Solstice sewing part 1 (late)

I actually had a terrible day on the solstice really thought things just weren't worth much of anything anymore --I could get into the details but the short version is someone upset me when I was doing something I make no effort to lie that I was upset at the time and my mom was making up some "every outher year" garbage which as she had half flowers last year I don't believe one lick! But she loves to lie --so yea I had 0 motivation to plant seeds at the time

I really should have planted everyone on the 21st or 22nd to get the solstice correctly (part 2 will be the 28th) but I'm hoping things still come out well

So I'm trying to do atleast some aspect of the 4 sides but as I can't yet remember all of them so meh (was just chatting on Facebook that seems to think looking up the list is hard work when they've actually seen how thick a binder of mine is--well there certainly not helping my mood)

So anyway the things I've planted include: roses stevia mint --ATM I still have to plant my "fruit salad" that I don't know what all will be in it yet and the cranbwerries that I've heard are tricky to start and my mom things are grown in bogs only (the water makes harvesting easier) who knows? Maby ill do more non-trees on the next one?

So the reason for 2 is one is the solstice as the shortest day of the year the outher is the lunar solstice so I figure why not do both? And I'll also get more out as time goes on I'm also thinking ill try tomatoes and peppers and such aka what I typically grow lol

Catalogues and some fun?

So I've gotten 3 catalogues in allready! Which means ill start compiling a want list and trying to sort what I wanna grow next yearar *speaking* I wanna try wintersewing this year Friday the first things are gonna go out is the plan then when it's more winter more will go out 

So some fun? 

I think I wanna do a little contest (I'm out of stamps now used the last ones in the x-mas swap) but hopefully when I get more? 

Whoever can describe and location of the 2 German cards and the orniment I made (plantswap people in cce you are excluded from the orniment you'll see why soon) that's as I see it up to 3 people --ill put together a nice small package for the up to 3 that get it 

In outher news I'm trying to figure how I can possibly make a bedding for my hamster as well save more money if possible maby then get her better food? I know I wanna try to get her a terrifyingly large cage lol and *scared* I even think I wanna put a couple self-contained plants in there too that she can grow and munch on as well I don't know what specifically yet but I'm thinking maby 3 things that may max at about a foot or will crawl around don't mind *very* poor care and lighting may be an issue (I have yet to fully test but I don't think my hamster likes daylight spectrum bulbs) 

A random update and possibly

I've not been too good about updating lately a fair bit has been going on and I've been very bored one of the main things is me and my mom fighting over driving her nimble little Japanese sports car I have also heard much discriminatitory garbage from my mom namely insisting she knows best but refuses to do more then vote and complain to me who really can't do anything and I have actually signed online petitions (I am very anti-gmo and would like true honesty about what's in our food) we all have the power to do something and I'm actually happy with the election results not because the person who refused to act on the petition a million of us signed won but because the person I voted for got the largest vote for there party (yes I voted for Gary Johnson the few things that I don't nessiarly have views on I can understand his positions)

Now then this is a gardening blog I don't want to start a political war lol

I do have to try to find a couple pictures to print for a contest I'm in (well kinda lol) and I'm gonna see if I can't do my own contest in the next one I'm in hopefully it will be as fun as any yet maby even more fun? I do hope to host my own contests in time and I plan on putting down all criteria as well (example: if its a photo one I won't let anything blurry or out of focus get in the running no matter how cool an image it is --I was in one once and some so called "pros" let a blurry picture get number 2 I'm still pretty upset by that when my pic and many more were clearly in focus and mine was even a true macro) I will likely be picking stuff I'm apt to know something about and I may even offer pointers as well so people can improve too because unlike the outher place I want people to actually STAND A CHANCE! And after the first ones people may see what it's like

I did buy a rosemary plant from a store last week and it seems to not be doing too well I'm hoping it being in my moms room will help some? It looked ok but it dosent look too well now hopefully it atleast survives the winter

I also have my bagged mints another one seems to be stinky/failing but the rest seem ok and rooting very well but I did find what seems like aphids or something small and green on the plants that wasn't leaves so I put a little dawn in there found a hole and re-packaged it (also poured in some sevin) then too because I've been dealing with fruitfly things I also added some sevin to my spray bottle and I watered my plants I may have lost a couple small peppers as well but most seem atleast "alive" which is really all that can be expected at this time of year --it also looks like the orchid I left the flower spike on may bloom again soon it atleast looks possible this is barely 6 months after I got it!

Update and a new app

Testing out a new app (again wish I had blogger+ back) this one has some cool features it claims 

Here's a picture of the birds the blue one has only one leg and was very friendly till we got him his friend she isn't quite as kind and they really don't like being apart but they are still kind --kinder to me I think lol but I do the most to take care of them it seems 

There's some mints I'm trying to root and while they don't look so super good right now I can tell they are rooting how? Well I see the roots forming on them and while some leaves are dying that will actually create good soil for them I think I'm also thinking that I should trim off some more of my mint runners into another bag or maby put them in with the bag that's mostly failing? 

It's her cage you see on the side of the mints there all calling the sewing machine "home" lol (it has a stand that it's hiding in) if y'all can think of a good name for her I'd be glad to hear (same applies to the birds please say which it's for) 

Harvest blessings

I wish I had pictures of a huge harvest to share with y'all but I'm just making a quick post to wish everyone a blessed Samhain (with the blue moon we just had as well fun stuff) I also wanted to say that I got some offshoots from sandy the worst being a lower temp winds and oh the waves! It was something to see I think and it was also fun to get into the areas few would so I could get a few pictures and my zoom lens proved to be an option that was even better then my iPhone for getting pictures

I added 2 pictures from my iPhone (no clue how they'll show) one at the pier that I went down and was on before my d40 battery died and the outher from wind point lighthouse in Racine (the first is an area slightly south follow the beach? The break between water and ground south till you get to a golf park a parking lot and like 3 or 4 cement piers it's not far at all and you can see the lighthouse from it)

Nearly caught up

I just have one more package to pack up then get out and ill be fully caught up! Then the next project is getting everything into its place in my "system" and lol I have to sort what else I want

I also tried to bring my stevia plant in I cut a large chunk of its roots so its a little traumatised but hopefully it will survive the winter and it can/will survive the lemon verabena went thru shock but I think it's starting to finally come back! The goji is also coming back tho not as strong as I'd like but if it survives winter it will be fine come summer and I may get some fruit from it! Or it might take a whole nother year lol

My nearly dead orchid and my peppers most of what's in my room now look really good I think tho I may need to replant the cauldron again and hopefully re-establish everything (oh and it's dirt got dryier then DRY! So it needs attention ill also try to get more cuttings into the mint area soon)

Another little thing to do? Get the plant tags into my little book --it's with notes and stuff how I track what I've grown year-year it's about half full after a few years and I have another book laying around somewhere that I got to replace that one once its full

I highly suggest some way to keep track of what you grow I personally love saving tags and tape them into the journal (hardcover but spiral bound is what I use there not easy to find tho) and add whatever else so ill prolly put the raspberry tag in add a note about the jersey blueberries add "random mints" because I can't I'd them and I'm certain some have died on me as well ill also add a note of the chocolate mint (it loves my garlic!) that came back from last year I'm not likely to put the flower tags in because I'm an edibles person ill also mark "random peppers" because of yet there has been little way to I'd most of them without the tags or knowing the exact places planted

So I think it's about time to start sorting how to save some of my herbs to use as well as gathering the last of the edibles that we have

Also I have a good few seeds that I have collected and am waiting on some to dry out on the fruits

Season winding down

I know I haven't posted much lately as the season is slowly but surely coming to an end I do have some more seeds and some stuff I need to sort out and that I'm also struggling with some plants to keep them alive thru the winter there not looking too hopeful but I'm still trying no less

I have one more plant to get in because none of the cuttings took I also have a couple more things to mail out one of which the weathers getting iffy for but ill find some way I know I will lol

I also have many plants to replant and that with enough time am all to try to sort what I'll try to start from seeds next year and when ill also likely have a week long vacation to Vegas that ill need them ok for

eBay update

Some of you may or may not know eBay has not been particuliarly kind to me as of late well it looks like ill have to find another way to sell some of my seeds and such because I'm gonna be leaving eBay soon

That is unless the office of the president can help me so now I'm looking into outher sites that aren't eBay and that won't have the issues they do

First possible frost

So I am about the worst gardener because I don't keep up with local weather yesterday my uncle told me that last night or tonight could be the first frost so I braught my last plant inside I kinda violently pulled her up she is my lemon verabena and she makes it clear I need more light in my room maby replace the bulbs on the aerogarden? Then put my outher light up? He'll even get daylight bulbs in my light fixture and keep that on during a chunk of the day?

I'm not doing as well as I'd like to be with what came inside and I may need to pick thru and pull out the dead stuff I also should start the herb features soon even tho indoor basil isn't going well I also need to sort cutting the posts I know livejournal could do that but research shows that blogger needs a bit of help and tweaking which means I need to get on my computer

So fun stuff I also have a fair few seeds I need to process and test tho I don't know if I have enough to sell on some things I should have plenty of outhers like some Thai peppers or Thai basil that's from another location that I occasionally work on the garden in

If you'd like to know about anything I've grown this year please don't hesitate to ask anything! I have a gmail address exact as this blog that's also hooked to my phone

Quick update

Just thought I'd drop a quick line as I haven't been around lately

I have some seeds drying some for me some trading and some for the hamster

I am still alive! Lol

We got a sewing machine at a rummage we found it dates to around 74/5 range (ok I did by googling)

I also braught most of my plants inside I have one left (the lemon verabena) and I also have many plants (strawberries mints rasberry blueberry) to protect to various degrees but as all should be hardy around here withought the containers ill wait till the snow falls for that

One last thing? I've added google adsence to the google blog I have here if anyone has any issues please let me know (may take 48 hours to appear) I mostly do my posting and most of my stuff from my iPhone so I'm not too likely to see it but if I get a couple reports ill look into changing its settings I do hope the default isn't too intrusive or anything there just to sit there and eat up a little space

Also there's a chance that I will be able to mail stuff I owe out next week so that's more like 8-10 days away if I'm correct I will be certain to post when I mail them out ok? Ill likely be right at the post when I make that post on my bike prolly will be a little tired as well but I need to get back in shape

A double dose of good news

Which should I start with? I know how about the stuff in the sink infront of me?

Was outside today and decided to chop off most of the spent flowers which resulted in neatly tied organza bags some of which had earwicks in them (one had 3 in it!) so I'm letting them sit all tied up in some soapy water and after I'm gonna take and hang them up to dry out after bombing a few times to get rid of bugs I'm certainly doing everything to keep them out

Then also I have some new cuttings I'm trying to root (stevia lemon verabena sage really same-ol same-ol) including some in water (mints that were trimmed)

I also have my "probationary" drivers liscence from the mail just passed on the 4th so about a week ago

And last but certainly not least I think I've got everyone planted in there! Which means I'm gonna have to start with the features soon the basil is from fresh cuttings as the older ones got too large and lol I don't think im quite done as I have more mints and such to add to it lol it will be one packed little planter when im done lol

Popped out during an emotional day

Isn't it suprising how at the worst of times a favourite thing can really cheer up a day? So I've got tons of pics fer y'all too

Let's start with my little area that I like to sit in it even let's me get quick access to most of what I'm growing

There's the planter I did for my birthday it looks like everyone's starting to grow at different rates but they look generally ok even then

Some cuttings there's a catnip some stevia (ok a lot) lemon verabena and even a couple chocolate mint ones too these are by now all well rooted

My lemon grass the pot just dosent drain as quickly as the rest of the pots around there

The goji pot (which the goji needs a new stick and a re-tying) and the cauldron that's waiting on a mint trim a basil transplant and the lemon grass to get large enough so I can transplant it I think I'll add the holy basil later lol

My onion experiment --I ended up cutting the tops from them and now they appear to be growing back but they are in a *very* shaded place right now so the slow growth is just fine by me

There's my herb box I have some Basil's and such that I could prolly start to keep the seeds from and such lol but I'll wait till there's a few more just cause I can lol

Some pictures of my container corn experiment the loofah seems to be happy no flowers yet the watermelon dosent seem to be too happy there but I think the corn is doing well for an experiment I'm 5'7" and the tallest is including the pot up to about my forehead so they are certainly shorter then they should be

There's the mint pot some heads are just about ready for nipping to be harvested for seeds there are some op ones momma a hybrid and some bagged momma still a hybrid all could be fun to grow from seed tho

Some of my peppers that I started from seeds I'm pretty certain they'll be inside come winter but for now I'm letting them grow as they like in there do hopefully I can save a few seeds

There's the tomato mess complete with tomatoes that could/should be harvested soon even if I just endup saving seeds from them

Strawberries and mint the strawberries are mostly everbearing but there is 1 junebearing plant in there too just so we get a lot at once

The pepper planter with pepper plants from the greenhouse they certainly appear to be producing plenty

My rasberries

The blueberries even tho there still *super* small

And some rooted cuttings oregano mints (which will go to the cauldron in time) and a Vicks plant that will get its own pot soon enough

Falling behind

I feel I'm falling behind again in trades my mom is once again getting hyper about cleaning this is week 2 of her 3 week vacation she claims her ideal of clean is nominalistic but her room is a complete mess by those standards then again she also says anything touching the floor is garbage making her garbage and to think on tuesday I have a driving test to take too one that she seems determined to make me fail because she dosent let me drive like ever it seems

Oh! And we got a dwarf/teddy bear hamster mix I'll post pics later so far her name seems to be critter because I kept saying we will need this or that for the critter so it's my job to take care of her and allready I think she likes wheat germ after giving her some she is an omnivore so she will eat anything and I'll let her try some of my herbs later and outher stuff were growing maby even fresh corn? Angel seems just fine with critter (angel my golden kitty) so I'm not worried ATM about that pairing

More garden to come just don't like when my moms all hyper/OCD it's the worst I think

Some plant info/use sources?

I'll try to post as I come across I do plan on doing a feature on herbs and uses in time some of the sources I use will be listed here
botanical guides

Tent sale findings

Ok so there's a mess in the background and there's one extra item lol

I'm gonna tally everything up at the end so lol

1 ea the 4 yellow topped fert last year they were 3/10 I got 1 blue 2 organic/brown this year 2 blue 2 purple
.75 the small green topped washed out tomato fert
.50 7 containers (the orchid ones --pink red and tin) a bonsai container (the small red square) and the clay pot)
1 the large bonsai pot
.25 the tray for the clay pot
3.50 the blue/green pot
2 the square blue/green pot (from goodwill)

So at the tent sale I spent: 13 bucks (lucky 13! No that wasn't planned lol) and I think I made out pretty well some of the pots do need a clean or this or that lol but overall I think I can handle it lol and I think I did well too

Some garden finds from a couple days ago

As typical my life has gotten busy and my blog has fallen back on my list of priorities I'll get to it in another post but I was at a tent sale and got some good ferts so I applied them to everyone a basic and a tomato one for them I do think everyone needs more care then there getting with my mom being off and yes I did get a good few pics --so shall we get started with the pics?

Let's start someplace different? That's the rasberry bush after I taped it up some there's also my blueberrys and some cuttings

Here's a close up of some of those cuttings most of which I think I'll bring in for winter some are likely to even have "personal" containers from what I got in the tent sale

Here's my strawberries I'm hoping they survive my plan for them for winter there mostly everbearing it also looks like I'll have a good few for trading too the junebearing dont seem to be multiplying so quickly but I should have some more of them going atleast enough to get some strawberries from it

The peppers I baught --could prolly use some picking lol

And here's the peppers I started from seed I think most of them will be coming in in the winter with some of my containers I'll likely need a once weekly watering likely with my orchids and aloes and such hoping they will atleast stay alive possibly produce a little too

The mint planter

As you can see some of the tomatoes need to be picked I also am waiting on seeds from the yellow brandywine and more seeds from everyone as well

There's the windowbox I really should be using everyone more but meh lol

The ones to come in or be resorted some are rooting some should be about set lol

There's my cauldron I added oregano you can see the mint needs a trim perhaps the sage could use one too?

Mints from the cauldron my goji what I'm rooting my lemongrass many many cuttings as well some may go sale or trade depending

That pot that I got and planted and all for my birthday --there starting to outgrow the look I had but they still look ok I think lol

My corn if you look you can see the start of some of the ears there's quite a few starting to show

The loofah top I really hope the flowers and fruits start to show themselves soon

The watermelon im hoping these start to develop the fruits soon

Some cool stuff

I'm personally a huge fan of freebies and while I don't want to turn this into a blog all about them I may occasionally post about some for example the expand-n-grow maricle grow that I got it also included a 3 buck off coupon that I just used so it wouldn't expire it claimed to be able to fill 4 12" pots

I've also gotten samples for things I wasn't certain of like Lipton tea and honey I am not a fan of bleached sugar which is what is in there so that sample let me find that out withought having to spend much at all

I'm looking thinking to try a nameplates one see what there quality is like perhaps in time order some stuff for this little company that I'm trying to get started up so I can create some cool stuff for people at fair prices

Moved some peppers

So a quick one today first off I moved some peppers that look a little over crowded to me I don't know of that's why they are so small or if there just small lol if they don't produce I'll bring them in for the winter so they can next year

There's the pepper pot there are even 2 verigated plants I think there fish lol the one with the stick is my apple pepper that I saved seeds from then there's also jalapeños those are the only ones I know I had some peter and more peppers in there lol

In outher news my ears are clearly starting to show and some silks are coming out as well which hopefully means I'll be harvesting them soon

First ears starting

The first ears of corn are starting to develop! I also got some cuttings and a mini harvest! Pics to follow

Here's the cuttings there's lemon verabena and stevia that I've added there was some rosemary catnip lemon verabena and such in before as well

More lemon verabena cuttings these are in with my goji

There's an update to the holy basil and lemongrass I'm just waiting for them to get larger before I transplant them into the cauldron

Here you can see the start of one of my ears of corn --I'm likely to save a few seeds I have no clue what/how they will be next year because I'm just letting them do whatever they like (meaning I'm not stopping these from crossing) I'm still corious to see what happens hopefully I can get a strain that looks great tastes great and is great in containers too that's what the experiment is becoming lol

My first yellow brandywine it's smaller then the purple Cherokees I've had in the past it's about but a little small for a brandywine that I've grown in the past I can't wait to bite into it! I will be saving seeds this is from seeds that I started this year!

The tiny tomatoes the plant itself is under a foot tall and it's kinda cool to see! I have some saved seeds allready I'm trying to get more as well lol

Here's a "yellow" cherry tomato the plant is rather large I personally think these are golden not yellow I do have some seeds and am working on getting more seeds from these as the plant produces more fruits