Bye Bye Basil

No, little Basil #1 is not dead, just adopted out to a good home! This little guy made the perfect gift at the perfect time, but I'll miss him. Of course I still have Basil #2, and a ton of seeds if I want to grow more. I have to admit, I've gotten pretty attached to these little guys. After all, I've cared for them since they were just wee little seeds! I guess I'm not cut out to be a foster parent of pets or children. If I get this attached to a plant, just imagine if I had to give back a pet or a child! Whew! My hat's off to anyone making that endeavor.

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Little plant, off you go

Little seed that I did sow

Hope you grow big and strong

Hope your life is very, very long!

Mint Update

So the mint cuttings are actually working. I have spearmint and peppermint leaves sprouting out of the rhizomes. This is a very good thing because my older plants are not looking any better. The attacker is still a mystery. I keep looking but they are stealthy little bugs. I think they're little Romulans with cloaking devices. If you're wondering if that's a new gardening term, it isn't. I'd tell you what it is, except then I'd have to admit that I can be a bit geeky sometimes! Moving on...

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Peppermint, spearmint

Junior Mints, York

I don't just grow mint for sport

Mint is one of the greatest of herbs

and bugs eating mine finds me greatly disturbed!

Growing Garden

Well, the veggie garden is growing. I got around to planting the rest of the peppers and tomatoes in their planter home - two sweet yellow banana peppers, two red banana peppers, and three Better Boy tomato plants (alas, tomato #4 did not survive his unfortunate accident). So I have an extra spot in the planter due to #4's demise, so I'm thinking of planting the basil in there. I have read that basil is a really good companion plant to tomatoes, possibly even helping to deter little critters, but that could just be a garden myth! I will not be planting the herbs outside, however, for another couple of weeks, as it is still in the 50s here at night and sometimes an occasional 40-something. I've been carrying the little guys outside for the day and bringing them inside at night, and they are really thriving. As great as full spectrum grow lights are, they seem to be no substitute for the real sunlight. The plants definitely know the difference. I can almost see happy smiles on their leaf faces! After all, I know how they feel. I get computer light on my face all day but there's nothing like walking out into the sunshine!

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Oh one and only sun

Who rests when the day is done

To you no light can compare

With your rays of sparkling care

Fruits of My Labor

So all this laboring is starting to produce! Look at all these beautifully green strawberries and there are many more. They really seem to love the berry tower, although as self-watering planters go, this one doesn't really hold a lot of water. I still have to water every three days or so to keep them as moist as necessary, but if the berries are happy then I'm happy. It's been a super busy week, so I'm thankful I don't have to wrestle the hose over to my garden every single day anyway.

Today I also checked on Mr. Eggplant. Don't ask me why I consider the eggplant a "mister." In my mind it just seems so. He's big and bushy and kind of slow...mmm. Now, let's not read anything into that. The exciting news is that for the first time I can actually see the eggplant. Take a look! It's really very exciting, considering that I didn't think I was ever going to get anything off of this almost-year-old plant! I guess this is the short Era of the Eggplant in my garden. I'm thinking those little thorns will keep the squirrels away from this little purple gem.

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Oh the beauty of my fruit

I've worked quite long to see

I'd be very sad, it's true

If squirrels did stealeth thee

~

Yes, it's easier to rhyme in Olde English :-)

Wanted!

WANTED - One very destructive bug/creature. LAST KNOWN WHEREABOUTS - My spearmint plant. WANTED FOR VICIOUS ATTACK.

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No need to explain. You can see from the picture what has happened here. Now I love my spearmint plant, as mint tea is my absolute favorite. The unknown marauder did this to the entire plan overnight! Now I've heard of slugs and snails destorying plants overnight, but this doesn't look like their kind of damage. No slimy trails left behind. The only clue is what I would call bug droppings - little teeny weeny poppy-seed-like (only smaller) black dots all over the plant. I want this bug found dead or alive (preferably dead)!

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I'm hoping to save this mint. I've washed the leaves off and looked for bugs, though I found none. I also took some cuttings, stripped them of leaves, and stuck the rhizomes (fancy name for stems) in some planting soil. If the worst happens and my plant dies, maybe it will live on by the cuttings I took.

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Ah, sneaky, stealthy bug you are

Come to visit when I'm afar

Taking out my favorite plant

I bet you think you're brilliant

But I will watch and I will wait

and soon your munching I'll abate!

Tea Party

Here is little chamomile. The chamomile seedlings were so tiny at first! Now they're finally starting to look like something. My goal with chamomile is to have them bloom many yellow flowers so that I can make my own tea. However, only the yellow part of the daisy-like flower is used for tea, so one needs quite a few flowers to have tea on a regular basis. All four plants are still alive and kicking so we will see how that goes.

Meanwhile - my eggplant is definitely producing. Check out how big this one is getting:

Just watch out for those pointy little thorns - they do hurt! I have about three of these guys on my eggplant. If you peak in the end, you can see a beautiful purple veggie!

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Oh my garden is so happy
Let's hope that this will last
Bad bugs are so sappy
and like to come en mass
As spring now fast approaches
Keep those bugs at bay
I do not want encroaches
Because I do not spray!

Moving Violation

Tomato number four had an accident. When I was moving his pot the other day I bumped into something and I broke the top part of his little head right off! Now number four is the one that was leaning and losing his leaves, so I wasn't completely freaked about it, but I did feel bad at first. After all, if this had happend with most other veggie babies, it would have been a goner. However...tomatoes are an interesting breed of their own. Because tomatoes are actually by nature a vine, they have the capability of easily growing roots from their stalk. So I just removed a couple of the bigger leaves and stuck that little top in the dirt next to his bottom half, and if I'm vigilant about keeping him watered for the next week or two, he should be fine. In fact, he might end up better for it. As the comments indicate on the previous posting about this leaning guy, if you bury the stem of a tomato and just leave its top leaves, it in turn grows more roots along the stem and becomes stronger. They are quite adaptable little fellows, but I guess that's pretty indicative of the vine family. So I believe this disaster has been averted and tomatoes one, two, and three will be going into the ground tomorrow!

~

Oh tomato number four

You were wounded at the door

Woe is me, what am I to do

Now that your one is now two?

Your top I will place in the ground

and hope that soon your roots are found!

Real Estate

Well, tomatoes and peppers checked out their new home today. They did a full tour of their new property and did very well in full sun. They seem quite ready for the outdoors. The tomatoes especially perked up and looked very happy. I soon must decide what kind of support I'm going to provide for these little guys. I already put in dowel rods for the peppers but I'm undecided for the tomoatoes as of yet. I'm trying to decide between traditional cages or to go with the new-fangled tomato spirals or ladders. Since the local gardening centers usually just carry the cages, and they're fairly inexpensive, that will probably be my deciding factor.

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Meanwhile, my herbs received a morning of full sun and an afternoon of partial shade, as I don't think they are quite ready for the Florida afternoon rays. Can you hear the sizzle? Maybe after another day or two!

~

So out into the world they go

- very soon we'll see.

All those little seeds were sown

and now they're growing leaves!

Hard Times

Well it's time for the little transplants to go through the "hardening off" phase. This is where they gradually get used to the outdoors. Now, one would think that plants wouldn't have to get used to the outdoors, that they would naturally just do well out there, but when they've lived the sheltered life of a warm and temperature-consistent house, the outdoor conditions can be quite a shock, what with all that scorching sun, blustering wind, and not to mention those pesky bugs! So for the last couple of days I have placed them on the porch in semi-shade, and today I actually placed the tomatoes and peppers outside in the morning sun.

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I think this weekend I will plant them in the big planter. I'd like to say that I don't really think we're going to get any more freezes this year. However, with as crazy as the weather has been in the last few months, I quite possibly would have to retract that statement at a later date - so let me just say that I am going to take my chances. After all, the worst that can happen is that we do get an overnight freeze down to 25 or 30 and I have to cover everything with sheets. No biggie there. It's not like it's going to be -15 or something!

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Ode to you oh little plants

You've grown bigger than the ants

and your fruits I soon will see

once visited by the bees!

First Fruits

It's definitely strawberry time! While the local strawberry farmers have been doing overtime to save their crops, I am having a mini crop of my own. These little guys spent a couple of days in the garage so they wouldn't freeze, and now look at them. The new pot seems to be doing them some good. They didn't even seem affected by the transplant. Woo hoo! I have about 10 soon-to-be berries and hopefully more to come. I'm wondering if we will have another frost this year...thinking about planting my peppers and tomatoes next weekend. Guess I'll have to wait and see what the weather people say near the end of this week.

~

Little fruits

Here you come

Keep on growing til your done

I can't wait to see them soon

so we can eat them before noon

The Other Pollinator

So yesterday we talked about bees. Today we can talk about the other serious pollinator - the butterfly. Now I know you're looking at this picture thinking that this is no butterfly. I have these beautifully striped guys all over right now and they are eating my milkweed to shreds. Now, I love my milkweed flowers - starbursts of red, orange, and yellow - but I love the butterflies more, so we have a trade off. I let these larvae eat all they want in exchange for the beauty and serene feeling of peace they give me when they grow up. For these guys become this: The one and only monarch butterfly!

There's something about butterflies that calm me with their silent fluttering of wings, as they glide through the air. So I count myself blessed that milkweed proliferates just like their name indicates - a weed. It also reseeds itself year after year, so I have to do no trying on my part at all to get it to grow in my yard. The best part is that it attracts the butterly (in actual butterfly form) later on in the year, so it's more than a fair trade off. What a wonderful balance of nature!

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So hat's off to this pollinator, who also helps to boost my veggie and herb production, and offers me just a few moments of peacful bliss in a busy day!

~

Silently you fell and swoop

beauty to behold

Upon the wind you come to rest

on flower petal breast

Beautiful Bees

Honey bees are often misunderstood. An immediate reaction for many people is to be afraid of all bee or bee-like creatures. However, for the gardener, honey bees are (or should be) most welcomed creatures. After all, without bees and other polinating buzzers we people would have to do a lot of extra work to get those flowers and vegetables! Have you ever stood with a teeny tiny paint brush next to a tomato plant polinating your own flowers? If you have, then you most certainly appreciate their work!

So for the past two years I have been quite blessed to have my own beehive. This is a natural hive in my big oak tree. It's about 60 feet up in the air and poses no threat to anyone or anything. Now if you climb the tree and start poking the hive with a big stick, then you might have reason to be concerned but, hey, if someone started bashing holes in your home, you might get upset too!

So I've been watch the changing seasons of this hive and the different cycles bees go through and, wow, it is quite fascinating. Now I'm not the "bee all" and end all of bees by any means. There is much I'm sure I don't know, but I do know enough to know that these bees are docile bees, not Africanized bees (the real aggressive meanies). I also know that if a bee purposefully flies into you (bumping you upside the head or body) that it is a warning to back up slowly and get away. However, this has never happened with my bees and I think it's probably an Africanized bee behavior.

Anyway...I could probably bore you with all my bee talk, so let me jump to the point. My flower and veggie/fruit proliferation has shot way up since my little bees arrived. They work wonders for the garden. So let's remember to appreciate this God-created wonder of bees. As bee populations have been declining, both in the wild and in captivity, let me rejoice that my backyard can be a host to these busy bees!

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Beautiful bees, find my flowers please

Buzz, buzz, buzz little fuzz

Work, work, work all the day

And help me garden the natural way!

Leaning Stem of Tomato

So I've begun to encounter my first real problem. A couple of the tomato plants are dropping their larger bottom leaves. I'm thinking I made a mistake when transplanting into the larger pots. I used regular soil when transplanting but I probably should have still used the very light seed starting mix, or maybe half-and-half. The current soil is just a little too heavy for these little guys and holds in too much water for too long when watering. So right now, as you can see, one of my little tomato guys is the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Hopefully he will continue to live and start to thrive as he gets a little larger (and goes to the great outdoors).

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So, when I look back on this next year I need to make a note to self - use very light soil even when transplanting into larger pots. After all, the main reason I wanted to keep a gardening diary was to learn from my mistakes...so this has been most helpful for me, though not so much for the tomatoes!

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Little plant from little seed

Why is it that you lean?

Your leaves they don't look quite the same

as they did just yesterday!

Strawberry Time

In the last two weeks there have been some really yummy strawberries in the stores and at the fruit stands. Meanwhile, my very own strawberries have begun to set some fruit. I had them in a very old self-watering pot that came from Wal-Mart, but they very badly needed to be repotted into a proper strawberry pot. I lost many of the berries last year because they would sit on the damp soil and end up rotting before I picked them. So now I not only have a proper strawberry pot, but I actually have what I have dubbed a "strawberry tower."

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Check it out:

I plan to put herbs in the empty spots later - probably my chives, since they like lots of water, just like the strawberries. This cool little tower consists of stackable pots, and it's self-watering also. So less work for me but hopefully more edible strawberries! I do love strawberries, and so far they have seemed relatively easy to grow. The main challenge is keeping them away from the birds. The birds are super smart and seem to know exactly when they are ripe. Some days I'll go out and think...mmm...one more day and they'll be perfect. Then when I return I find little mini holes from bird beaks! Maybe this year I'll have enough for both the birds and me.

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Little berries, shiny and red

quite tempting in your soil bed

I hope you are quite prosperous

and bear your yummy fruits for us

Itty Bitty Surprise!

So I've been telling you about this year's garden, but I haven't told you much about last year's garden, specifically the fact that it's still growing. Last year my garden included an eggplant. It grew and grew and got many buds and flowers, but none of the buds ever set any fruit. The season was extremely rainy. Any of you growing veggies last year know what I mean. There was so much rain that almost everything was taken over by fungus. Now my eggplant survived this deluge but all the buds fell off from too much water! However, surprisingly, it's still growing. So I was looking at it yesterday and, lo and behold, itty bitty eggplants! It's covered in blooms right now and at least two or three have emerging fruit - woo hoo!

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Eggplant, eggplant

How do you do?

I've been waiting

a while to see you.

Didn't think you would come

But there you are little one!

Footprints in the Dirt

So I had an overnight guest in my planter box. Could have been a cat, might have been the opossum who lives around here, or maybe some other small night creature. Whatever it was, he/she left little footprints behind. Had my tomatoes already been in the box I might have been a bit miffed at this mystery creature, however, no harm was done, so it's rather amusing at this point. Whatever it was walked the total length of the planter box - one side, 90-degree turn, and then the other side. If I had my guess I would say this was a curious kitty, as the opossum probably would have rooted around a little bit. I'd like to somehow blame this on a pesky squirrel but the only way these would be squirrel prints is if the little guy decided to sit every six inches and leave behind his "be-hind" print.

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Mystery footprints in the dirt

What or who might this be?

I'll be on the lookout for this little squirt

I should probably look in the trees!

Play Time

So last weekend we did the dirty work of cleaning out last year's pots to make them nice and sparkly for this year's plants. This is my self-watering "tomato success kit". Some years have been successful and others not so much. This year I'll probably be putting some grape tomatoes in here. I have seeds for those but haven't started them yet. I might just sow them directly into the box and see what happens. As you can see, China was waiting patiently for her turn at the water hose. It's hard for her to hold back. She just loves to chase the water!

After that fun I mixed up my compost with the three main nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Oh my! China wasn't so sure about this part. She was probably wondering if she was allowed to dig in these piles of dirt! You can see her eyeing them...but, alas, all this compost plus that same amount of very light potting soil went into the big L-shaped planter, and she never did get to dig in.

So now I've prepared a place for the little seedlings that soon enough they will enter into!

Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium - Oh my!

Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium Oh my!

These are the additives in my dirt, that help to grow my little squirts!

Big Boy Pots

Well, all the seedlings have graduated to their own pots now and the cotyledons have fallen off the tomato plants in the back row, so I guess my little charges are growing up. I spent half the weekend preparing their soon-to-be new home outside, though I won't be permanently moving them out for probably another month. Perhaps soon I can move them to the porch so they can begin to acclimate to the outdoors. Time flies so fast (sigh!). It seems like only yesterday they were just teeny seeds in the palm of my hand. Well, okay, that was only three weeks ago and, as you can see, some of them are still pretty small, like Chamomile and Chives, who hardly show up at all in this picture. The good news is that they are alive and thriving. None of the dreaded "damping off" disease has come to claim their lives. Things are looking good!

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Little plants

they do grow up

in the blink of an eye

As long as I keep them

away from my pup

who is exuberantly spry

There's Always One in the Bunch

You know, when you have a moderate to large group of people or animals or things, or in this case plants, there's always one in the bunch that likes to cause trouble. Little whispy Dill is getting "leggy" on me. Growing too tall, too fast and now look at him:

That's what happens to little plants who do too much, too fast. They get themselves into trouble. However, the lucky thing is that he has a second little sprout coming out, so I trimmed off that first leggy sprout and left the new little sprout. Hopefully this won't deter his growing but now at least he can stand up straight again:

He's under the grow light in this picture and so looks a little strange in color, but it's one day after his hair cut and he seems to be recovering just fine in a brand new pot.

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Little Dill

Still a pill!

Let it Snow?

Ooooo, it's cold here now! It is a most un-garden-like day today! For the first time since I can remember it's going to go below 30 degrees in Tampa. As you can see, it's already 41.9 and it's only 9:15 PM. Today I am most glad that my little seedlings are safe and sound and toasty warm inside the house. My mailman Mr. Bob said he planted his tomatoes already and is wishing now his were inside too! Guess he'll be covering his little tomato babies tonight. If we can make it through to this weekend, we should be back up to 72, and you better believe I'm looking forward to that!

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I know I have it good compared to most of the country right now, but the fact remains that I have Florida blood and - Wow! I'm cold!"

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Thank goodness for the heater

and for the heating pad

that keeps my little seedlings

happy and not sad.

Thank goodness that my house

is warm and safe and dry,

if it weren't so

I think I'd have to cry.

For my blood's as thin as water

just like my little plants,

if it drops to 55

we haven't got a chance!