The Great Garden Planting of 2013: After

Yesterday we got Mom's garden plant, and I repotted nearly all of my plants. We accomplished a great deal, and I'm here to chronicle the seeds of our future success (somewhat literally!).

I'll start with my plants. I'm glad I repotted my spider plant; when I took it out of its pot, I could tell it was starting to get rootbound. There are lots of spider plants in the greenhouses that are so rootbound that they're pushing themselves out of their pots. I wouldn't ever want mine to get that desperate. It has lots of room to grow now.

Here's the wandering jew that I've decided to keep, as well as a succulent (the tag says it's Haworthia coarctata, but I highly doubt that because of the lack of "pearls") that I replanted. I'm taking two of these succulents.

My purple shamrock got the nicest pot. It's droopy from being out in the heat, but I think it will recover quickly.

Pictured here is the other succulent (of the same species) that I'm bringing home, as well as my jade plant. It seems like jade is a slow grower, so this pot should be suitable for a while.

Moving outside, here are my peppermint and thyme in their new homes. The peppermint might be able to take over a much larger pot, but I want to keep it manageable. I think I'm going to harvest pretty aggressively once it looks like its fitting the pot better.

The rosemary was also looking rootbound when I repotted it, so now it has deeper soil to probe into. Rosemary has a simple appearance, but I think it's a beautiful plant.

Now onto the grand finale: Mom's garden. This is what it looks like now. I think it's a perfectly sized plot for what Mom wants.

Here's the row of peppers and tomatoes, from the pepper side. No, the row isn't straight, but don't judge.

The same row, from the tomato side. I think Mom did a good job choosing her tomato plants. They're young and healthy, and I think they'll do great. She already got cages for them (and one for me, because she's sweet).

I had a lot of fun helping Mom transplant her vegetables and digging around in the soil. I'll make updates on the progress of the garden when I come home to visit.

Next post: tis' the season for my favorite flowers in the whole world.

The Great Garden Planting of 2013: Before

Since the rain finally took a break, my mom's garden finally got tilled a few days ago. That means I came home at the perfect time: time to plant!

Here's the plan--Mom makes fantastic salsa, which requires tomatoes, peppers, and onions. On top of that, she likes salads, and wilted lettuce salads in particular. So she's planting tomatoes, peppers, onions, and lettuce.

Mom likes 'Supersteak' tomatoes, so that's what she planted.

The peppers are 'California Wonder,' and will bear green fruits. Green bell peppers are my favorite kind.

 

The cultivar of lettuce Mom's planting is 'Green Salad Bowl.' More interesting lettuces exist, but this one will serve her purposes just fine.

These are the onion sets she's using. I find it pretty awesome that onions like this can grow into full-grown plants. Plants are just amazing like that.

These petunias are one reason I'm glad I'm not living at home this summer. Mom can have fun deadheading them. I'm sure she'll enjoy them anyway, though.

I got home at prime planting time, but I missed the height of the azaleas. Mom has pink, white, and purple azaleas, and these blurry pictures merely hint at what they must have looked like a week and a half ago.

What's going in your garden this summer (or, if you merely wish you had one, what do you wish you could plant)? What annual ornamentals are you planting?

Next post: the aftermath of planting.

Reaping the Benefits

Since the university's flower shop's cool-season plant sale is over, the greenhouse doesn't need its cool crops anymore. So I got to take some home today! Most of these are eating-size and will be eaten very shortly, so they won't be long-term additions to my plant addiction, but they're really cool and healthy and inspiring and yummy looking.

First is the broccoli (Brassica oleracea) plant. Broccoli really needs to be outside since you eat its flowers, so I'm going to give this one either to Scott's parents, my mom, or anyone else who could take care of it. Its foliage is pretty on its own, though.

This next plant, Lactuca sativa, should be familiar--it's lettuce! This cultivar is called 'Simpson Elite.' It looks soft, and I'm going to have some on a Jimmy John's sandwich tonight, so I'll report back on how it tasted then. I probably could get more out of these four plants by cultivating them, but I don't think the light conditions can support them for long.

This plant also Brassica oleracea, but it is better known as cabbage. This particular cabbage is an ornamental variety, but since it was never treated with pesticides, it's technically edible, so I'm going to eat it. There were non-ornamental varieties too, but they had fewer leaves. I reckon I could make a few servings of cole slaw with this.

Brassica oleracea is one of my favorite species of plants. This one species is amazingly diverse. Case in point: kale. This variety is ornamental in the same manner as the above cabbage, and it is also edible in the same manner. Kale, in my mind, is dismissed as a yuppie vegetable by many, but it cooks up just like spinach or collards, and it has impressive nutrition facts. Not surprisingly, kale's nutrition facts and broccoli's are very similar. Both have a low glycemic index; low fat and cholesterol; high fiber; high protein; high vitamin A, C, and K contents; and high iron contents. The biggest difference when comparing the two is their anti-inflammatory values. Kale is extremely anti-inflammatory; broccoli is only slightly so.

With all these new additions, my windowsill now looks like this:

And while I'm on the topic of my windowsill, here's an update on all my other plants. My thyme seedlings are starting to poke out their first true leaves, which is exciting. For a while I had wondered if they ever would. Oh, and this is as in-focus as the thyme is going to get--my camera just cannot handle objects this small.

Next are my spinach seedlings. They've developed their second sets of true leaves, which is good.

This might not scream Popeye right now, but someday...

My spider plant is looking about the same, but it seems significantly bigger than it was before. I think it enjoyed its stay at my house over spring break. These plants seem to tolerate low light just fine, but they don't really thrive in it.

The jade plant is doing well also. This is just such a sleek plant.

Finally we've come to the Swiss chard. I moved it to my windowsill so it could get more light, which has seemed to help a couple of the seedlings. They're still droopy. On the positive side, most of them (despite the fact that I couldn't get a good picture of this) do have tiny dots that will become their first true leaves. Perhaps the increased surface area of these leaves will help the plants maximize what light they have?

A little bit of research suggests that Swiss chard does not like moving from where it was originally planted. That might contribute to these plants' middling performance. Next year I will be able to plant outside to begin with (in containers, but it's the light that matters), so that should help. In the meantime, I'll see if these go anywhere when I put them out for the summer.

In another bit of news, I might be able to get my plant-loving paws on a purple shamrock and a wandering jew, two of my coveted houseplants from yesterday's post. What's even better is that it looks like I'll be able to get one of those plants for free. More on that when more happens.

Next post: a brief spring favorite (for real this time).