About Me

My photo
Montgomery, Alabama, United States
I'm a Zone 8. I'm doing a little gardening to satisfy a curiosity to see whether or not I can do it. People make it look so easy-- what's stopping me from making it work? Contrary to my name ("Hana" means flower in Japanese) I have a history of killing plants. Well, most of them. Let's see how this one goes!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Cheating

This weekend, I bought some garden stuff, like mulch and bonemeal and whatnot. I also bought a chocolate mint plant because they are simply fabulous.


This, of course, made me find one of my favorite stupid repetitive Weebl flash videos~
Who looooves the chocolate? Everyone loves the chocolate! Nobody hates the chocolate 'cos everyone loves the chocolate!

Oh man, people who like juvenile things like Weebl's Toons need help. Anyway, that pot will be the mint's permanent home-- no mints are allowed to be in the ground in the garden because of previous past bad behavior by mints around the world.

But that was Saturday. Today is Monday. I have done nothing between the time I got and repotted the CHOCCYmint and today. SOOoo today I:
-Planted some new seeds that I bought over the weekend
-Repotted some plants that needed repotting
-Killed one of my sunflowers :(

Starting from the top~ I got Lavender Lady lavender because I really really want to grow lavender and one variety seems inadequate, especially since it has not sprouted yet. I also got chervil, four o'clocks, and a couple more kinds of squash and cucumber. I also got a couple mesclun mixes and a mixed lettuce mix. I am very much looking forward to cut and come again salads. Mmm :9 I also planted some of the mystery beans, peppers, and random seeds that my neighbor gave to me.

I repotted the parsley that finally sprouted and repotted some lettuce. The latter was probably a mistake, but that is okay-- I have plenty of lettuce to make up for it. The lemon basil in the egg carton was starting to die, so I moved it into a cup. I should have moved it sooner, but I was sort of waiting for more to sprout before moving it to a bigger container. Whoops?

Aaand the sunflower. I accidentally popped into his stem with my thumbnail. I felt so bad because he was the tallest one of the lot. It honestly feels like I murdered a child.

Oh, but I do have pictures of happier things :D


Parsley in a box and corn babies! The corn is just for kicks-- I sort of don't expect it to survive the transplant into the garden.


Mystery nightshades! I am pretty sure that the 3-cotyledoned guy is a pepper of some sort since all of my tomatoes have 2.


Nasturtiums and marigolds are growing, and you might be able to see tiiiiiny petunias.


Flowers, salad mixes, mystery melons, and okra.



Radish sprouts are beautiful-- I had to take a bunch of pictures of them. I love their slender pinkish stalks and fat green leaves. It makes me happy.

It rained like whoa today and while all the water eventually sunk into the ground I noticed that it tends to pool right next to the patio. Because of this I designed my garden border to avoid the patio, but I am wondering how much distance I really need to put between the garden and the patio so that it won't flood during the rains.

Anyway, I don't have anything else meaningful to add today.

10 comments:

Annie in Austin said...

I've killed several chocolate mint plants in the past - maybe it's time to try again. An orange mint and an English mint have stayed alive in containers for me while mints in the ground died. This is exactly opposite of my experience in Illinois, but several of my friends can't get it growing in their Austin soil, either.

It looks like you're starting an entire small farm, Hana! If it all grows you may have to open a restaurant ;-]

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[now going to hunt down a couple of chocolate chips or something...this post was dangerous]

Meems said...

Hi Hana, love your radish stems photos. You really do have loads of seeds. You must be busily getting your ground ready.

Have you thought about adding your blog to Blotanical? It is a website full of other gardeners from all over the world. Just wasn't sure if you knew about it and wanted to invite you to join. It is a great way to learn and find other blogs.

Check it out at blotanical.com
Have a great weekend!
Meems @HoeandShovel

hanako! said...

Annie-- I guess you are blessed to have mint die in your soil-- most accounts I read are of people desperately trying to get rid of their mints. Orange mint sounds yummy-- I love how mints have such a variety of subtle flavors and smells!

Ah, the farminess of my plant varieties will probably be short-lived, as I don't expect them all to make it in the end. Maybe I am trying to pad myself mentally against disappointment, but since this is my first time attempting more than a patio herb garden I just want to see what works and what doesn't. But the restaurant idea ain't too bad-- I do love to cook :D

But for right now, the "farm" will just support me, the boyfriend, and the hamsters. The tiny ones seem to appreciate veggies most of all.

Meems-- I hadn't heard of Blotanical-- thanks for pointing me that way! I was actually wondering if there was a good hub for garden blogs :D

Priscilla George said...

Good luck with your chocolate mint. I had one and sadly it just got infested with ants and aphids. No matter what I did they would not stay away for more then a day. I love that mint it smelt like heaven.

brandank said...

Fantastic Start! Your doing great on all your little sprouts. Good Luck

Lori said...

Ok, if you're gonna sic Weebl on me, I must respond with this:

Mmmmmm pie!

PIE!

When come back, BRING PIE!


Ahem. Anyway, the chocolate mint sounds interesting. Everyone talks about how hard it is to kill mint, but I've definitely singlehandedly wiped out a nice bush of lavender mint (Fear me!), while the potted no-name mint I bought from Home Depot and then apparently killed has made a stealthy comeback...in my lawn. In consolation, the mojitos still taste just as good. ;)

Lori said...

Oh, and by the way, I just added you to my "Austin gardeners" blogroll so I can check on the progress of your vegetable garden and stalk you about it.

The only vegetable I've tried to grow so far was "Kentucky Wonder" pole beans up the privacy fence last summer, but the rest of the vines have filled in a little too much to try that again this year. Next year, though, I have big plans for growing edibles. I want a salsa garden and a pesto garden. And man, there's nothing tastier than a home-grown tomato.

And now I really want a tomato sandwich, dammit.

hanako! said...

Vanillalotus-- (wow, I love that name!) I hope that I don't get ants and aphids... yikes! I'm sorry that fate befell your chocolate mint!

Bestdank-- Thanks! I hope they progress past sproutdom and into real plants :D

Lori-- You are a woman after my own heart with the Weebl and the Mojitos and the salsa! And I must say that Mojitos made with mint from a victorious comeback must taste pretty good (something tells me that it is "smug" flavored, but I am not too sure). I have to say that I am hesitant to grow anything that I can't eat, so I'm all about the edibles gardening. But I'm a glutton, so it all makes sense :D I do hope that you try more than just a singular pole bean. I hope to one day have drooping branches of lianas and other yardlong beans to make a privacy fence, should the need ever arise.

And now I want a tomato sandwich, too.

Anonymous said...

In our science class we are growing radish seeds also. I am growing mine with sugar water instead of just plain water. Cool idea!

Anonymous said...

in science class i am growing radish seeds also ecepet i used redbull insted of water