So, to start...I guess the reason I decided to break the hiatus and blog tonight after all this time was because I was looking in the mirror this evening and began to ponder some things. The pretext for this pondering is that I, reluctantly, have admitted to myself that my hair is starting to gray. This has been going on for some time now. I catch a glimpse of silver when I'm pulling back my hair and I grab my tweezers and yank that bitch out. Most of the time the hairs are short, like 1-3 inches long. My (thick, curly) hair falls roughly between my shoulder blades at this point and I've only had it trimmed once since cutting it off to roughly ear length almost exactly 2 years ago while I was pregnant. So, obviously the little silver hairs I'm finding here and there, with increasingly more frequency, are new growth. But tonight I found a hair that was about 6 inches long with silver starting at about halfway down the hair and to the end. I know that stressful events can trigger graying of the hairs but I find it strange that this evening I found several hairs that were only 1" and solely silver, and then the one that was natural brown at the root and silver further down the hair. I find it strange that only certain follicles would produce gray hairs at certain times. Maybe I should do some research on the matter...
Or maybe each silver hair is, as folklore indicates, caused by a stressful encounter with my ever obstinate offspring. Haha.
Well, now that I'm back in business I should report on the status of my indoor garden, as that was an item of note in my most recent (albeit not really recent) posts. I stopped taking pictures of the progress. Boredom or busy-ness, I guess. I have been more preoccupied with actually tending the plants rather than documenting them. Last I reported, I had planted tomatoes and a handful of my herbs. At this point my planters are as such and contain the following:
1. In an 8"x15" window box, I have parsley and thyme. They are recently transplanted. The parsley is flourishing at roughly 2-3" tall and multiple individual plants. The thyme is still much smaller, though it is beginning to show further development since the transplant.
2. In an 8"x15" window box, I have sage and oregano. They are also recent transplants. The sage is developing nicely. However, the oregano suffered total loss upon transplant (clumsy ass, I mean Ash, tipped the pot over). I started new seeds which have since begun sprouting (like, since today).
3. In an 8"x15" window box, I have chives and basil. The basil is a recent transplant and has since developed slightly further. The chives I started from seed in this new planter though. I originally had planned on growing the chives in with the tomatoes, but since those are still not ready to transplant into larger buckets, I decided to give the chive their own bed. And they have just begun to knuckle through the soil, today actually.
4. In a pickle bucket, I have 4 bean plants (approx 20-24" tall) and rosemary. I planted 6 bean seeds directly into the bucket and to my surprise, all six actually sprouted. For several days, each seed would knuckle through the soil and burst into a set of tiny (quickly growing) leaves. The first 5 popped in quick succession. Once the seed first split, it took just a day or two for the first true set of leaves to grow out. On one, the leaves were quite stunted, so I eventually just pulled it up. I thought after the first 5 grew out, some to heights of 6" or more that the sixth was a dud, but it too came up. Because it was so far behind the others, I just pulled it up too. When the plants were still quite small, I decided to transplant the rosemary seedlings into the center of the bucket between the beans. I read that the two grow well together. At this point, I added a "tomato cage" to the bean pot and they've already started to wrap and climb to almost 2' tall. The rosemary is taller, though not much more in girth.
5. In a pickle bucket, I have onions (scallion style). They are one of my later direct sows. They are currently 2-4" in length, though they don't really stand upright. I'm still trying to figure out the soil conditions that they prefer but I'm assuming that they are well since nothing is shriveling or turning brown or just plain not growing.
6. In a pickle bucket, I have carrots. They are one of my earlier direct sows. They sprouted quickly at first and I thinned them several times to insure the plants won't be too close to each other. I'm not really sure how they are progressing as they are root veg and the tops haven't changed much.
7. In a cut off 2 liter soda bottle, I have a celery plant. I actually just bought a bundle of celery and cut it off at the base. I planted the cutoff root after soaking it in water for several days. It's quite leafy and bushy at present and about 2.5" tall.
8. In a simple 6" pot, I have a garlic plant. I just planted a sprouted piece of garlic, very recently. And it has already grown to about 8" tall.
9. In 2 milk cartons and 3 large yogurt containers, I have a total of 7 cherry tomato plants. They are recently transplanted into larger containers than I sprouted them into. I think I'm only going to keep the best 2-3 plants and give the rest to some fellow gardeners for transplanting into their outdoor gardens. There are definitely a couple that are substantially better than the others and those will eventually get planted individually into pickle buckets with cages (like the beans).
10. In a milk carton, I have a single lemon seed plant. I actually just purchased a regular old lemon from Hyvee because they carry neither organic nor meyer lemons. I then decided to plant every seemingly viable seed in the same little cutoff milk carton, 13 seeds. I waited and waited and waited for the seedlings to sprout, about 3 weeks. When I was transplanting the tomato seeds, I considered re-purposing the soil from the carton for the new pots. For whatever reason, I decided against it, and the next day a single seedling poked through the soil. It seems pretty clear that none others are going to sprout but this one is thriving well. I'm hoping to properly tend it until it flourishes enough to transplant into the much larger pot of one of my old deceased alocasia plants where it will hopefully grow larger and possibly more fruitful over the next several years.
A few weeks ago, my brother Jon came over on one of his days off to help me rewire and install a set of fluorescent lights for my plants. Since then, I've done various different arrangements of the pots below the lights as well as necessary transplantings due to outgrowth. I love the new set up despite a couple minor kinks. For instance, the new lights are very close to the window so they interfere with closing the blinds properly. I find myself extremely annoyed at closing the blinds most nights, but I would rather fight the blinds than leave them either open at night or closed during the day. I've gone through a full bag of seedling starter potting soil as well as 3 larger bags of moisture control generic potting soil. However, the only money invested so far has been into that soil and the seeds. I got the 3 rectangular potters recently for less than 5 dollars altogether and the rest of my vessels are recycled materials. Otherwise, it's been merely time and energy (and a slight tolerable increase in the electric bill). Lucky for me I don't pay for water. :P
I want to bring to attention the fact that I have been trying (I guess, with approximately the same vigor as before) to be experimental and exploratory in the kitchen. What I have been finding to be the most troublesome is that little miss fussy breeches (aka Sky) won't eat 90% of what I give her, regardless of whether it is made intentionally kid-friendly or basically nutrient-free. She eats fruit, which is fortunate. However, vegetables and protein are hard for me to get her to eat voluntarily and I can't always force her or trick her into eating healthily. By my count, aside from fruit, she loves pizza, peanut butter, chips, cheese, cookies, candy, pasta (mostly) and cereal. Sometimes I can't even get her to drink milk. As DJ said in a text last week: "I think we're starting the terrible twos". She's beginning to realize her independence and it is becoming a struggle. Therefore I am struggling in the culinary department. I find that most of my money goes towards ingredients that will keep her fed and me happy rather than stuff that's likely more healthy for both of us. I'd rather find a way for us to eat healthily at less cost, which is part of the reason for the extent of my indoor garden. I realize that I have a lot of herbs. Herbs add flavor without adding a lot of calories or fat. I also would love to have Skylar start eating more vegetables. Maybe the fact that I'm growing such plants in the confines of our little apartment will inspire her eventually to benefit...
I guess the only thing that I've documented lately that I made was a simple banana mango bread which I made per the recipe and added the streussel topping of a previously successful recipe.
My pic is here:
I also tried this recipe: Savory Onion Bread, once as is, and again with carrots in place of onions...it was a delicious side on both occasions...
I know this is a poor excuse for an update after a month's absence...but I'm off tomorrow, so maybe after our tax appointment I'll get a chance to finish up the update. Until then...
