Green tomatoes and swamps

I had hoped to alternate between gardening and baking posts, but I was feeling a bit under the weather on Sunday (my usual baking day), and only managed some chocolate chip oatmeal peanut butter cookies and a lemon poppyseed bundt cake for a co-worker's birthday. Unfortunately I took no pictures of either - the processes or the final product. I will assert, however, that they were tasty.

However, Sunday was an exciting day for the garden - I found my first tomatoes on my Sweet 'n Neat plant, and today I found more on my mysterious middle ground plant (aka not Heirloom)! They look lovely and firm and I am most excited to watch them ripen!

Sunday's first glimpse!

This evening (Thursday). So many! Please don't die before you ripen, I want to eat you.

The newest tomato! On the mysterious plant. You know, I have the tag for this plant - it's just out of reach and I am too lazy to lean out the window and get it. Maybe I want to be surprised. Yes, that's it.

There has been a lull in the strawberries, with only one tasty berry last week. However, there are now several small white berries that should be ready in the next week. I am still visiting Haymarket every week for fresh fruit and vegetables, unfortunately. I think in order to use my own fruits for baking, I would need a significantly larger space. But they are a lovely addition to my breakfast!

On Tuesday, I officially gave up on my questionable container, with two strawberry plants, the pepper plant and the herbs. I walked to Trader Joe's and bought another set of herbs (the same ones - sage, rosemary, and thyme, again tempted to buy some parsley just to round out Scarborough Fair even though I rarely use it in cooking).

So sad looking. You can see the spillage in the top left corner. I'm not sure why the strawberry leaves have turned red, but I'm sure it wasn't a good reason. The rosemary that resembles a three month old Christmas tree is barely visible in the bottom right.

This evening, I got home at a reasonable hour and decided to replant. The container was in much worse shape than I realized. The soil had the consistency of a waterbed - moving the container caused waves throughout the surface. It was also RIDICULOUSLY heavy - my last five weeks of exercising had not prepared me to try to haul a dirt-filled container laden with liquid through my small window. I managed to get it in with only some splashing over the side (sorry neighbors three floors down - hope you don't actually use that little grill much. Or at least that you keep it well covered). I threw out the herbs and pepper plant immediately - they were obviously beyond saving.

The three holes where the herbs had been. When I pulled them out, it was a geyser/volcano effect. I had water bubbling up for several minutes. It was a little grotesque but also mesmerizing. I kept waiting for Ludo to explain that rocks are friends.

The whole container smelled like fresh manure (if you've been so fortunate as to experience that aroma), and I had no idea how to fix it. I want to try to save the two strawberry plants, if possible, as I have no replacements, but they desperately needed to be dried out. I tried soaking up the water with paper towels, but it quickly became apparent that I was using a bandaid on a gushing wound. It was about as effective as me trying to block LeBron James (I don't follow basketball as a rule, but there are slim pickings on network television this evening). So then I tried adding some new potting soil. I have a small bag left of unused soil - not enough to fill the container, and I had no place to throw out the water-soaked soil anyway. Also a poor solution - the new, drier soil just floated on top of the soup, and I was adding weight to the already unmanageable container. The one real puzzle in all of this is that the container is the exact same one as the one where I have my four strawberry plants, which have had no soup problems. Why is this one having such problems!? This bothers the scientist in me.

I threw in the new plants - herbs from Trader Joe's and one of my bell pepper seedlings - and started to haul it back and just hope for the best when I had a brilliant idea. Ok, more of a Hail Mary. I thought maybe the water wasn't getting out (even though, as stated previously, this is the exact same container as another one I own, from which water apparently has no issues escaping). So, how to get it out? I decided to try punching a hole in the bottom of the container. Unfortunately I have not a single nail in my entire apartment, so I ended up using a penknife to bore a hole in the bottom. Not recommended - the penknife is at least 10 years old and I'd prefer not to think about how easily a dull knife that doesn't snap into place could take off a finger or at least reach a tendon.  However, I was rewarded with lovely brown water that began dripping all over my kitchen floor. I made a second hole before hauling it back through the window (more spillage - I actually thought I lost a strawberry plant, but it hung on). This involved much cursing and a tense moment in which I realized a wet tiled floor does not provide good traction when trying to lift sixty pounds entirely with my arms. If the entire container had been filled with lead it would have been easier - at least it would have been solid and not sloshing around. Ugh. If they die this time, I'm leaving them out there. Maybe the next tenant will be a champion weightlifter.

Watching it on the balcony I didn't see any water coming out and I worried that the holes had gotten clogged. Then I realized there is no reason the holes need to be on the bottom (which was quite difficult to access anyway). So I put two holes on the side near the bottom, followed by another two and another two (I get slightly impatient - dry out already!). They are currently all dripping away, and I will check in the morning to see if I can tell a difference in the waterbed consistency. Here's hoping!

The new plants, back out on the balcony. You can make out one of the side holes I made in the bottom left. Looking at it now, I realized I planted the pepper plant WAY too close to the herbs. Of course, this will only be a problem if they all survive -the jury is still out on this, but I'm not betting on it.

PS - I've switched from the NBA to America's Test Kitchen. PBS, I love you and can I borrow your kitchen?

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.

 

Mother Nature steps in...

In one of my first posts, I worried that I would drown my plants. It turns out, Mother Nature is doing her best to do it for me. We've had only four sunny days in the past 2-3 weeks, and most overcast days have had either a drizzle or downpour associated. I've been surprised to see the wide range of responses. The tomato plants seem to love it - all three have overgrown their pots and have dozens of small yellow blossoms. I tied the heirloom plant to the balcony (with a leg from a former pair of tights) just this past weekend for support and hopefully to encourage it to grow away from the other plants instead of over them. The Patio plant shouldn't need staking/support, and I'm keeping my eye on the Sweet 'n Neat (who names these things?), but so far it is holding its own weight. There's really nothing to do with the tomatoes, as they have needed no tending, but I still like to play around with them simply for the way they smell. They smell like earth and green, and just one whiff reminds me why I've been aching for a garden for the past five years.

Two of the tomato plants. The Heirloom is on the left. This was two days before I strapped it to the balcony, as it was starting to take over the other tomato (the Sweet 'n Neat) and the strawberries on the other side. Not sure if you can see the flowers in this shot - I'll get better pictures!

The other plants that seem to enjoy the rain are the sugar pea plants. All three seem to be surviving, although one is definitely the runt of the litter and may end up getting beaten out by its bigger siblings. While the peas can't beat the tomato plants in scent, they are more interactive. I like to take the little green shoots and curl them around the homemade lattice. The next day, the plant will have taken initiative and wrapped around the string several times, where even a fairly strong tug can't disentagle, and be off in a different direction. I still have no idea if I'll actually get any peas from them, but we'll see.

The pea plants have actually recovered nicely from their precarious repotting. We've reached a tentative mutual agreement in which they've agreed not to be angry at me about it.

The strawberries have been a mixed bag. I have managed to snag a few tasty red ones from my container with only strawberry plants, which make me feel quite triumphant. However, I'd had to throw out just as many berries as I've eaten. Unfortunately, all the extra moisture and sitting water in the container makes the berries quick to rot, sometimes before they've turned more than just a light pink. It's sad to have to throw them away, but I am trying to be more vigilant about catching them before they go bad.

My very first strawberry from the balcony. Others have tasted better and been prettier, but this was my first. They say you never forget your first (and now I won't, because I have this blurry, crappy picture to remember it by).

The strawberry plants that have not been as ill affected by all the rain - complete with ripe berries, unripe berries, and even some flowers.

The other planter with strawberries has not been faring as well. Even when we had three straight days of sunshine, the soil never dried out, and it's taking its toll on all the plants in the container. The strawberries - which even when I purchased them were a little sad - were starting to cheer up, but stalled out since the rain started 3 weeks ago, and now the new sprigs are starting to die.

This was actually taken on day three of sunshine, after the second bout of rain and before the current third one we are enduring. You can see that even three days of sunshine isn't enough to get rid of the standing water around the plants.

The pepper plant in the same container is starting to yellow and droop a little, and the herbs have remained static. I'm fairly sure that thyme and rosemary, at least, prefer a drier soil (I'll have to look up sage, but it also doesn't seem to be inclined to grow). I'm deeply regretting not putting rocks or a better drainage system in place, but I had no idea that Boston would have a monsoon season this summer.

I am behind on my posts and have many more updates, including weekend baking frenzies that have led to as many as six recipes in a day as well as my dog deciding that organic fertilizer is pretty tasty stuff. But for now, I'll just hope that Mother Nature decides to give my plants a day off tomorrow (current forecast: no rain, but heavy cloud cover).

The error of my ways

In my last post, I mentioned that I had done absolutely no research into balcony or container gardening. I had taken note, when purchasing seeds, of the graphic of a friendly green check mark in a pot that indicated the plant could survive in a container. Other than that - nada. I chose plants and seeds based on childhood memories, whims, and attractive colors.

I translated this graphic as "Why, yes, I will grow beautifully on your balcony and produce bountiful fruit for you to feast on. Please enjoy."

So yesterday I did a google search on patio/balcony/container gardening, both in search of information and perhaps some other blogs that I could use as resources (and as a procrastination tool to avoid setting up a Western blot). What I found was that in growing plants for less than a week, I had already committed several cardinal sins. Here are some suggestions/rules that I've broken:

1. Use containers made of natural material. One blog claims that natural materials (eg, clay or wood) are best. I, of course, went with the cheap plastic option. And chose a dark green because I liked it better than the burnt sienna color that looked like it was trying to be clay. Turns out that's wrong, as well (see below).

Cheap plastic, dark green, no drainage system installed. Three wrongs in one choice - if I were a football team, I'd have to punt. Luckily gardening and football don't invite many comparisons.

2. Choose light-colored pots. This is to avoid overheating of the soil during the hotter summer months. Yep, dark green will definitely retain the heat better. I chose...poorly. (Name that movie!)

This blog got it right. Apparently they went all fancy and researched things beforehand.

3. Water daily. Wait, what? Haven't I killed every houseplant I have ever owned because of this exact issue? And yet I found several websites that claim this is the best way to take care of your patio garden.

4. Don't waterlog the soil or roots. Well, now I'm just confused.

5. Use fertilizer in dilute amounts often/daily. Then why does it say on the bottle to use it every 7-10 days? Are they lying?

I'm not lying - right on the bottle, for garden/patio. What am I missing? If anything, shouldn't the product be trying to get me use it more often, so I will go through it quickly and buy more?

6. Make sure the plants have full sun exposure all day. The minimum they need is six hours per day. This one I am quite paranoid about. Unfortunately I only have one place to put my plants, so it's not a multiple choice option. I have carefully noted that my plants get their first peak of sun at approximately 8:30 am, but I haven't been able to be home in the afternoon to see when the sun moves to the other side of the building and the shade sets in. I do believe it's well into the afternoon, but I plan to stalk the sun this weekend to get a time (the forecast is for rain, making this a moot exercise - or a "moo" one, as Joey would say).

7. Put your plants on a south facing wall. The logic behind this isn't stated, but I believe it's related to the above rule, to maximize their sun exposure.

8. Have a good drainage system in place. I have none, which I suspect doesn't qualify as "good."

See, Ma? No drainage! (All of the boxes/pots do at least have holes in the bottom). But most websites suggested rocks or plastic bottles or pipes. None of that fancy stuff here!

9. Add mulch. One site actually recommended "top-dressing" with mulch, which I'm not sure what they mean, but it sounds inappropriate for polite company.

10. Use gloves with potting soil. This one was on the bag of soil itself. But I forgot to buy a pair and was too impatient to wait. So far, no strange red welts or bumps, but I'm keeping an eye out.

Yep, I just flat out ignored that one.

So there you have it. Less than a week into my garden, and I'm heading down ten different directions, all wrong to some degree. Who's excited!?