My Garden’s Peace Offering

I went up to the location of my planned urban garden today. The dream of creating a green space from seeds and groceries seemingly distant and dark as nothing had come of my efforts. What a surprise peering out like a mangled hero from the corner of my rooftop! A plant…a dark green from thirst and struggling to remain pert…was gazing shyly at me with smiles of small berries. Shocked, I rushed over to it and examined the green solider. I can’t guess what it is…I had planted chillies, melon and grapes. What is this beautiful creation?

The Greenhouse Trial

Seeds in for germination

Close up of seeds

My greenhouse is another attempt at germinating seedlings. It seems more precise and gives me a structured way of babying my seeds. The herb garden I started in Week 6 has gone kaputski. The onion/garlic chives are dead and the stringy seedlings have wilted and died as well. However, I am still pushing forward and striving to achieve my urban garden.

This greenhouse I purchased from the local Home Depot is easy to use. I just added warm water and the little peat pellets expanded into small sacks of peat soil. I drew back the netting and planted two and three seeds into each pod. Very absorbing stuff. Also, not shown in the pictures, I added a little peat moss on top to cover the seeds.

Now I used the groceries I had on hand to complete this project so the collection I have may seem a bit odd. I have honeydew melon, grapes, chillie pepper and the remaining flower seeds. Let’s see how it turns out.

The beginning of Spring!

Plants

Today was fair and very beautiful, with the sun shining and the birds singing. I felt it in the air as I woke up, strangely thick, warm and humid. So nice after the cold winter in Toronto. The rooftop is still sitting bare as ever, but full of promise. I put my house plants outside for some R&R (rest and relaxation) in the nice weather.

I have my anthurium, my dracena, this past year’s Christmas tree, and my herb garden. Already, their leaves seem greener and so much more vivacious. This week seems nice in Toronto, so I will put my plants out each day and take them in at night. I know being in the sun does wonders for me, perhaps it will perk up my green babies too.

Got my compost going. It’s just a little bin that I’ve put soil and veggie scraps in from cooking. Today I put in a bit of leftover cooked rice too. Interesting, no? I used a cake tray cover for the top and my fiance’s old shoe for weight. Hold it – don’t fall over laughing just yet! This is just a start.

The Urban Geek shall prevail in union with nature!

What happened in the cupboard?!

Garlic

Onions

***The above is jarring and extremely gross.***

Food with no power over the course of nature. Left in a dark cupboard with the intent of making it root, the garlic and the onion have seen their last days. The garlic is turning into a pink ooze and is decaying outside, in.

Disgusting.

The onion has grown a thick and extremely fluffy coat of mold and is slowly giving in to the forces that surround it. No light and no water for four weeks. Amazing.

Rooting veggies will rot if not coddled with water and sun. That is the result of this branch of the experiment.

I will be throwing this out, moldy groceries are extremely dangerous to the health. Over and out.

My Strange Seedlings – confessions of a newbie gardener

My strange seedlings

Stringy seedlings

My project has pulled yet another challenge up for confrontation. My little seedlings have grown, but are gangly and very stringy. Not quite what I expected. They are thin and very weak, I am worried about their progress and have decided to take my common sense route (instead of the google cheat)! I will cut them down to about a half inch and cover them with another layer of topsoil. I was watering them everyday but then I realized it might be too much judging by the wet and compressed soil. So I did not water until the soil got a bit dry and then gave the garden a little (250ml) every two or three days.

The container has drainage and gets a bit of sunlight a day. I am intending on putting the whole container up on my rooftop for a few days (minus nights) and seeing how it fairs with plenty of sun. I hope I can manage to grow the herbs for the summer so I can get cookin’. Over and out!

The Versatile Blogger Award!

Thank you Alaska Sea Fox from gardenmyhome.wordpress.com , for awarding me the “Versatile Blogger” award! I am pleased to receive positive feedback!

The rules from alaskaseafox’s blog are as follows:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

1. Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
2. Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
3. Select 15 excellent blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

So, again, thank you for the award! I feel great knowing that I have had an impact on the blogging community.

And now for MY nominations of Versatile Blogger:

1. meganpixels for unique hologram-like photography!
2. seedtosalad for ubercool backyard garden.
3. my sister’s treasure chest fashion forward advice
4. le zoe musings for inspiring lifestyle
5. zakka life for adorable and super kawaii craft ideas!
6. yogatic for being an essential virtual yogi!
7. thescrumptiouspumkin for immaculate and oh-so-yum food blog
8. natural authentic self for exploration of the psyche and inner thought.
9. secretlifeofabionerd for formi-dab-le DIY stuff and her great online know-how!
10. giannyl for easy and fun sewing!
11. thenewboston makes computer stuff not as hard.
12. art of lemons for positive outlook on life.
13. malini’s kitchen for mouth-watering sri lankan cuisine!
14. trancerera for rocking gear and Toronto nightlife insiders look.
15. peg-o-leg for it’s fantastic concepts wrought with humor!

These blogs are my favs, in no particular order…I like them all and are all viewed on an almost weekly basis! And as for my finale, here are 7 things about me, superurbangeek!

1. I have studied my elementary school years in Yokohama, Japan.
2. The only person I trust with fashionable hair is myself so, I cut it using mirrors all the time.
3. I think vacuuming is the greatest workout!
4. I horde cooking spices.
5. Tea is one of my boiling hot passions in life.
6. I get the news on youtube.
7. My secret interest is computer networking.

🙂

Happy blogging to all!!!

p.s.
The colour on the links is not intentional. Sorry for any confusion. Thanks!

My little seedlings are growing! :D

New life

After three days of water and sun my seedlings have popped out of the soil. They are tiny and fragile but are green and fresh so I feel the success of my herb garden container. The flowers are making the strongest appearance and are taller than the herbs. I think the peat moss I used is great because of the fertilizer content. I have never seen seeds develop so quickly. My project is starting to form and is looking promising. The groceries (onion and garlic) are doing well too, they are growing fast and I am going to use them in my cooking very soon. It is all very satisfying because I have grown the herbs and can harvest and utilize them in my meals. I feel wonderful to know that in the most micro way, I am helping reduce the carbon footprint human beings have imprinted on the Earth.

Artisan agriculture is a new buzz word used widely by the food industry to local colleges. It is a concept for modern sustainable living. If people would garden more or commune together to create community garden space we could decrease a lot of stress in the North American lands and economy. We would not have to rely on expensive cross-country food imports, we would have beautiful greenhouses and urban gardens. Green space is nice to look at and helpful to humankind. Try picking up some veggie seeds. They are available in grocery stores, department stores, and even hardware stores. It may change your life and the lives of the people you love.

Common sense starts a garden

Potted herb garden

Put together the herb garden. You can see my chives from the experiment popping out of the soil. The seeds are planted in there too. I love container gardening because it is so easy and very helpful. It takes a little knowledge but, you can put together something simple with a common sense. Common sense is an interesting concept, it changes from person to person. It is gathered though your family, friends and experiences.

Common sense in Canada is different to common sense in China. Of course things that are common in both countries may count as common sense. But does a butcher’s daughter have the same common sense as her friend the merchant’s daughter? What if they didn’t go to the same school? What if one lives in Canada and the other lives in China? Bit to think about…

Container Gardening! Herbs indoors!! So easy!

New seeds and fodder for the project

I chanced upon Sheridan nurseries this afternoon and wandered into the garden store. At first all I saw was home decor items and a few plants but as I walked deeper inside there were a wide range of beautiful flowering plants and gorgeous plant potters. They have done a fabulous job of making gardening glamorous.

Sheridan is renowned for their meticulous horticulture so I wasn’t surprised when I strolled into their nursery section. I’m talking plenty of plants and believe me, they have all types. I am looking to start from scratch for this project so, I bought three seed packets from the nursery section of the store. I got herbs; thyme and coriander and I got flower seeds to make the garden pretty! They will be white with a pinkish purple trim. I plan on putting the flowers in the center of the container and then surrounding them with the herbs. I can’t wait to see how it will turn out!

For the container itself, I found a terracotta potter and dish on clearance, really practical and cool. I needed something lightweight and medium in size so the garden wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, this pot is perfect. I will plant the experiment garlic and the onion in it so I can use them in my cooking. Herbs are a great way to spice up chicken, beef or even use them as garnish for soups or salad!

Terracotta potter

Tiny Garlic Sprouter!! aww…

Garlic - February 28-2012

It took five weeks but a second garlic clove has sprouted a green stem! Contrary to what I said in my previous posts about throwing them out, I kept the garlic in the jar and just changed the water. What a difference that made! The second clove sprouting has improved my mood and I am eagerly waiting for the rest of the cloves. Will they follow the two “sprouters” or just lay there…dead and decaying? I may change the water again in a week because that’s what seems to work.

The weather is improving despite a few freezing cold nights, I am looking forward to a breezy spring and a pleasant summer. My garden is growing slowly and I plan to plant in about three weeks.

Here is a photo of my onions, also coming along well.