Clippings from the Garden

Veggie Tales

I got too excited and plucked one of the Sweet n Neat Cherry Red tomato's off before it was time. I have been watching these and waiting for them to turn red and finally some are turning!

These are my heirloom tomatos. They are surpassing the size of the cherry tomatos. I can't wait! This is my first time growing tomato's. But so far, so good.

I have already eaten two of the strawberries from this plant. The first one was so sweet but, once again, I picked the second one before it was really time. I've got two more on the way and a few more growing right behind them.


I must say that I cheated with these. I bought them already established and didn't plant from seed. I am breaking myself in slowly. I am not the most patient person and I think if I grew these from seed I wouldn't have made it. These are good sized plants! But I did throw a few other seeds in the ground of other things and they are growing.

Flowers at work

I cut some of my roses to bring into work with me today.

Makes being here not so bad...

Fruits of my labor

I have a zillion plants that offer me tranquility, but only a few that actually produce edible pleasure. I have mint in the front yard for spur of the moment mojitos. A peach tree in the backyard that we wrestle the birds for a bite. A grape vine we gave over to the birds. A thornless blackberry bush you would think to be a weed, it's so small, but in its first year it produced three blackberries! I got one and the birds got two.

New additions to this garden family are a strawberry and tomato plant. The tomato plant is very dramatic though. I hope this relationship lasts long enough to bear fruit. One day without water and it's wilting and crying like I neglected it for over a week. There is only room for one drama queen in this family. :)

I planted some seeds right in the ground for cucumbers, peppers, lettuce and carrots. Not sure if anything will transpire but I still scour the ground for a sign.

My little pellet garden isn't doing so well. I planted a bunch of flowers in those peat pellet garden sets. Thing is, you shouldn't leave them inside too long because they become too thin and leggy reaching for the real sun. I've since moved it outside but I fear I have lost several that were doing well. The new little sprouts are coming up strong though. I think from now on I'll just plant right in the ground and hold my breath.

My new little seeds I planted before I went on my trip to Florida are coming up nicely. I can't remember exactly where I put them all, but I have six so far that took flight. I was so impressed that I've got six more to plant around the front and back yard.

I picked up another soaker hose for the backyard to hit the newer additions. They hook right up to each other which is nice. In the process of hitting the bottom layer of yard with mulch and need to finish up the border around it. Then add another layer of mulch to the top section of the yard to cover the soaker house and freshen it up a bit.

Almost there...

Orchid Attempt

Okay, I have no idea what I am doing here, but something had to be done. D bought me an Phal orchid last year sometime. Might have even been longer than that. It came already flowering. I left the stem in tact after the flowers died. Time passed and new growth appeared on the stem. I thought it might be another flower stalk, but it wasn't. It was a baby orchid plant. After researching, they call it a keiki, the Hawaiian word for baby. A baby orchid growing on a stem of an adult orchid! How cute is that?

When I was in Florida, we went to a Bloom and Chalk Festival and I began talking to a man at an orchid booth about my little plant. By this time, the adult plant had died. Maybe because all of its energy went to feeding this little plant. Either way, he said that if it had some roots that were a good size it was ready to cut and plant it in its own pot. Keep your fingers crossed....

Here it is, still attached to the stem of the dead flower plant.

A close up. Newly potted in its new home. I used orchid bark and put one of two roots inside the bark. The other one positioned itself out of the bark because of the way its growing. The leaves are a little shriveled, but I'm hoping that it will regain some moisture after sitting on top a bed of rocks with water to increase the humidity. Also, I wet the bark before I put it inside the pot. I think I've done everything I was supposed to do. Now all I can do is sit back and wait and hope it survives.

At least it has its own cheering section while I am at work. :)

New Bird Feeder and Blooms

Just got back from visiting Val in Florida. What an amazing trip! That post will be coming soon. I have so many great pictures but I don't know how to narrow it down so my post isn't a mile long! One of our days were spent at a function run by her friend Kimm in Safety Harbor. It was a Chalk and Bloom Festival. Nestled away in the shops of downtown was a cute little florist store. There was so much to look at but we found this adorable bird feeder. It looks like a blue Gerber daisy with a red center. I just bought the hook and put it out in the yard. It looks like it was made to come home with me and be here. Thank you Val for the gift that will continuously remind me of my trip each time I look at it. I also have a new bloom on one of my rose plants. I can't wait for it to open up entirely!