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It's only 10am? Really?
Feb. 6th, 2009 10:05 amI'm feeling really accomplished already today and it's only 10am.
Something of note, I picked up an application at the greenhouse right next to the neighborhood this morning on my way back from dropping Jonah off and running a couple of errands to the post office and Staples. If I get hired, it would only be for 2-3 days a week, but it would be a tiny bit of extra income and more importantly, I think I'd really enjoy it. She said they'd be doing interviews toward the end of the month. Another plus, if I got hired, I could walk (or run) to work. It's less than a mile away and kind of positioned between Jonah's school and our neighborhood.
Now to go pick up a bit before the contractor gets here for me to pick out our new roof. Oh yeah, we're getting a new roof. All it's costing us is our insurance deductible (which is still $1000, but much better than paying nearly $6000 for it).
I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but since about 3pm yesterday, I've been incredibly full of energy and motivation. Going to use it up while it lasts. Maybe it's from laying low the past couple of weeks with sickness. Making up for lost time or something.
ETA: Goodness continues as I've set a PR on my first mile today (10:38). I didn't quite hit the 2 mile mark and now looking at the map of my route, I'm a little sick at myself that I didn't just keep going. I ran 1.9 miles. SERIOUSLY! Granted that last .1 mile is up a hill, but still, I should have just done it. My second .9 miles was 9:27. If I had kept up that pace and finished the last .1 mile, I might have beaten the PR I did on the first mile. It's been an awesome day! Now to go shower and pick up Jonah.
Something of note, I picked up an application at the greenhouse right next to the neighborhood this morning on my way back from dropping Jonah off and running a couple of errands to the post office and Staples. If I get hired, it would only be for 2-3 days a week, but it would be a tiny bit of extra income and more importantly, I think I'd really enjoy it. She said they'd be doing interviews toward the end of the month. Another plus, if I got hired, I could walk (or run) to work. It's less than a mile away and kind of positioned between Jonah's school and our neighborhood.
Now to go pick up a bit before the contractor gets here for me to pick out our new roof. Oh yeah, we're getting a new roof. All it's costing us is our insurance deductible (which is still $1000, but much better than paying nearly $6000 for it).
I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but since about 3pm yesterday, I've been incredibly full of energy and motivation. Going to use it up while it lasts. Maybe it's from laying low the past couple of weeks with sickness. Making up for lost time or something.
ETA: Goodness continues as I've set a PR on my first mile today (10:38). I didn't quite hit the 2 mile mark and now looking at the map of my route, I'm a little sick at myself that I didn't just keep going. I ran 1.9 miles. SERIOUSLY! Granted that last .1 mile is up a hill, but still, I should have just done it. My second .9 miles was 9:27. If I had kept up that pace and finished the last .1 mile, I might have beaten the PR I did on the first mile. It's been an awesome day! Now to go shower and pick up Jonah.
So, last weekend, with Chris' help, we got out and finished planting pansies and aster in the front bed, pulled up all the sensitive bulbs and dead annuals that were hit with frost in the past couple of weeks. Then we mulched everything up there really well. I still have yet to clean out, cut back and mulch the back bed under the dining room windows, but perhaps I can get to that this weekend at some point, if it's not going to rain (haven't checked the weather).
( In orchid country )
( Indoor gardening through winter and plans for next year )
( In orchid country )
( Indoor gardening through winter and plans for next year )
Asheville folks! Change of plans.
Nov. 7th, 2008 08:50 pmFirstly, my heart goes out to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sailingwest, who's had more than her fair share of sorrow in the past two weeks. *hugs*
Secondly, after spending way too much on costume pieces for Jonah and I at Target today (even though it was all good deals, it adds up), I started rethinking the financial reality of this trip. It seems like we're incurring a lot of extra expenses this month and I don't want to be the cause of a household financial shortage, especially, with the holidays around the corner. So, as much as it pains me to say, I'm not coming to Asheville tomorrow after all. I know, I registered, I promised people I'd be there, but I'm just not going to be able to make the trip. *super sad panda*
petullant, keep me updated on fun things going on in Asheville or Greenville and I will definitely have to try to make it over there to meet you guys.
jkg_vader, lordofhaladin, et al, I'll meet you guys at Dragon*con next year, if not before, somehow, somewhere.
As a consolation prize, I'm tagging along with Chris to his brew day tomorrow in the middle of nowhere just north of Huntsville.
Sunday, I'm hoping to go for a hike in the Warner Parks.
And tonight, as a bit of retail and horticultural therapy, I bought a new orchid at the grand opening of the new Trader Joe's in Green Hills. Just over a year ago, at the Whole Foods grand opening, I bought the Aspasia. Now, I've got a cute little Paphiopedilum (one of the slipper orchids) to join the family. It's not green, but it does have some neat green stripes. In fact, I stood there debating between four plants. There were two green and white Paphs and two burgundy, green and white ones. I felt the burgundy had more personality. I thought about it and picking out a new orchid for me is a little like picking a new pet from a pound. They all look so sad and cute and you want to take them all home. I'm still tempted by that lime green Dendrobium at the Kroger by our house though.
sailingwest, who's had more than her fair share of sorrow in the past two weeks. *hugs*Secondly, after spending way too much on costume pieces for Jonah and I at Target today (even though it was all good deals, it adds up), I started rethinking the financial reality of this trip. It seems like we're incurring a lot of extra expenses this month and I don't want to be the cause of a household financial shortage, especially, with the holidays around the corner. So, as much as it pains me to say, I'm not coming to Asheville tomorrow after all. I know, I registered, I promised people I'd be there, but I'm just not going to be able to make the trip. *super sad panda*
petullant, keep me updated on fun things going on in Asheville or Greenville and I will definitely have to try to make it over there to meet you guys.jkg_vader, lordofhaladin, et al, I'll meet you guys at Dragon*con next year, if not before, somehow, somewhere.As a consolation prize, I'm tagging along with Chris to his brew day tomorrow in the middle of nowhere just north of Huntsville.
Sunday, I'm hoping to go for a hike in the Warner Parks.
And tonight, as a bit of retail and horticultural therapy, I bought a new orchid at the grand opening of the new Trader Joe's in Green Hills. Just over a year ago, at the Whole Foods grand opening, I bought the Aspasia. Now, I've got a cute little Paphiopedilum (one of the slipper orchids) to join the family. It's not green, but it does have some neat green stripes. In fact, I stood there debating between four plants. There were two green and white Paphs and two burgundy, green and white ones. I felt the burgundy had more personality. I thought about it and picking out a new orchid for me is a little like picking a new pet from a pound. They all look so sad and cute and you want to take them all home. I'm still tempted by that lime green Dendrobium at the Kroger by our house though.
Sad day for an orchid
Oct. 23rd, 2008 04:56 pmThe white Phalanopis orchid that Chris gave me for my birthday nearly 2 years ago (my very first orchid) had to have the two inflorescences that have been blooming constantly since I got it cut off today. It seems in my neglect, the plant picked up some scale that was mostly localized on the blooms. In my experience in dealing with scale, it's necessary to just remove the infested section of the plant (if possible) or get rid of the plant all together. Otherwise, it's bound to keep coming back. You have a chance if it's not really an infestation yet and you can remove them all by hand. There were a few (as in less than 10) that I removed from the leaves and I also removed a couple of dead/dying leaves while I was at it. I'm going to keep an eye on it, though since sometimes you might not see the babies and/or any that might be living on the surface of the soil. I gave it a good soak in the bathroom sink and sprinkled a little fertilizer in the water hoping that would help it revive a little. Maybe it will put some new energy into new inforescences since it can't just keep sending off blooms on the existing ones as it was doing.
The "Kaleidoscope" Phalanopis that was sitting right next to the white one seemed unaffected. I checked it very carefully. I did remove 3-4 little hard dark brown/black spots on one of the blooms, but I'm not certain they were scale. They could have just been sort of scabby areas where something nibbled at it. If they were scale, they weren't the same kind at all. I'll be keeping an eye on it as well. When I put them back in their spaces, I moved them away from the fern that I suspect might be the culprit.
I still haven't repotted any of the four orchids I have. I know, it's terrible *hangs head in shame*. I've had pots and planting medium sitting in the garage since probably June or July. I'm kind of half afraid to and half just got into other things (mostly sewing) and stopped spending time gardening. Repotting can sometimes be tricky business with orchids and I don't want to screw them up, since even with neglect, they seem to be doing ok. I mostly remember to water them when I look at the Aspasia and the Cymbidium and their pseudobulbs are wrinkled and shrinking. Then all four get an emergency soak. The Phals don't show those signs (though their surface roots do grey a bit and their blooms droop a little more than usual when they need a drink) and appear to be more resilient through drought than their distant cousins. All of them got a good soak and a dose of fertilizer this week, though.
I really need to get back to regular watering/feeding schedules with all my indoor plants again. Otherwise, I'm going to be dealing with losses like what I experienced today all winter. I always have a few pests to deal with in the winter months on my houseplants, but as long as I keep everything watered, in good air circulation and well fed, I'm less likely to have to deal with many pests.
I'm just kind of sad that it seems to be the end of a streak. Would have been neat to say the same inflorescences had been blooming for many more years.
The "Kaleidoscope" Phalanopis that was sitting right next to the white one seemed unaffected. I checked it very carefully. I did remove 3-4 little hard dark brown/black spots on one of the blooms, but I'm not certain they were scale. They could have just been sort of scabby areas where something nibbled at it. If they were scale, they weren't the same kind at all. I'll be keeping an eye on it as well. When I put them back in their spaces, I moved them away from the fern that I suspect might be the culprit.
I still haven't repotted any of the four orchids I have. I know, it's terrible *hangs head in shame*. I've had pots and planting medium sitting in the garage since probably June or July. I'm kind of half afraid to and half just got into other things (mostly sewing) and stopped spending time gardening. Repotting can sometimes be tricky business with orchids and I don't want to screw them up, since even with neglect, they seem to be doing ok. I mostly remember to water them when I look at the Aspasia and the Cymbidium and their pseudobulbs are wrinkled and shrinking. Then all four get an emergency soak. The Phals don't show those signs (though their surface roots do grey a bit and their blooms droop a little more than usual when they need a drink) and appear to be more resilient through drought than their distant cousins. All of them got a good soak and a dose of fertilizer this week, though.
I really need to get back to regular watering/feeding schedules with all my indoor plants again. Otherwise, I'm going to be dealing with losses like what I experienced today all winter. I always have a few pests to deal with in the winter months on my houseplants, but as long as I keep everything watered, in good air circulation and well fed, I'm less likely to have to deal with many pests.
I'm just kind of sad that it seems to be the end of a streak. Would have been neat to say the same inflorescences had been blooming for many more years.
White sauce for Baja style fish tacos
Jul. 2nd, 2008 07:10 am1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1 lime worth of juice
about a 1/3rd of a bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
pinch of salt
Since I kind of came up with it from a culmination of other recipes I found and what I knew it should taste like, I thought I should write it down before I forget what I did. And while I'm documenting stuff I did for dinner last night without a recipe. . .
Corn and Black Beans
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can corn with peppers
1/4 of a large sweet onion, chopped
about 1/2 cup worth of cilantro (could be coarsely chopped, but it doesn't matter if they're whole)
1/2 a lime (squeeze the juice in then just throw the rest of the lime in to simmer with the corn and beans, remove to serve)
1 chipotle and a spoonful of the adobo
Simmer until liquid thickens.
I have a new pest to worry about in the garden this year. It's Jonah. He's discovered there are edible things out there and loves to pick the tomatoes and eat them right off the vines. Especially the little grape tomatoes. Unfortunately he picks the green ones too. I explained to him the other day, using signs for the colors to show him that we wanted to wait until they were red to pick them and that we don't pick them green. While he picked up the signs and seems to know what I'm talking about, it doesn't deter his curiosity. It's probably my fault for letting him pick and eat our first ripe one the other day. Unfortunately in his attempt to pick that one little ripe one, he knocked 4 others off the vine that still needed a few days. Next year I might just plant him his very own tomato plant that he can destroy. At least he seems to know to leave the flowers alone.
1/2 cup sour cream
1 lime worth of juice
about a 1/3rd of a bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
pinch of salt
Since I kind of came up with it from a culmination of other recipes I found and what I knew it should taste like, I thought I should write it down before I forget what I did. And while I'm documenting stuff I did for dinner last night without a recipe. . .
Corn and Black Beans
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can corn with peppers
1/4 of a large sweet onion, chopped
about 1/2 cup worth of cilantro (could be coarsely chopped, but it doesn't matter if they're whole)
1/2 a lime (squeeze the juice in then just throw the rest of the lime in to simmer with the corn and beans, remove to serve)
1 chipotle and a spoonful of the adobo
Simmer until liquid thickens.
I have a new pest to worry about in the garden this year. It's Jonah. He's discovered there are edible things out there and loves to pick the tomatoes and eat them right off the vines. Especially the little grape tomatoes. Unfortunately he picks the green ones too. I explained to him the other day, using signs for the colors to show him that we wanted to wait until they were red to pick them and that we don't pick them green. While he picked up the signs and seems to know what I'm talking about, it doesn't deter his curiosity. It's probably my fault for letting him pick and eat our first ripe one the other day. Unfortunately in his attempt to pick that one little ripe one, he knocked 4 others off the vine that still needed a few days. Next year I might just plant him his very own tomato plant that he can destroy. At least he seems to know to leave the flowers alone.
Good weekend
Mar. 24th, 2008 08:29 amFriday, my mother-in-law came up and Chris took a half day off and we all went to the zoo. Unfortunately, everyone else in the world seemed to have the same idea. Duh, we should have known. Good Friday, a lot of people have off work, it was the last weekday of spring break and a gorgeous day to be outdoors. Chris' mom decided to get us a family pass. It gets us in all year (two adults, any children in the household under 18 plus a guest). That'll be nice and I won't feel bad about going for just a couple of hours and leaving. If we go 3 times, it'll pay for the family pass. We took a picnic lunch (something I really like about the zoo, they let you bring in coolers). I really think Jonah enjoyed himself, even if he was quite sleepy by the end.
Saturday, our neighborhood association did an Easter egg hunt. Chris brewed and I had committed to a hike at the Warner parks thinking it was supposed to be on Sunday. I canceled going to the park and took Jonah up there, and I'm glad I did (though I really would have appreciated a hike). But he had a lot of fun! I had to hold his basket, but he did a reasonably good job picking up the eggs and putting them in the basket. Unfortunately, after about 4 eggs, he noticed there was candy in them and lost interest in picking up more and started wanting to pull the candy out. Also, they had filled some with chocolate candy and it sat out in the sun that afternoon melting. Quite a mess. They did a bunny hop contest too, but Jonah just sort of stood there and looked at me. In fact, only one little girl in his age group (1-2) would actually hop. The rest of the day, we just hung out while Chris, Doug and Jonathan brewed. Well, and I planted our blueberry and raspberry plants finally (they've been sitting dormant in our kitchen window sill since fall). I also worked some composted manure into one 4x4 section of our raised vegetable garden. I was amazed and happy at how many worms were in that bed. I was also amazed but unhappy about how many tree roots grown up into it. Eventually, we may turn that into an ornamental bed and relocate our veggies.
Sunday, I sat on the back steps to drink my coffee in the morning. The air was cool, but the sun warmed up everything nicely. It was just absolutely gorgeous. After a late breakfast of omelets, I got out and planted some overdue daffodils and tulips into containers as not to waste them, then sowed some lettuce seeds in the bed I worked yesterday. I also went ahead and pruned the lower branches on the trees in the backyard. There really wasn't much to do. We did a lot of work last year and it seems there's not nearly as much to be done to get it back into shape this year. I'm now sporting a nice farmer's tan from wearing t-shirts to work in the yard this weekend. Guess I need to pull out the tank tops. Chris had picked up a chocolate bunny, some candy eggs and a little stuffed rabbit for Jonah's Easter basket Saturday night. He got to open it Sunday morning and really seemed to love it. He carried the stuffed rabbit around most of the morning and kept pointing to the basket during the day giving me the "more" sign saying he wanted more candy. He took no for an answer reasonably well when it just wasn't appropriate for him to have more chocolate.
I also finished reading The Tao of Pooh this weekend. It's been really cute, but also a very nice, simplified way to look at Taoist principles. Seems kind of strange to say "simplified Tao" since Tao is supposed to be so simple anyway. But it's sometimes difficult to really grasp such simplicity. Our minds, distracted by the material world, want to nag us to believe there's more to it. There really isn't.
So yeah, like most people were this weekend I would imagine, I was so busy, I probably wouldn't have bothered with LJ even if there wasn't a strike. Today, I need to get this house back into shape. It's amazing how when I don't clean for two days, it suddenly looks like I haven't cleaned in a month.
Saturday, our neighborhood association did an Easter egg hunt. Chris brewed and I had committed to a hike at the Warner parks thinking it was supposed to be on Sunday. I canceled going to the park and took Jonah up there, and I'm glad I did (though I really would have appreciated a hike). But he had a lot of fun! I had to hold his basket, but he did a reasonably good job picking up the eggs and putting them in the basket. Unfortunately, after about 4 eggs, he noticed there was candy in them and lost interest in picking up more and started wanting to pull the candy out. Also, they had filled some with chocolate candy and it sat out in the sun that afternoon melting. Quite a mess. They did a bunny hop contest too, but Jonah just sort of stood there and looked at me. In fact, only one little girl in his age group (1-2) would actually hop. The rest of the day, we just hung out while Chris, Doug and Jonathan brewed. Well, and I planted our blueberry and raspberry plants finally (they've been sitting dormant in our kitchen window sill since fall). I also worked some composted manure into one 4x4 section of our raised vegetable garden. I was amazed and happy at how many worms were in that bed. I was also amazed but unhappy about how many tree roots grown up into it. Eventually, we may turn that into an ornamental bed and relocate our veggies.
Sunday, I sat on the back steps to drink my coffee in the morning. The air was cool, but the sun warmed up everything nicely. It was just absolutely gorgeous. After a late breakfast of omelets, I got out and planted some overdue daffodils and tulips into containers as not to waste them, then sowed some lettuce seeds in the bed I worked yesterday. I also went ahead and pruned the lower branches on the trees in the backyard. There really wasn't much to do. We did a lot of work last year and it seems there's not nearly as much to be done to get it back into shape this year. I'm now sporting a nice farmer's tan from wearing t-shirts to work in the yard this weekend. Guess I need to pull out the tank tops. Chris had picked up a chocolate bunny, some candy eggs and a little stuffed rabbit for Jonah's Easter basket Saturday night. He got to open it Sunday morning and really seemed to love it. He carried the stuffed rabbit around most of the morning and kept pointing to the basket during the day giving me the "more" sign saying he wanted more candy. He took no for an answer reasonably well when it just wasn't appropriate for him to have more chocolate.
I also finished reading The Tao of Pooh this weekend. It's been really cute, but also a very nice, simplified way to look at Taoist principles. Seems kind of strange to say "simplified Tao" since Tao is supposed to be so simple anyway. But it's sometimes difficult to really grasp such simplicity. Our minds, distracted by the material world, want to nag us to believe there's more to it. There really isn't.
So yeah, like most people were this weekend I would imagine, I was so busy, I probably wouldn't have bothered with LJ even if there wasn't a strike. Today, I need to get this house back into shape. It's amazing how when I don't clean for two days, it suddenly looks like I haven't cleaned in a month.
So, conversations of how Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day are in general sham holidays that we're obligated to celebrate aside, Chris surprised me with a new orchid and a wonderful dinner last night. Last week was the surf, this week the turf. Along with a big, wonderful, perfectly cooked (despite setting them on fire) steaks, he made steamed asparagus with hollandaise sauce and mashed sweet potatoes with chipotles. As an appetizer, he made stuffed, marinated mushrooms (marinated in balsamic vinegar and stuffed with a mixture of onion, the mushroom stems, artichoke hearts, mozzarella and goat cheeses and bread crumbs and I'm really not sure what else, if I left out anything). Everything was incredibly delicious, though neither of us could finish our steaks. Thinking of searing them a second time and slicing them up for salads tonight, perhaps.
The orchid is a new species to my small, but growing collection. A Cymbidium, it's huge at about 3 feet tall. It kind of reminds me of a Gladiolus, with strap-like leaves arching up a bit taller than the flower spikes that are covered in large, kind of cupped, trumpet-like flowers. When I read about the culture of the species, it seems they'll do well right along side the rest of them with just one seasonal difference. In the fall, I need to let it get cool and stay cool (like around 45 degrees) and relatively dry and unfertilized for a few weeks. After this cooling period, bringing it back to normal growth temps and humidity will trigger another round of flower spikes, just in time for the dead of winter.
( Some pictures of the entire collection, newest to oldest )
The orchid is a new species to my small, but growing collection. A Cymbidium, it's huge at about 3 feet tall. It kind of reminds me of a Gladiolus, with strap-like leaves arching up a bit taller than the flower spikes that are covered in large, kind of cupped, trumpet-like flowers. When I read about the culture of the species, it seems they'll do well right along side the rest of them with just one seasonal difference. In the fall, I need to let it get cool and stay cool (like around 45 degrees) and relatively dry and unfertilized for a few weeks. After this cooling period, bringing it back to normal growth temps and humidity will trigger another round of flower spikes, just in time for the dead of winter.
( Some pictures of the entire collection, newest to oldest )
Let the agriculture begin
Feb. 10th, 2008 04:02 pmI've been thinking about gardening since about the second week of January. I guess that was about the time the first seed catalogs arrived. Yesterday, we got to get out and actually get some things started. I sprayed herbicide on some areas we're trying to keep clear (around the back steps, around the A/C units and an area where we store things like empty flower pots and potting soil and such). Chris got the vegetable garden cleared out. I cleaned off the patio and front steps and swept both really well. Then I cut back the lirope, burning bush and whatever that vine is on our gas lamp out front, pulled the few little weeds that were there and planted some black tulip and bright multicolored Dutch iris bulbs. I hope they'll do ok, I meant to get them in back in the fall when I planted the rest of the Dutch and bearded irises closer to the house in front. But most of the bulbs seemed viable, just a couple were soft. Chris got some crabgrass preventer down, but on later research found out it may be a few weeks too early for it. Worst case, we have to do it again in a few weeks. But mostly, we got the yard cleaned up from winter. Now, the spring storms can destroy it again.
We wanted to get some azalea bushes, but it seems we're a little early still for Home Depot to have any. I started looking in some of my catalogs last night and think I found the perfect ones, so I may be ordering them instead. I think I'm going to try to grow our annuals from seed this year. I can set up a florescent light on a shelf in the garage and make it fairly easy to tend. I'll definitely start the melons and squash indoors this year, instead of direct sowing them. We did well buying tomato and pepper plants last year though, so I might just go with what we can find at Home Depot again this year on those. I'd love to get an herb garden started this year as well, but want to build another raised bed for that to attempt to keep them from spreading everywhere. I'm still weary about planting anything like mint. I just don't want to have to keep pulling it up once it's in the ground. But anyway, I'd say we're off to a pretty good start. Maybe we can get all the work done early enough this year to enjoy the yard before it gets unbearably hot.
We wanted to get some azalea bushes, but it seems we're a little early still for Home Depot to have any. I started looking in some of my catalogs last night and think I found the perfect ones, so I may be ordering them instead. I think I'm going to try to grow our annuals from seed this year. I can set up a florescent light on a shelf in the garage and make it fairly easy to tend. I'll definitely start the melons and squash indoors this year, instead of direct sowing them. We did well buying tomato and pepper plants last year though, so I might just go with what we can find at Home Depot again this year on those. I'd love to get an herb garden started this year as well, but want to build another raised bed for that to attempt to keep them from spreading everywhere. I'm still weary about planting anything like mint. I just don't want to have to keep pulling it up once it's in the ground. But anyway, I'd say we're off to a pretty good start. Maybe we can get all the work done early enough this year to enjoy the yard before it gets unbearably hot.
Night gardening
Nov. 7th, 2007 10:52 amIn the spring, it was much easier to get all this gardening done. Of course, then we had a lot more to do and there were literally weeks when it took up the majority of my days. But then, we were cutting new beds, building raised beds and so on, basically starting from scratch. At that time, Jonah was perfectly happy to sit in his baby papasan and smile and coo and watch the world go by, or watch me, or watch the dogs, whatever caught his eye. Then he'd go in periodically to nap and/or eat. I was able to be very productive in the yard as a result. But now, he's all over the place, crawling at top speeds, trying to walk, not exactly entertained by mom's mundane tasks anymore. Pretty much when he's awake, I don't get much time in the gardens, so I have to squeeze it in during naps. Lately he's been taking his second nap at around 4pm, which with the time change means he wakes up when it's dark. So, the second gardening session I had yesterday was partially in the dark. I was out front with a headlamp on digging holes and planting pansies. Must have looked pretty funny to the neighbors.
I'm working on cleaning up all the frostbitten summer annuals and replacing them with pansies. I've also got a lot of spring bulbs to get in the ground and the Caladiums, which aren't cold hardy, had to come out of the ground for winter storage. I might add they're about 10-20 times the size they were when we put them in the ground in the spring. On the largest plant, we had leaves that were more than 3 feet long. I also pulled up some day lilies that need to find a new, sunnier home (the impatiens buried them this year and they did little more than sprout a couple of leaves). I still have half of the front bed to do and some spring bulbs to plant in back and everything could use a top off of mulch as well. Still, it's a lot less work than it was in the spring, there's just a lot less time to get it done. We had our first hard freeze last night after a week of consistent frosts. Anything that was still clinging to life is now frostbitten and ready to come out. I just hope the pansies and bulbs do ok.
As far as indoor gardening, we picked up a third orchid last week at the new Green Hills Whole Foods grand opening. It's a different species than the other two (which are Phalanopis), an Aspasia I believe (had no label, had to look it up at home). I breathed a sigh of relief to find that it was indeed one of the "beginner" species and requires similar conditions as the others, though perhaps a bit more water and light. They had some lovely slipper orchids that I believe are Paphiopedilums which might be what I go after next. I believe they need considerably more water and just a bit less light than the rest. A Dendrobium might be nice too. *sigh* It really is addictive! I'm still afraid to repot the Phalanopis, but they both need it desperately. They have an increasingly larger nest of roots sprouting out of the potting medium. I just need to break down and do it before I wait too long and damage the plants.
I need to find permanent winter homes for all of our plants that were on the patio. Right now they're just crowding the windows in the kitchen around the table. As for the tomato, I think I'll let the fruits on the vine ripen, then let it go. But the herbs and such I need to find a place for. And we really need to do something for the blueberry and raspberry. They should really get in the ground, but I'm afraid we waited too long. I wonder if they'd be ok if I let them go dormant in the garage or something and then planted them in the early spring. Need to look that up I suppose. We were talking the other day about getting some lights or using some we already have to give supplemental light to our houseplants in the winter when the sunlight isn't as bright. The palms and orchids I'm sure would really benefit from it. Absolutely everything has been thriving on the fertilizing schedule I'm on ("weakly weekly"), which makes me think I should try the same, only organic, for the vegetables next year, also perhaps less nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. As with all else in life, there's a balance to be obtained.
I'm working on cleaning up all the frostbitten summer annuals and replacing them with pansies. I've also got a lot of spring bulbs to get in the ground and the Caladiums, which aren't cold hardy, had to come out of the ground for winter storage. I might add they're about 10-20 times the size they were when we put them in the ground in the spring. On the largest plant, we had leaves that were more than 3 feet long. I also pulled up some day lilies that need to find a new, sunnier home (the impatiens buried them this year and they did little more than sprout a couple of leaves). I still have half of the front bed to do and some spring bulbs to plant in back and everything could use a top off of mulch as well. Still, it's a lot less work than it was in the spring, there's just a lot less time to get it done. We had our first hard freeze last night after a week of consistent frosts. Anything that was still clinging to life is now frostbitten and ready to come out. I just hope the pansies and bulbs do ok.
As far as indoor gardening, we picked up a third orchid last week at the new Green Hills Whole Foods grand opening. It's a different species than the other two (which are Phalanopis), an Aspasia I believe (had no label, had to look it up at home). I breathed a sigh of relief to find that it was indeed one of the "beginner" species and requires similar conditions as the others, though perhaps a bit more water and light. They had some lovely slipper orchids that I believe are Paphiopedilums which might be what I go after next. I believe they need considerably more water and just a bit less light than the rest. A Dendrobium might be nice too. *sigh* It really is addictive! I'm still afraid to repot the Phalanopis, but they both need it desperately. They have an increasingly larger nest of roots sprouting out of the potting medium. I just need to break down and do it before I wait too long and damage the plants.
I need to find permanent winter homes for all of our plants that were on the patio. Right now they're just crowding the windows in the kitchen around the table. As for the tomato, I think I'll let the fruits on the vine ripen, then let it go. But the herbs and such I need to find a place for. And we really need to do something for the blueberry and raspberry. They should really get in the ground, but I'm afraid we waited too long. I wonder if they'd be ok if I let them go dormant in the garage or something and then planted them in the early spring. Need to look that up I suppose. We were talking the other day about getting some lights or using some we already have to give supplemental light to our houseplants in the winter when the sunlight isn't as bright. The palms and orchids I'm sure would really benefit from it. Absolutely everything has been thriving on the fertilizing schedule I'm on ("weakly weekly"), which makes me think I should try the same, only organic, for the vegetables next year, also perhaps less nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. As with all else in life, there's a balance to be obtained.
