Update on mah plants:

• The tomato plant is still alive, but I wouldn’t say it’s thriving. The two fruits that bloomed are still there and have grown in size, but I think they’ve stopped getting bigger in the last week or so. No signs of dying, but I think the heat has been too much for them. I’ve moved the plant to a spot that gets a little bit more shade.
• The other plants in my arsenal are doing well. These include the following plants: mint, oregano, lots of basil (including a couple of cuttings I’ve rooted in water then replanted), the two houseplants (which I think I’ve tortured by leaving them outside for a few days), thyme, and parsley (growing verrry slow from seed).
• The latest addition to my edible garden is an Anaheim Chile Pepper plant (mentioned in my last post). When I got it there were a couple of blossoms; one isn’t thriving, but a couple are, plus this morning I saw one new one forming. Hopefully I’ll see at least one pepper grow out of it.
• In the non-edible department, yesterday we dug up the small patch of dead grass at the front of our house and put down some sod. I am hoping we can keep that alive for a while.
• Finally, today I picked up some succulents for the front of our house. On the other side of our small grass patch we have a Birds of Paradise plant, and the soil around that has been very dry (as has been most soil here in SoCal due to the heat and drought). I figured I could place down some succulents so at least it won’t be so bare. I’ll do that later today and maybe take and post some photos.

Categories: garden
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Sort of. Things have just been busy offline, so I haven’t had much time (or energy) to blog much lately, much less peruse the old boards and sites I used to. I’m not complaining though, things have been going well.

So I’ve been preoccupied with photography lately. I’m a total hack but I enjoy it immensely! I got my first “real” camera in 6th grade when I took my first photo classes. I had a Canon AE-1, and I remember often coming home on the bus smelling like darkroom chemicals … ah, that was fun! I then played around with several Polaroids, and much later I was given a Canon EOS Elan II. By then, digital snapshots were very popular, and 35mm film just became cumbersome and out of date. Then I met the Lomo LC-A a few years ago and fell in love with film all over again. Of course, life got in the way (school, wedding, work, etc) and I kind of abandoned film once more … until this year! Yep, I’ve dusted my LC-A off and started using it again. I also picked up a Holga while we were in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and I’m seriously head-over heels! Again, I suck, but it’s just so much fun! (Feel free to check out my Flickr.)

Another thing I’ve been keeping busy with is my “garden.” The tomato plant is surviving, but struggling. The other blossoms have dropped off, but the two fruits are still growing. We’ll see if they make it any further. (Cross your fingers!) The mint, basil, oregano, thyme, and houseplants are doing quite well, and as of yesterday, I added an Anaheim Chile to the family (donated by the same co-worker who gave me the tomato plant). I would really, really, like to overhaul our yard and landscaping, so if anyone has any recommendations for a landscaper, do let me know! We do have a gardener that comes out once a week, but he sucks and barely does anything other than pick up fallen leaves. I’m looking for someone to fix or at least make suggestions on how to fix the poor drainage on our lot and plant new or at least make the current plants thrive rather than letting them die a slow, painful death. Because seriously, I don’t need to keep paying someone to pick up green waste from our itty bitty yard.

Categories: photography, garden
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Yesterday a co-worker surprised me by giving me a young tomato plant to adopt. The thing looked a little dilapidated; one branch had already died, and a couple others looked like they’re on their way. Still, I was thrilled as a kid in a candy store with my new plant!

I got home and repotted him. (”Him” being “Henry,” which for some reason, I find myself calling the plant. Don’t ask.) Organic soil and a little wire cage to help stabilize him for later. Supposedly if you’re to stick anything in the soil, such as stakes or cages, it’s best to do it when repotting so as to reduce the number of shocks the plant gets. I gave him a good watering and left him out in a sunny spot outside for the day.

While tomatoes are supposed to love sun, I think my little guy is still in shock because when I got home today, one of the dying branches looked even more dead than it did yesterday. I thought about pinching it off, but decided to leave it on for another day. However, a couple of the bloomin’ tomatoes were looking OK! Granted, this is my first ever tomato plant so I don’t really know what “looking OK” is supposed to look like. I guess as long as it’s not black or dried up, then I’ll assume things are fine.

On a more successful note, the rose bush in the front of our property is having a grand ‘ole time right now! Not too long ago, our gardener whacked off pretty much the entire thing, leaving little more than a stump. I was mortified, thinking that that was the end of our one and only rose bush. Considering how little we know about plants, it was quite a pleasant surprise to find the bush revived and thriving.

Categories: garden
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I have a not-so-secret desire to be a gardener. (Or at least not kill every single plant I try to raise.) With the fact that I now have two houseplants that are, surprisingly, still alive, I’m gaining more confidence to carry on. One of the two has actually been alive for over a year! So today I bought another basil plant from TJ’s. I realize this makes it my fourth of fifth attempt, but damn it, I’ve got to succeed at some point! Right?

Originally my plan was to start a tomato plant. I’ve been wanting to try container gardening for some time, and I hear that tomatoes are pretty easy for newbies. When I read green LA girl’s recent foray into gardening, who apparently also has a black thumb, I knew that I should just take the plunge. I got up this morning all gung-ho about getting my tomato plant started: looking at what kind of container I should choose, which variety of tomato I should try, and where can I get some good potting soil. Then I started feeling a little overwhelmed at all the different options … I never knew there were THAT many varieties of tomato! Unfortunately, I chickened out and came home with nary a tomato seed.

To help myself feel a little less defeated (and not quite empty-handed), I bought the basil plant. It’s not such a bad consolation prize, and I do love the smell of fresh basil in the kitchen! So while I try to keep this basil plant alive, I’m doing a bit more research on growing tomatoes. Maybe by next weekend I’ll build enough confidence to (finally) get started.

Categories: garden, home
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