My dog ate my herbs

When I last posted, I expected to have to commit an entry to how my attempts to grow seedlings into real plants were a total failure. However, the herbs have unexpectedly recovered from being eaten by a dog as well as repotting, and I now have three bell pepper plants that are growing well but have no place to be set outside (anybody want one? They are from a mix, so the pepper color will be a surprise). Next year, I think I will skip the seed trays and just plant directly in the container - or skip the seeds altogether and just cop out by buying seedlings. We'll see what's available in Switzerland next spring!

I came home one day to this - apparently the organic fertilizer that comes with the seed tray is quite tasty for canines. She suffered no ill effects, which I suppose I should be grateful for.

I managed to salvage one cell of each type of basil (sweet, genovese, and lemon), a lemon balm, cilantro (the long stringy ones), and finally some very, very tiny oregano (I think - probably should've written it down).

To my surprise, this is how they looked ten days later! Not sure about the oregano on the end, but the basils and cilantro are doing well! I may have some herbs by the end of the summer. Although the labels have disappeared from the rain, so I won't know what the herbs are, specifically. It will make cooking an adventure.

These pepper plants are available for adoption! They are healthy and green, and a bit on the quiet side if that's the type you go for.

The past week has been perfect weather for the plants, although a bit humid for their human (who has a very low humidity tolerance). The pea plants have taken off, although my attempts to guide where they grow are failing spectacularly. I set the pot closer to the balcony rail and have been trying to guide the tendrils to wrap around it - perhaps it's too thick? I'm concerned that the makeshift scaffold I set up isn't actually big enough for them. Something I never thought would be a problem when I first made it! Overall, I've found that I have vastly underestimated how large the plants would be - and it's less than halfway through the summer! I'm worried that they may outgrow their pots and die before I get any significant harvest, but I think I can get them through it between frequent watering and some liberal fertilizer applications. Next year, though - bigger pots are definitely on the list.

The sugar snap peas. It's unbelievable how much they've grown in two weeks when you compare them to this post just 10 days ago.

All three tomato plants continue to be my rock stars in terms of growth and flowers. I'm surprised at how quickly they wilt (possibly because they are in almost too-small pots) even from evening to the next morning, so I am watering them almost daily at this point.

The Heirloom keeps trying to sneak into the kitchen. It may succeed by the end of the month if I'm not careful.

A closeup of the Sweet 'n Neat to give an idea of the flower blossoms. My mouth waters just thinking about the day that these will all be little red juicy goodness.

I love seeing all the green outside my kitchen window - it makes doing dishes at the sink just slightly less painful, and if I ever need a pick me up, I just stick my head out the window and take a few deep breaths. It's not the same as actually living where there are trees and grass, but it's a wonderful substitute!

I am working on some more baking posts, but I realized that my previous posts in which I link to a recipe and then talk about how I changed it is not terribly user friendly. So I will fix that in future posts, and also do a better job of getting pictures at every step. For now, I will just share pictures of what I consider two of my tastiest triumphs (the third, a blackberry lime pie, I have made twice, but haven't gotten pictures of it before it's disappeared).

Cheese herb bread. I've made it twice, and it is unbelievably delicious. It has enough flavor to be wonderful with just butter, but for an extra treat, we used it for BLTs.

Monkey bread (NOT from canned biscuits) with a lime-cream cheese glaze. It's like the inside of a cinnamon bun without any of that crappy dry crust.

 

Diagramming seed trays

My first triumph when I got home from Home Depot was miraculously discovering that I hadn't bought duplicates of any seed packets, despite not keeping track of what I originally purchased at Target. I stuck mainly to herbs and ended up with three types of basil (lemon, genovese, and sweet) - perhaps overkill, although basil is the one herb that I buy on a regular basis at the grocery store, so I'm sure I can make it work. I did end up with something called "lemon balm" - what is this? On the packet it resembles mint, so perhaps I thought it was when I bought it - or perhaps it is lemon mint? Definitely will be a surprise.

So many seed packets! What hath I wrought?

Several other "regulars" - chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, sage - that I am excited about, although I've actually only used a few in recipes, so I'll have to start saving food ideas! And the first place I'll go to do so is supercook.com - if you haven't heard of this website, it's definitely worth a visit. Basically you can input your entire kitchen contents (and save it, so you only have to do so once!) and it spits back recipes that you can make with the ingredients you currently have. You can stress a certain ingredient - useful if you have some fruit or other item that is about to expire or go bad - or ex out an ingredient or category of food, in case you are vegetarian or gluten-free or whatever else. It's a great place to get inspiration for trying something new in the kitchen, and although I've had some less than impressive meals from it, I've also found at least two recipes that are now part of my standard repertoire.

My first issue when starting the seed trays was the question of how many seeds to put in each cell, and how many cells to plant for each seed packet. The scientist in me went to work, and I started to wonder about what percentage of seeds actually sprout and how many plants of each I would use. Luckily, my PhD training has prepped me for such difficult questions, and I quickly whipped up a first-rate diagram. I planted three cells for each herb (save for chives) and four for the two pea varieties as well as a sweet pepper mix. Definitely way too many, and I've already started fishing around for friends who may be interested in their own herb garden in case they all sprout.

My awesome seed tray diagrams. Don't be jealous.

I rolled up the carpet in my living room and went to work. I made quite a mess, spilling water and dirt from the dry pellets that expanded over the sides of the trays. Luckily I bought a broom just last week to replace the one whose handle was used as a pinata bat several months ago (yep, that happened). I started carefully pressing two seeds into each cell, but by the time I got to the lemon basil I had already gone cross eyed trying to count the tiny seeds. I started just throwing a pinch into each - I can always thin them later, right? I also didn't think to check how deep I should be planting seeds until I was to the pea plants. Hope that the herbs are flexible on that!

The final problem came when I read the last step on the tray instructions: place in a warm place away from direct sunlight until the seeds sprout in 7-10 days. Hmm. I have no control over the heat in my apartment, and I think it's already been turned off in anticipation of summer. My dog had already shown a distinct interest in the trays as I was planting them, so I needed to get them off the floor. Unfortunately my apartment has a serious lack of counter space. The table in my living room is where I work, eat, and I'm already constantly fighting clutter on it. The only other option was the bathroom. So I moved around my lotions and that's where they went. I'm not sure how important the environs is for seeds to sprout, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist peeking under the germination sheets daily to check how they are progressing!

One of the trays in its semi-final resting place. Yes, I have too many lotions.

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.

PhD? What PhD?

Disappointed that I will be finishing my PhD at the end of the summer (I had hoped to finish by May), I've decided to make the best of it and carry out one of my (not-so-secret) desires to have a garden. Unfortunately, I live on the 5th floor in an apartment and have no yard or garden. What I do have is a small iron patio outside my kitchen. It's not a proper fire escape, as there is no ladder or stairs, nor is it truly a patio, as the only way to get out on it would be to stand on my stove and crawl through the window. I'm not sure what purpose it has ever served. But this summer, I plan to use it to grow (in my mind) a treasure trove of delicious fresh herbs and veggies.

I first went to Target, unsure if they even have a garden section. They do, but it's two small aisles stuck between the barbecue and patio sections. It has a disappointing selection and also assumes that all gardeners must grow plants in bulk, a strange assumption given that this particular store is quite close to central Boston, not known for its large backyards or gardening spaces (although I have walked by several community gardens that look lovely, and I can only dream that I would have the time to devote to such an endeavour). Despite their slim pickings, however, I selected five seed packets of "organic" seeds for various herbs (two types of basil, chives, oregano, and thyme) and two trays of seed starters. Both claimed to be eco-friendly, which appears to mean that they can be planted directly into the soil and the "cup" will degrade. One tray claimed to be self-watering (upon closer inspection this simply meant it was capable of not being watered as often, which in reality is quite different), so I bought it, hoping that at least some of my seedlings would survive my inability to judge when things should be watered.

My next stop would be Home Depot, but by the time I got out of Target (it had recently expanded to include groceries, so I felt compelled to walk down every aisle and buy more snacks than I could ever consume), it had closed. I put it on my list for another day and headed home.

Thanks to my good friend Melissa (of Researching Paris) and the book The $64 Tomato by William Alexander for inspiration - the former for the blog, and the latter for the garden!