4 photos & a cup of coffee

checked out "Uncommon Grounds" today on Barrington Street, had a lovely cup of coffee outside, people watched & took a few photos. It doesn't have to be anything fancy for me to enjoy taking a photo - this time of year is just pretty. I also checked out Carbonstok, which is right next door to Uncommon Grounds....I think I checked out everything in the store. All of their products are selected based on their compelling design, as well as the impact their creation and use has on the environment. Pretty cool stuff. They even have greeting cards made out of elephant poo - I kid you not!!!

All Things Grow With Love, right?

"A watched kettle never boils"...that is what they say, right? I keep looking in the cans to see if anything sprouted yet. It hasn't even been a week. Should've started these ages ago, but..oh well, I started them now. I had some tin cans so I just turned them over and poked some holes in the bottom....Actually, it was such a pain to try and hammer a nail through the bottom, then I ditched that and used the can opener to make holes in the bottom..just like when you open a can of apple juice, only I made 6 or so. I put the tin lid in the bottom so the dirt wouldn't fall through the holes in the bottom. I put some smashed up pieces of a terra cotta pot in the bottom of the can. I read that the terra cotta absorbs the water and retains in and it helps keep the soil damp so it doesn't dry out as quickly as it normally would. I just bought a few terra cotta pots in a stack at Value Village for .99. I put the pot in a gift bag that I had, help the opening closed and smashed the outside of the bag. When you smash inside of the bag, you don't have to worry about little pieces flying all over the place. I put a few pieces of terra cotta in each tin can and then filled them with soil, planted the seeds..blah,blah,blah. Anyway, if I had a "do over", I would have done the labels before I put the dirt in. I was just going to leave them plain and then decided I would label them. I found some free label templates online and printed some out. The template was actually too small so I printed a smaller one and enlarged it on my photocopier. I sprayed the labels with modge podge sealer so the ink wouldn't run, when that was dry I put a layer or homemade modge podge on with a paint brush (just mix half white school glue and have water & stir), then a regular spray sealer over that. It is one from Michael's that seals crafts etc.  Truth: I was out of glue, just did the first step, used my hot glue gun to glue the label on and then sprayed with sealer...later went to 3 different places looking for plain old white glue....Michael's was the third place I went and I bought some there. I put a coat of that on over the sealer...good grief!!! I really should do this again, but do it the proper way. They are going to look so much better when they have food sprouting inside of them.

Radishes

My Mom was the one who said to me "if you want something to grow quickly, plant radishes...but nobody likes them".lol. I planted these seeds 3 days ago. I do have them in my makeshift greenhouse in the  house. I guess that makes them grow faster. I also took 2 out of this tray and put them on the window ledge and they are not as big but they have started. I should've taken a pic of those ones. I will do that tomorrow. You may have noticed my lovely seed holders. They are toilet paper rolls cut in 2. I found this idea online and it said to use a full toilet paper roll, but you are going to transplant these outside so you don't need a lot of room (I say, cut them in half). The idea with this is that you don't have to disturb the plant when you transplant it outside. The instrucation say to peel off most of the paper before planting, just leave a thin layer on. One thing I should mention: when I did pick up the other 2 plants from this tray to move them to the window ledge, they were pretty soft & fragile. I am not sure if I would put something on the bottom next time. Not sure what, but something that you can easily take off right before planting or make a hole in the bottom for the roots to get through. Just an idea of how to keep them a little more sturdy and also so the dirt doesn't fall out the bottom when you pick it up. I read a few articles about how quick these plants are to mature. Guess I should go now and look up recipes that have radishes in them. I know they are good sliced thin on a salad. 

watching the garden grow

I am a little obessed with my tiny little garden. In this photo you can see that the lettuce, spinach and beans are growing...hooray. This little garden is only 3.5' x 3.5' but I managed to fit in spinach, lettuce, beans and patio tomatoes. Everything seems to be doing well. It will be so nice to eat something that I have grown myself. I can't wait. I also did a little soil test (ph test for $1.90) which was purchased @ Halifax Seed. I just had to take some soil (4" down), put enough in up to a line that is marked for you, break open the capsule that comes with the kit and pour that in, then you add distilled water up to another line marked for you. You put the top on the tube and give it a shake. The water will be anywhere from yellow to orange to green. Mine was green which is fairly neutral. All should be well. You don't want your soil to acidic (unless you planted plants that love that) or too alkaline. Sort of the same rules that we have for people. You don't want a diet that is too alkaline or too acidic. If your soil is not in the neutral zone, there are many ways to fix that. Just look them up online because the ideas are endless.

Time Out

I don't like a lot of signs in my garden but I thought this little bench was cute. I picked it up @ Value Village for $5.99. It really is a great place to go (for me, anyway) to get photo props and garden things...you just never know what you will find. I guess it just depends what you are looking for. Anyway, I went there today and found a lot of useful things. I bought a bread box that has a plexi glass top...pretty hideous as a bread box but I can use it as a mini greenhouse. I will post pictures soon of that find. I paid $12.99 for it. I bought a clip on light that will come in handy as a light source for my plants that I am trying to get growing and toughen up so they can go outdoors.

rooting basil & mint

 So...I decided I wanted to do some cuttings because I read how easy it was to do and that I should see roots in a week. Well, that would be if you followed the instructions or bothered to watch a youtube video on how to do it properly. I am so guilty of that - skip the tutorial and jump in, mess it up (sometimes), but that is how you learn on your own I guess..lol. Anyway, found this little vasey kinda thing at Value Village for .99 (if memory serves me correctly) & it is great for mayflowers..something teeny tiny. It also happens to be great for small cuttings. I guess I should've cut the basil on the main sturdy plant, no just cut off at the bottom of a leaf. Watched a video (on youtube..who knew?) & you just make an angled cut on the stem...trim off any leaves that may stick in the water. You just have the stem stuck in. I still have my leaves stuck in this water. Who knows? maybe something will happen. I also took 2 more cuttings (the proper way). I'll keep you posted. The bottom photo is of 2 cuttings of my mint plant. I cut them the "proper" way. Like my vase for that one? I know a lot of people wouldn't bother rooting mint and making more (the stuff goes crazy) but I have some in a pot to keep in contained & I will put more in my front little garden. It is slowly becoming full of "wild" things that I gather here and there: wild strawberries, daisies, johnny jump ups, blackeyed susies..forget me nots & soon....mint...lots of mint...lol

Somborka White Peppers

My neighbour gave me some somborka white pepper seeds from Kosovo (where he is from). This got me interested in finding out what I could about growing peppers. My neighbour said to put the seeds in a glass of water overnight and only plant the ones that have sunk to the bottom in the morning. I am also trying to germinate some seeds in a wet/damp paper towel (not dripping with water but wet) & then I put that paper towel in a ziploc bag, not sealed up. I am also trying a paper towel method with chamomile tea. The instructions on the internet said to make a cup of chamomile tea (steep 5 mins) and then use that same bag to make a second cup of tea. Use the mild tea to wet a folder paper towel on a saucer. Place the seeds on the paper towel and cover them with another folded paper towel, dribble some more tea over the paper towel...again, quite damp/wet. Put the seeds in a warm place. I have mine in an aquarium that I use as a mini greenhouse. Don't let the paper towel dry out...when it is starting to dry, dribble more tea on the towel. Here is the description I found on the somborka pepper: mid-season peppers that are very productive and have mild hot flavor that is so pleasant in fresh salads or salsa. Fruits ripen from light green to light yellow to light red when fully mature. Medium size, bell/conical shape, thick walls. 

Pepper tidbits: all peppers are perinnials (I didn't know that - good to know). Also, don't plant them in peat pots. No one knows why but they just don't survive...I guess peppers don't like peat. I found other articles that said make sure not to plant them in a soil that has a lot of peat. It may have something to do with how wet the peat stays, encouraging mold. I also read that the hotter the pepper, the longer it takes the seed to germinate. I guess I will have to be patient...hmmmm?? I'll keep you posted.

Update: out of 10 seeds put in the glass of water last night, 7 sunk to the bottom. Pretty good...70%. Supposedly, the ones that sink are viable seeds and you are supposed to just toss the ones that are still floating (for this particular type of seed)