So far I have several plants well on their way to becoming food. Here's a tour of some of the plants I have growing so far on my balcony and window spaces.
The lettuces
Notice the speckled lettuce in the front. I think it's quite beautiful. It really is amazing how many different shapes, sizes and colors leafy greens can come in.
The potatoes
I got some small red potatoes from the farmer's market in the fall, and planted several of the ones that have sprouted. These splendid potatoes are growing in one of the more durable reusable shopping bags I've collected over the years.
Basil
This basil has really grown. I'm quite impressed with how quickly it decided to leaf-out, despite all the rain and cloudy days we've been having.
The tomatoes
Here is one of my tomato transplants. I can't wait to get these outside and get them growing. There's still nothing like a fresh homegrown tomato, and I'm very excited with the idea of putting them in salads again!
The blueberries
And here are those pesky little fruits I am trying so hard to grow. The blueberries. One of the plants flowered prematurely, and I'm already on my way to getting 12 blueberries. Yeah, 12 is a bit of a small number, but I am still counting on the other plant to grow bigger and flourish. We shall see. Notice how the white flowers fell away and what was left behind is already swelling and looking ever so slightly "blue". Small, yes, but still, this plant is impressing me. =)
Nasturtiums
Here are the nasturtiums growing on the lattice work in the window that James so skillfully made for me. Just look at them growing! We could probably start harvesting some leaves here and there pretty soon to give a bit of a peppery taste to our salads
The peppers
And here are some rogue purple bell peppers that I began really late last season. And then they began flowering indoors a few months ago, and here they are, still producing... this early in the season! I got all excited the first time I was going to weigh one of these cause I assumed it would be amazing compared to the weight of a bunch of sprouts... well, I forgot peppers are basically full of air. A full 30 grams. I couldn't help but laugh out loud!
It's a good thing you posted, lady, because I was just about to write you an email requesting an update!!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so beautiful! How do you know when you can harvest things like Nasturtiums that aren't "fruit-producing"? And how do you know how much to harvest so as not to hurt it?
The continuing saga of your blueberries is wonderful; I hope they taste good! (You need to send an email about how to make one's own cheese; that's intriguing!)
I lost one of my pepper sprouts, but I'm just about to pot three of them in different containers! Jeremy and I are being slow about the raised bed garden, so will the pepper plants transplant again or should I leave them in the pots and just plant more peppers?
Thanks! Things really began sprouting and filling out quite recently as the weather's gotten brighter. You can harvest non-fruiting things such as lettuces and edible flowers basically when they look tasty! For instance, if you like baby spinach, plant more densely and then harvest the spinach earlier than if you prefer the large-leafed variety. For nasturtiums, I will be picking off a few leaves here and there as they grow. I just want to leave the majority, and harvest around the edges (esp. when it's this young). Interestingly, picking flowers off the nasturtium as they arrive actually encourages it to produce more flowers. So once they start blooming, I'll be picking away!
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely transplant peppers seedlings again if you think they need a bigger container. It really shouldn't bother them too much at all.
Good luck with the garden, and send pictures if you get a chance!
=)