Archives: Gardening
Gardening Update
September 4, 2010 at 3:16 pm by Alex
Did a little gardening today, now that I have a backyard to do so! It’s way exciting!
I repotted the little plants I’d brought with me, which are on the top shelf. On the left is a wildflower mix, daisies, and forget-me-nots, and on the right is a strawberry plant.
On the bottom shelf, some new seedlings I just started. The back row is two wildflowers, daisies, and forget-me-nots, and the front row is oregano, basil, and chives.
Next on my to-do list is my Matsuricon report. ^_^; This was just too much fun to not post first!
Garden Update
May 8, 2010 at 3:50 pm by Alex
This is the garden right after an epic harvest/pruning I did today! It’s about day 69 for the lettuce, and the leaves have been coming in quite broad and lovely! I have a bag of lettuce now in my crisper ready for sandwiches and the like.
The little grow pots hanging from the side of the wire racks are basil and tomato, which I got from Target’s dollar section.
I also thinned out the plants that weren’t thriving, leaving four Caesar and two Black-seeded Simpsons.
Here’s a closeup of the basil greenhouse!
The Moment of Truth
April 10, 2010 at 1:53 am by Alex
Today, I was out of iceberg lettuce from the grocery store, but still needed a sandwich for lunch.
Today, there were several leaves of lettuce big enough to add to said sandwich.
Sandwiches without lettuce make for a sad, sad Alex. :<
Today, there was lettuce eating.
The verdict: it’s a sandwich, alright.
These lettuce leaves are so tender, they were hard to discern among the bread and turkey and cheese. The middle of the sandwich, where there was the most lettuce layering, was the only place there was even a hint of crunch. But these are leaf lettuces, which are always going to be softer than iceberg, on top of being home grown.
I look forward to trying them again when the plants are larger and more mature. :D
Lettuce Day 32
April 2, 2010 at 1:06 am by Alex
They’re trucking right along and looking more lettucey by the day. The biggest plants are about 5-6 inches tall, and I’ll soon have to reassemble the shelving to give them more room to grow.
I got to go to Lowe’s the other evening and just wander around a bit, which was fun. I picked up a 4-pack of 6500k Daylight CFL light bulbs for $9.99, which will be awesome when I expand the grow light setup, and also solves the mystery of where/how all these other gardeners were finding such cheap lights for their indoor gardens. I’m still looking for a cheap lamp solution, but Lowe’s also had clip-on shop lights for about $6 apiece, so we shall see.
Walking through their garden section, I was sorely tempted by a 6″ potted African Violet that was marked down to $3.50 on clearance. Some of the blooms were a little wilted, as were some leaves, but nothing some pruning wouldn’t have fixed. But at the time, I wasn’t entirely sure of their light needs, so I didn’t buy it. I was also falling in love with the strawberry grow kits, which come with one of those cool pots with all the holes all over it, but again. I was good and didn’t buy one. ^_^;
Transplant Day!
March 24, 2010 at 5:26 pm by Alex
I transplanted the lettuce into their planters today! There are five seedlings in each bucket, and I put the extra in the pop bottle planter that formerly belonged to the sunflowers. I’m hoping that the plants were strong enough to survive the transplant, since I had some trouble getting them out of the fiber pots.
The yellow bucket was a freebie from the Laundry Room Bounty, and I just need to get another of those plastic floor guards to put under the blue bucket. I’m also looking into some CFL lights to supplement the fluorescent grow light, but I’m not planning on actually getting them for awhile.