Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

We have had a busy and productive past few weeks. My husband is on fire! He resolved for this new year to be more productive, and so far he's installed a mirrored jewelry cabinet (he bought as a gift), taken down the track spotlights in the kitchen and installed a new light- I can see now!

Here is the hubby in the kitchen with the original spotlights. Note that they do not light up the area well.

And here is the new and improved, bright and evenly lit kitchen! Note how much more lived in the house looks now as opposed to the previous pic, where we hadn't moved in yet. Jorge also hung the frames on the left recently, which deserve a post of their own. I cross-stitched a massive Save the Date and Wedding invitation. On the right is a double sided clock, imitating a vintage Parisian train station clock. We also finally got our wedding photo framed, and Jorge put that baby up!

Finally, Jorge is helping me plot that garden. I know, it's something we have been talking about since June! Since then, I've lost all my tomatoes and peppers to whitefly, but replanted a few weeks ago. So far, these are doing much better in the cooler weather. I think that the high humidity was a lucrative environment for pests.

This is what the "garden" plot looked like last time I posted about it. Now, here's what it looks like:

We got cedar instead of pine even though it's a bajillion times more expensive (and is very fragrant) because cedar is rot resistant. Those frames are going to house lots and lots of garden soil, and it will look great. Note in the upper left hand corner of the yard, the banana plants have flourished!

When I decided to start planting, I wanted to immediately dig up all the rocks in my little plot and fill it up with soil. I went and borrowed a dozen books from the library on the subject. A few months ago, all we just had were a tremendous pile of rocks that no one wants, and it was either too hot or too wet to plant anyway. The thing about a sudden urge to do something is that it doesn't work well with having to wait. I haven't been taking pictures of our compost bin, but it's actually broken down quite a bit as it is teeming with grubs! Timon and Pumba would love it in there. It's not really enough to amend let's say 200 lbs of topsoil, but I plan on adding some cheap cow manure compost (don't worry it doesn't smell) and using my compost as an organic side-dressing. Hold on, I can't help myself.

Manure. I hate manure.

I still have some plants that are somehow alive. This is the second batch, the first (as you saw in past posts) did not survive the whiteflies and blight. Well, the oregano and succulents did.

Here's my Oregano and sprouts of Sweet Basil. As you can see, the Oregano is doing well.

Here we have the new tomatoes and bell peppers, and a tray of butterfly flowers.

So, the weather is nice and our one week cold snap is over. This weekend we are going to fill that baby with soil and transplant my garden- or bust. The good thing is that with all the work that we (Jorge) put into it, it will last years to come, and there's always next October...

Still Alive..ish

So, the idea of gardening lost a little steam after my tomato plants started to die. I don't think it was the heat per se that did it. Maybe it was the rain. Actually, it's probably a combination of the two. I planted some stuff too early. It wasn't like I even used store bought seed, I just planted seed from produce we used. At any rate, the tomatoes are hanging on for dear life:

 They seem to be suffering from Southern Blight and whiteflies.

My peppers have been infected too, and are also being chewed away by an unknown pest. The one above is the healthiest looking of the bunch. I've caught snails on them before, but am not sure that snails have been able to reach the peppers at this point.
My herbs are doing pretty well for now.

The top three are the Oregano plants that have survived.

Above is my Parsley plant.

I haven't done anything to the bananas and just look at them!
I went to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden last weekend and brought home two more succulents to add to my collection:

The succulents have been troopers. They survive so much neglect. I'll try not to give up on the whole gardening thing altogether, but I may just scale back to a small handful of plants that I'll plant in October.

Still Alive: my potted garden is surviving the summer

Things are growing, but not as well as they could be. Maybe because I haven't been babying the plants so much and whiteflies are a big problem with the tomatoes right now. They are the only plants I have outside, the rest are in the screened patio (which is kinda crowded now).

Oh, I almost forgot. When I said that we only had our tomato plants outside, that wasn't true. We have a new addition! My mom told us that my brother dug up a banana baby that their plant propagated, but it was sitting out for days without soil or water. It looked dead. But lo & behold, it sprouted new growth! It even produced two offshoots of its own. We put it in a pot for the time being because we needed a place to put it immediately.

Below are my poor tomatoes. Still getting taller, but showing signs of distress from those whiteflies:

I really need to stake the tomatoes. I kinda don't know what I'm doing.

The first parsley picture is one I planted after the bottom picture. The top picture was planted about 5 weeks ago, and the bottom picture was about 8 weeks ago. It sort of hasn't grown in a while. The thing that I find the strangest is that when the first one sprouted, it was tiny. The second one immediately was enormous (and healthy looking) from day one.

Above: My Oregano plant. It's shaped like a cyclone: It is tiny near the root and large on top. Not sure why that happened...

Above: My beautiful hen & chicks plant (Echeveria Amoena I think). I broke off a leaf and gave it to my grandmother-in-law, and it already grew a rosette within a month. Cool!

Finally, my bell pepper. I really want this one to succeed. I so would love homegrown peppers! It's grown so much since the first post I made about them less than a month ago.

Garden update

I've been busy this week with my Link cross stitch. I can't think about gardening all the time, it gets boring waiting for things to grow. I'm disappointed that my Cilantro and Chives still haven't shown the slightest sign of life. My Oregano sprouts have been doing well, but are are tiny as heck!

The photo below is one of my three parsley sprouts.

I love how the "true leaves" that first come out are like teeny, tiny versions of those trademark leaves we recognize from the grocery store. 

This (above) is one of my bell peppers.

I tried them on the sill, but I don't think they were getting enough light. I tried them outside next but I think it's been too hot (it hasn't rained in like three days). I guess summer in Miami isn't the best planting season, although I do have these nifty $1 pots from Ikea to haul them around in.

My tomatoes are growing very well, but I've had to patrol for whiteflies. Again, summer...

The leaves are aromatic.... I can't wait till I see them start to flower!

Learning how to grow

I haven't posted a legitimate post in over a week. I've been far from inactive in my hobbies, though! I've experimented with the slow-cooker, picked up an old cross-stitch project, but most of all, I've been tending to my new sprouts! On a whim, I planted bell pepper, parsley, cilantro, chive, and oregano seeds. I also started a "Sensitive Plant". This one is particularly fascinating because when you touch it, it closes up. It also closes up for the night. Here's a gif of the action, courtesy of Wikipedia:

This is what mine looks like, next to the Parsley:

I am going to move it outside to spot with filtered sunlight (more hours, not direct sunlight). The stem is getting so long, it makes me think it's seeking sunlight. The Sensitive Plant, Bell Pepper, Parsley, and a tiny, tiny Oregano (just sprouted today!) are the only ones that have sprouted. I'm still waiting on the Cilantro, Chives, and the *other* parsley.  

I've been researching what sorts grow here in South Florida. I broke the first rule about planting in SoFla, I planted in the middle of summer. I'm supposed to wait until late Aug/Sept. to plant, preferably October. It's more challenging to take care of these plants during this season. The weather at the moment is a bit baffling. It's either overcast and raining monsoons all day, or it is scorching hot. Remember my tiny tomatoes from this post? I've kept my tomatoes unsheltered in the rain and sun all day and they seem to be thriving. I mean, from day 1 they were out there. This is what they looked like on July 9th:

And then one week later, July 16th:

They are definitely getting bigger! The heat doesn't seem to be killing them...

My pepper sprouts, however did not respond too well. They were outside in the same spot the tomatoes were in when I neglected them and left them for dead.The peppers dried up and fell over. This broke my heart. I really want to grow peppers! I nursed them back to health with plenty of fresh water and kept them in the windowsill where they seem to be doing better. I thought peppers were heat lovers! I thought that if it would be too hot for the peppers, surely the tomatoes would have the same problem, right? Maybe they are still to young and tender. I'm still learning! This is what my peppers looked like as of July 9th:

One week later, July 16th:

We are working on building an in-ground home for more plants to come this fall. We had to remove all these rocks and we think we found someone who wants them. My hard-working husband has been helping me with this on his vacation! Here is a sneak peek of our future vegetable patch:

The soil here is a disaster, and I'm paranoid about nematodes and other pests that could be part of the soil- since I can't vouch for the quality, we're planning a sort of raised bed. It won't be that raised because the concrete and deck around it is raised, too. I can't wait to see what it may turn out to look like. 

Needless to say, I am becoming increasingly fascinated with all kinds of Flora, and am doing loads of research. I'm learning something new every day, but I've already begun these sprouts without knowing what I've gotten myself into. I see pictures of gardens that look so lovely, but they've got to be a lot of work! Doesn't the idea of having a scented flower bush, a plant that repels mosquitoes, or one that can be used as a natural sweetener sound appealing? If you've ever enjoyed the flavor of vegetables, fruits, and herbs, then producing some at home must have some appeal.

I read this yesterday, and I'm enchanted by the pictures used from Edible Landscaping. As far as the article itself goes, I'm with the Geek Mom here- I think fruit-bearing plants are just as appropriate landscaping as any other type of tree/shrub/bush/plant. I agree that it is ludicrous to call a front-yard garden "unsuitable". If I had one of those around my neighborhood, I'd spend all my time watching things grow! It would be more of a pest for the owner of the garden, not for the onlookers! I would be afraid of random strangers getting to it when we're not home. Anyway, wouldn't you be impressed to see a tiny olive tree with little green and black olives decorating a front walkway? What if you saw a tiny blueberry bush covered in plump berries sitting outside a front door? I would be impressed. I feel like I've been awakened to the simple beauties around me, and I suddenly get excited about the progress my plants are making every day. My eyes are opened to the world around me. It's so easy to take it all for granted!

Yesterday, I went to Lincoln Road, Miami Beach with my family. I looked around with an increased awareness of the vegetation, and saw this little beauty in the middle of the city:

It's like a tiny magical woodland in the middle of Miami Beach. There are vines on the ground instead of grass. I love how plants can make people feel at home wherever they are. I would take a beautiful landscape over an angular sculpture any day. I'm sure you haven't heard the end of this, especially since I've just tapped into this latest obsession- but worry not, it's far from a passing interest. I esteem my hobbies as volumes learned and stored on the shelf for later use. I may have learned to quilt  almost a decade ago, but I now have the skill to do it again! I love the idea of adding to my collection of interests, as much as I adore renewed interest in old pastimes.

What I've learned this week:

Gardening is an acquired skill, just like most other hobbies. You can get better at it by learning more about it. Don't be intimidated because plants can die easily with improper care- just research, and learn from experience.

Fertilizer contains Nitrogen (for leaf growth) Phosphorus (for blooms) and Potassium (for root growth). Tomatoes and other vegetables will not fruit if they are fed too much Nitrogen!

Cilantro and Culantro are two different herbs! Cilantro is often known by the name of its seed, Coriander.

Chipotle peppers are not a special variety, they are just red, smoke-dried Jalapenos!

Over watering can be bad for your plants- it washes out nutrients from the soil, and can lead to root rot. You'd think that because the roots are underground that oxygen would be "too mainstream" for them, but they need oxygen! The key is soil- it should retain water so the roots can suck it up as needed, but not drown them.

Garden on the brain

Three weeks ago I cut open a tomato and the seeds were sprouting inside. So of course, I planted them outside. They appeared to die as they were growing mold, but lo & behold! They live on! Then on Sunday, I found out that a certain succulent called Echeveria Amoena survived a trip from St. Augustine. I put them down and forgot about them and they grew! Ever since, I thought "I'm a farmer!" With this face:

Here are what I have so far of the tomatoes:

We have a plot that would be perfect for a garden but is now some sort of southwest style desert themed garden. There are tons of rocks and there was a cluster of aloe, which is a succulent plant with medicinal characteristics- the juice inside the leaves are a sort of burn salve!

 

I didn't realize that aloe reproduce the way they do. What I thought was maybe 5 was more like 40. I wanted to put the aloe plants in a pot, but when I started pulling them out of the ground, I felt like the midwife to Perdita in 101 Dalmatians. The end result looked like I was pulling bodies out of a burning building...

I read that this is okay for them, because the roots will grow callous and resistant to disease. I'm trying to give as many as I can away and I will try to find a place to plant some here... but I have a feeling they all won't survive. Knowing how they apparently reproduce, I can't imagine they are in short supply anywhere. I wonder how long that cluster was there... we only moved in March of this year!

Meanwhile, I've got 11 books on hold that I have to pick up from the library on gardening and the like. More on composting, succulents, herbs, and seedlings later.