Nuclear Power PLANT

I have been given a gift. This particular gift has put me to shame and caused significant humiliation, but it is a gift none-the-less. Christine, a summer intern at work, has a dad who gardens - Charlie. Charlie started growing things 3 or 4 years ago in his big backyard on Long Island and does both in ground and container gardening. The first (and only) time I met him I lobbed a ton of questions his way. Poor guy didn’t know what he got himself into.

I’ve been ferrying gardening questions to him all summer through Christine and would expect her to report back with the answers (wasn’t that part of an intern’s job description??). Halfway through summer, before we met but after a couple of questions and answers were exchanged, Charlie sent a gift my way via Christine: a zucchini. It was a beautiful thing and engendered no jealousy because I’m not growing zucchini. It was just a random act of kindness that I could enjoy. I thought I needed to share so I made zucchini bread with it and brought it into the office. 

At the end of summer, to celebrate Christine’s last day of work and her 21^st birthday, a group of us, including Christine’s parents, celebrated at a local dive bar. Christine met us at the office, bearing another gift from Charlie, whom I would meet in a few hours. It was a tomato. A beautiful, ripe red tomato. When I tell you it was huge, I mean it was HUGE. It must have weighed close to a pound. See? 

Almost the size of my entire hand!

Larger than my laptop's mouse pad!

Christine thinks that there is something wrong with her dad's garden - some sort of nuclear power source that makes her dad's vegetables of seriously substantial size. It's a nuclear power plant!! (Hehe, get it??) Christine would often show me photos of the products of her dad's garden, and I have to say - something unnatural may have been at work here. Do people really grow things THAT large?? He needs to enter a state fair.

Whatever the cause of the super-size veggies, I was showing everyone. 

"Look, look! Look at what Charlie grew!!"

 The typical answer was "Oh my god, that's huge!" 

A few minutes later followed by "Okay, Lindsay, we get it. It's a big tomato. Shut up." 

I was so proud of a fellow gardener and the potential of any home garden. It took me a few hours to really start thinking about his tomato as compared to mine. But eventually I got there. I was shamed and humiliated by my measly success with 1 small (but delicious) cherry tomato. When I brought the tomato home, Chris looked at it and immediately said, "Wow. What are YOU doing wrong?" Seriously!

Nevertheless, I intended to fully enjoy this gift. What do you do with such a big fruit? Make it the star! The easiest was to have a slice of tomato with some of my own home-grown basil, plus olive oil, salt and pepper. I would have added mozzarella, but I didn't have any, and it didn't really need it anyway. Deeee-lish! 

Nuclear tomato + home grown basil = absolute goodness.

So although I am humbled by this gift, what Charlie has done is show me the possibilities. He has shown me the potential if I keep at it and continue gardening and learning. Faith in my own abilities to grow something organic, natural and nutritious and I could one day have something like The-Tomato-That-Charlie-Grew. 

Okay. I'll keep at it. Thanks Christine and Charlie for the inspiration!

Leaving the Garden @ Home

I tested my garden's love for me and I am merely mildly loved. Sigh. Each year my in-laws spend a week in the same beach house on the same beach and do nothing but eat lobster and bake in the sun. Not a bad situation and a tradition I have joined since Chris and I were engaged. However, this year came with new anxiety: being away from my garden. Five days is the longest I have ever left my garden and it is the first time I haven't also left Chris at home to water them. I imagine leaving your garden for the first time is like the first time you leave your child with a babysitter. (This is in no way a reflection of my current expectant status. Keep that imagination alive, Mother.)

To help with maintaining proper hydration I asked my landlord, a master of uselessness, if he would be willing to water my plants each morning. Both my husband and my mother were skeptical about the answer I would receive. But I had faith in good ol' Good-fer-Nuthin'. And my faith was rewarded with 3 out of 5 days hydration. Good-fer-Nuthin' and his wife, Hilga (also an alias, but it fits. In a somewhat-related note, she also reminds me of Madam Mim) were going away for the weekend. Not bad, all in all. May he be newly dubbed Almost-Good-fer-Nuthin'.

I could have gone with one of those water hydration systems that you leave in your plants and they supposedly water automatically, as needed. Although very intriguing and an item now on the Christmas list (hello families?? are you out there? Amazon.com if you please!), it feels exorbitant to spend money on all the little watering bulbs I would need so 3 out of 5 days from Good-fer-Nuthin' will have to suffice.

After a severe weather failure (check out this link for a quick taste of that), we came back from the beach whiter than when we left but nonetheless relaxed and having spent good quality time with the family.

But, of course, I was nervous about how my plants had done without me. Would they seek their revenge for my having left them with a crazy Russian? Or would they feel even more neglected by me having now been cared for by someone who clearly knows how to grow things (Never mind that they're weeds; they're strong, healthy weeds).

As I said before, I am mildly loved. Photos will come as soon as I figure out how to transfer PC files to my shiny new Mac. (It's sooo preeettttyyy.)

Here's the verbal rundown:

• Chives - check. 
• Basil - a little wilted, but check, they'll spring back in no time. 
• Tomatoes - check, no harm seems to have been done and 1 more cherry tomato is definitely reddening up.  I don't even see any more black spots! Hoorah for small victories! (knock on wood)
• Peppers - check-ish. I have a couple of small black spots on the ends of a couple of them. Is that my fault, is it Almost-Good-fer-Nuthin's fault, or the pepper revenge? Why are things turning black in my garden? I've been fairly regular about my watering habits now - maybe Almost-Good-fer-Nuthin' was not as religious?
• Strawberries - NO check. They are wilting at a scary pace. Several are just black and rotted. Could this also be blossom end rot or a disease? What is happening??? 

The few small strawberries that haven't turned black are eaten almost immediately because we'd rather eat small strawberries than none at all. They definitely need to be left on the plant longer. I choose to think of this as them being mad at me for leaving them and not because I did something wrong. After all, plants are living things. They have feelings and mine are clearly the sensitive kind. More are still growing in so maybe now that I'm back they'll be okay.

Anyone have any ideas why this could have happened? When I post pictures I would love any opinions on whether this is a disease spreading throughout my containers or blossom end rot which is user error and completely fixable. I need help!!

Disease Unease? Nay, Positive Potential!

Oh dear. Oh my. Oh gosh. What I thought was B.E.R. might be a disease. A bacterial disease no less. Not just something that I can fix by watering appropriately or consistently. But something that could have been part of the plant when I bought it and can't be cured. Holy geez. I might have to get rid of 1 or more plants in its/their entirety, forsaking all yummy-looking, pride inducing fruits. The level of garden related stress is at an all time high.  I will come back to the diagnosis results at a later date when I have confirmed my mater malfunction. For now, I will forego the diseased photos. Let's focus on the positive. 


Woosah.


What do we have to talk about that's positive? Setting aside potential ugly, horrible, disappointing and evil bacterial diseases, I do have a reddening tomato!  The cherry tomato plant, the least likely to be diseased and the most productive plant of anything in the garden, has 1 definitely blushing beauty. What a sight! Let's bask in this fact over 2 photos. It's so satisfying to see!

Another point of pride is strawberries! Of the 26 fruits that I counted recently, several are looking mighty juicy and full of uber deliciousness. They still need to grow, but their bright red color is a beautiful thing. Look at them glisten!

I also have my fantastic basil and chive plants. The basil I will soon use to make a fresh pesto sauce using Mom's recipe. That will get posted soon too.  The peppers are doing just fine. Nothing turning red yet but they do look healthy, as long as they aren't getting chopped off by stupid chipmunks or other pesky rodents. 


So my largest and most common crop (I realize I'm not on a farm or even a yard, or, well, land. However, I like the sound of the word crop, so just go with it.) is causing the biggest problems and may not produce what would have been the most prized epicurean delight. I will readjust my expectations and focus on what I CAN produce. It's all about staying positive, right?  


Nevertheless, I would appreciate all crossed fingers and well wishes for my darling crop. The garden production potential is still high, it's just different than what it was. 


Despite all of the challenges I have had in what should have been an easy summer of container gardening, I am having a great time doing it, learning about it and seeing the results. So much so that I am planning for a fall/winter garden and next summer's yield. The blog continues!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" may be a children's book, but the darn things are so not cute. Why do we lie to our children????

I just googled the type of caterpillar I found on my tomato plants the other day and found this blog with information and a photo.  http://greenfrieda.blogspot.com/2009/06/tip-4-there-will-be-bugs.html

Going through recent photos, I realized I snapped a photo of one without even knowing it was there!!!

Tomato hornworm. Eeewwwwww.

It's called a tomato hornworm and eats everything! Has anyone had success in keeping these things away? Any tips or tricks?  And how do they even get to my plants since I'm on the 2nd floor? I check on my plants every day and stare at the wonders growing there. How did I not see them until they were big, fat, and well fed?  They do blend in with the plant with their color, but still.

So far, I've found 3 of them on my plants. They are big, green and just nasty. If you read the description on the blog above, they are squishy to the touch when they get big, which these were. Gross! I used a plant stake to flick the things to the soil and then a plastic cup to scoop them up and throw them over the side. Now that I know what they are and how much damage they can do, I realize I probably shouldn't throw them into my landlord's garden below as I've been doing. Granted, his garden is plants only, not edibles. (I personally think he's growing weeds, but whatever. To each his own.)

When I showed Chris a picture of what type of caterpillar I had discovered in our (my) garden, his first reaction was "I wonder if you can eat them."  Of course that's how he'd react.  Well, it turns out my friends, that you can. And in fact, they are supposed to be pretty good.  See a recipe here:  http://www.bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hornworms.htm

I don't need any opinions on this one. I'm not cookin' 'em! I have drawn a line and the caterpillars are clearly on the other side, not on my plate. 

Since these caterpillars can do some pretty serious damage, do I:

A) Toss the caterpillars over the railing into my landlord's garden - maybe it's a weed control method.
B) Toss the caterpillars over the railing onto the driveway that others use.
C) Kill them in soapy water, the recommended murder method? Again with the murder.

What would you do??

In the beginning....

In the beginning (well, in college, really) there was a great idea. The idea was to buy a couple of beautiful fish in need of a loving home, a small and easy-to-maintain tank with some cute tank accessories that my adoring fish would swim in and out of and live out the rest of their fishy days in perfect bliss. I would feed my fish daily, clean the tank regularly, and be the most splendid fish owner who ever lived. 

Less than 1 semester and 10 dead fish later, I realized that the best idea was really had by my mother, who purchased a battery operated photo frame with fake swimming fish inside for my Christmas gift that year. Smart woman. I have a history of murder. A shady past and witnesses. And yet, the urge to nurture continues. 

My latest best idea is to grow tomatoes!! Brilliant isn't it? I have had mediocre success with 2 indoor plants and several failed attempts with plants to get to this point of mediocrity. But THIS time, I know I'll be super successful.  I just know it. I can feel it in my bones.  As a precaution, Mother Earth and Mother Nature: I apologize in advance. This is a precaution only and one that I know is absolutely unnecessary because I'm going to be an awesome gardener. Is that even the right term? Gardener? It sounds funny.

Chris (my husband) and I live in an apartment in Queens, New York but we have a massive deck - massive by NY standards - that has so far remained empty except for a small but frequently used gas grill. Because of the deck's pitch, which is startling at first, and what I thought was an imminent decision to move into a better apartment, I was reluctant to ever put anything on the deck. Why buy anything that will just have to be sold when we win the lottery and move on up, to the east side?  (Truth be told, I like the west side better, but I'll settle for the hoitier-toitier neighborhood because the tune is catchy. But I digress.)  Six years and 1 deep recession later, we have decided to stay in this apartment for at least another 2 years. This new information has allowed my brain to get creative....

Tomatoes! My tomato idea was so brilliant I immediately took a bus to Home Depot thinking I would just get 1 plant and 1 pot. Right. I was now a novice gardener, having spent $30 on 2 tomato plants, 1 basil plant, soil, tomato props and 2 pots.  I have to say that I felt really good after this purchase. I can't say it's BETTER than getting some awesome piece of clothing on sale, but it's right up there. I'm getting back to nature (or introducing myself, anyway), and going to be able to provide homegrown veggies for Chris and me. This has the potential to save us money on cooking ingredients, right? I am nothing if not frugal. Ahem. 

Fast forward one week and I am loving life. My garden is so cute and my basil plant is even starting to sprout a new leaf. By all accounts, this is success! But my deck still seems empty. And at the end of the summer, how much are my tomato plant and basil plants really going to produce for us? 

The next Friday, I have the day off work so I rent a Zipcar and head back to Home Depot. I know that I'll be buying more than I can carry; soil is heavy after all. So I am prepared with my snazzy rental. Now we're cookin'. In the end, here is my total home garden inventory: 

• 3 tomato plants (1 Big Boy hybrid, 1 Husky Cherry Red hybrid, and 1 Red Beefsteak heirloom)
• 1 basil plant
• 2 chive plants
• 2 strawberry plants (both are of the Quinalt variety)
• 1 green bell pepper plant
• 1 red bell pepper plant
• 4 petunia plants (white, red and purple)
• 1 orange lily plant

I am a true gardener now. I bought plants and flowers that are already sprouting. Instant gratification. It is no less gratifying, maybe even more so, than if I had started them from seeds. It has been 2 days since my garden binge purchase and I am thrilled. I haven't been this excited about a project in a very long time. There's something about getting in there with your hands and taking care of something that is filling to the soul. I am smart, which is how I have learned that lesson after 1 week of gardening. On the other hand, we'll see how I feel in a few weeks. But I am optimistic. 

I have started this blog mainly for myself because I am excited about this project. I also want to share photos, stories and gather any advice I can from family and friends about gardening.  

So, with no further ado....let the gardening begin!

MY GARDEN ON DAY 1  

MY GARDEN, 1 WEEK LATER, UPGRADED  

ORANGE LILY PLANT

STRAWBERRIES

PETUNIAS, PEPPERS, TOMATOES, BASIL

CHIVES

RED PEPPERS

RED BEEFSTEAK (HEIRLOOM) AND HUSKY RED CHERRY (HYBRID)