The battle continues

I am actually facing two continuing battles. The first is that random trash continues to show up in my plants - I woke up Saturday morning to at least three beer cans scattered throughout the garden. I am thinking of checking into the price/permit of a taser gun (overreaction, what?). Seriously, though - is this a fun game to drunk people? My plants are not dead, it is obvious that someone is taking time and effort to work on the garden, and their response is to throw things in it? Ergh. /end rant

Who doesn't enjoy waking up to this? And yes, I even recycled the cans - they may be douchebags, but I don't need to be. The good in this picture - basil to the right! My herbs I grew from seeds are thriving!

The second battle is against the container that wouldn't drain, aka the soup container. I was thrilled to wake up the morning after my creative solutions (from my last post) to see that the soil level had dropped and pressing on the top led to a firm bounce back.

Yay! The soil was completely saturated, but solid. And we have no rain in the forecast (in fact, we are supposedly hitting record highs today and tomorrow), so it should have a good chance of drying out.

It was apparent, however, that the strawberries were not going to recover. So on Saturday I drove off to Home Depot to replace them. I already have 3 Quinault plants and one AllStar in the  other strawberry container that are thriving, so I wanted a different variety. I could only find Ozark Beauty (I had also had a fourth whose name escapes me now) in a rather large hanging pot, so I snatched it up. It already had several small white berries on it, so I thought perhaps that would give it a much-needed leg up.

I just planted the strawberries last night, and I was sad to see that the herbs were alarmingly droopy (particularly visible in the sage on the right, below). However, I am hoping that the infusion of new, healthy plants with their own drier soil will help to soak up the moisture and the herbs will begin to perk up again.

New strawberries on the left. Sad herbs on the right. C'mon guys!

Other than the herbs, yesterday was full of encouraging sights on the balcony. The first was that I harvested strawberries - FIVE of them, from three separate plants. Five whole strawberries - I'm going to have to open a stand at the farmer's market!

Yum! They may be weird shaped and wouldn't make it through any sort of inspection, but I grew these bad boys! And they taste good - obviously the most important aspect.

I seem to reveal a new cluster of cherry tomatoes on the Sweet n' Neat every time I lift a leaf, and the Patio tomato plant has at least three wonderfully firm green fruits on it - I was under the impression that this was also a cherry tomato plant, but I am obviously mistaken and hence eager to see how big the tomatoes actually get before they ripen. And to top it all off, I spotted the first blooms on my Heirloom plant! I've read more about this plant, and I should've been pruning it throughout the spring - this serves as both a way to keep it from sprawling across the entire patio (mine is in danger of doing that) and encourages it to put its plant energy into blooming and growing fruits instead of growing more greenery. It's a good thing to be aware of for next year.

Some Sweet 'n Neat.

More Sweet 'n Neat - whaaaaat. I have plans for a fresh bruschetta once these bad boys actually ripen.

Two of the fruits from the Patio. They look just like real tomatoes!

The capper - my first blooms on the Heirloom plant. I am a bit concerned about how to support this branch if they do turn into fruit - it is nowhere near anything I can tie it to.

Finally, my pea plants are completely out of control. They have started to help define "urban sprawl," and I'm not sure what to do about them. They also will not, no matter how hard I try to manipulate them, wrap around the balcony bars - I think they are too thick. My mother suggested the soil may have too much nitrogen, which can make them grow and grow but not blossom. Unfortunately at this point there isn't too much to do about it, but it is definitely something to be aware of for next year (note to self: learn how to say "nitrogen" in Swiss German. Also learn how to say "garden," "plants," and "hello").

If you look carefully, you can see the original lattice I built is bent over with the weight of the plants. And I was worried they wouldn't grow...

Lolli says "Stop writing crazy lady. I am missing my time at the dog park."

Home Depot vs. the graduate students, round 1

My parents were supposed to come for a visit last week, but unfortunately a rhinovirus found me on the plane back from Madrid - I get sick about 50% of the time after intercontinental flights, which is always frustrating. I had planned to plant my seed trays and begin my garden adventures when they were here, as both of them have much more gardening experience than I do. However, when they cancelled, I resolved to forge ahead on my own. The weather is getting warmer, and I didn't want to delay the opportunity for fresh veggies as soon as possible!

I am one of the few people in my small graduate school friend circle that has a car. Before you get jealous, it's a '97 Ford Crown Victoria. Yes, I am an undercover cop. An outdated one. So when I head out for shopping ventures, I often inquire around to see who wants to accompany me. One friend, Anna, was quite enthusiastic - her actual reply: "Yes! I love Home Depot!!" - so on Saturday afternoon we headed out. I admit that I haven't been to a Home Depot or any sort of home improvement store for years, probably since accompanying my father in high school. Luckily, Anna's mother apparently used to work at one, so she steered us without hesitation to the garden section.

It was at this point I started to realize that, despite my childhood spent helping in a garden, I actually had no idea how to start one. It was completely overwhelming. There are plants everywhere, seemingly dozens of varieties of every vegetable or herb or flower. I managed to stay away from the flowers, although this was the one area where I had some knowledge (I used to help my mother pick up several flats' worth of annuals each year for her flowers gardens around the yard). Unfortunately, with my limited space, I can't afford pretty. Only edible.

I started with what I knew I wanted - tomatoes. There were at least ten varieties (strains? breeds?), so I picked one called "patio" that claimed it didn't need staking and was perfect for container gardening. Unfortunately, as I made my way through the aisle, I was also seduced by an Heirloom variety (my grandparents used to have the most delicious tomatoes in the world in their garden, and I had a thought they might have been Heirlooms) and a third random tomato that seemed like a good idea at the time. So much for avoiding the need to stake the plants.

Plants (and a couple planters) from Home Depot

By the end, I walked out with another six packets of seeds (herbs plus two varieties of peas), a pepper plant, a dill plant, and four strawberry plants. The strawberries were Anna's fault, as I was ready to avoid them, having many memories of my father cursing the strawberry beds we had when I was a child and eventually letting them go to seed. However, Anna's squeals of excitement about the plants were contagious and fresh strawberries are one of Nature's greatest gifts. I justified buying several plants by getting three different varieties, as a sampling. The other plants were part of a snowball effect that Anna and I tend to have on each other while shopping. The thought process goes something akin to this: Look how many plants/clothes/snacks! We are so restrained by only purchasing a few! It's one of the many reasons we limit shopping trips with the car to no more than once a month.

One of the bags of potting soil plus the remainder of the plants. I went to Trader Joe's after the gardening trip and apparently felt the need to buy some herbs in a pot from them. Because I have no patience to wait for my seedlings.

I did manage to also buy practical garden items - a small watering can, two bags of potting soil (MiracleGro water control kind - similar to the seed trays, I thought this was a wise investment), two pots, a rectangular planter, and some liquid fertilizer to mix in with the water. I couldn't find a trowel, which seemed odd. Shouldn't it be with the rest of the gardening supplies? I didn't bother to ask, a fact that will probably come back to haunt me.

I walked out with a fully loaded cart and feeling ambitiously triumphant, tainted only by a slight concern that perhaps I should've measured the balcony first and determined exactly how much space
I actually had to create my perfect green garden.