Out of the immense goodness of my heart, I plan to share it here for the greater good of all sitcom lovers.

Plot:

No plot. the mantra is 'Improvise as u go'

Common features:

1. Everyone is good looking

Twists:

1. The beautiful girl is the handsome guy's half sister

2. The beautiful girl and the handsome guy's parents were high school sweethearts and have not met each other since, but now want to get back together.

3. The beautiful girl has an unheard of chronic illness, handsome guy is an architect, but neighbor (and the second handsome guy) is the best doctor in town. What a dilemma.

4. Beautiful girl is handsome guy's boss

5. Beautiful girl meets handsome guy for first time, embarrassing situations follow, next day they find out they are co-workers/boss-employee/employee-boss

6. Beautiful girl thought to be dumb, marries into suuuuuper well to do family and tames them - girl being villain

7. Beautiful girl thought to be very intelligent marries into a suuuuuuper well to do family and gets tortured (mentally only of course) 

8. Twist 1 through 7 can all happen in one episode and repeat in the very next episode

A sitcom is successful only if every episode is a twist. It is perfectly normal to completely contradict episode 1 in episode 4.

October 2010

When all I want are wings ...