Birdless in Brooklyn

Squash surprise

2010-07-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Plants are truly the craziest things. I've been watering two enormous pots of squash plants all summer. They continually have tons of blossoms, but I've never seen a squash on the plant.

Yesterday I watered again after work (it's been brutally hot here this week) and to my total shock, I saw this little guy growing:

The plant had turned itself a bit because of some wind and suddenly I noticed THIS:

It had been growing there all along! My plan for tomorrow's dinner is some stir fry with homegrown squash. It looks like there are more where this guy came from...

The next gardener in the family

2010-07-06T12:40:00.001-07:00

I was away in Iowa for a little while and Chris was in charge of the watering. He did such a good job that TOMATOES GREW!

Sleepy squash blossoms

2010-06-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

I love how these squash blossoms really look like they're in the fetal position... sleepy and waking up slowly as they grow.

Tomato buds?

2010-06-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Will these buds become tomatoes? Or more branches? Pretty weird and fuzzy and alien-looking, huh?

The squash race.

2010-06-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting study: plant four healthy squash plants in two different pots (one green, one blue) and put them on opposite ends of the garden. See which one grows faster.

Blue bin squash: for a while, this one had the most blossoms. But other than a little growth, these guys are still roughly the same size that they were when I moved them outside.

Now take in the green bin squash. I wonder if Chris has been adding something magic to them when I'm not looking.

It's a race for a squash... I'll keep you updated.

HOLY CRUD, IT'S A SUNFLOWER!

2010-06-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

I mean, I planted those seeds and put some water in the pot everyday and stuck the pot in the sun, but I think in the back of my mind I was always pretty sure that sunflowers were not going to come out of that process. Not Van Gogh-worthy sunflowers!

And yet here's one, the smallest one, who just opened itself this morning. This is awesome.

Face plant into a flower by a bee.

2010-06-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

This bee loves one of our Calibracoa (million bells) plants. Yesterday I caught him flirting with some pretty orange ones, yellow pollen dust following him out of each flower he met.

Mushrooms and pea recipes

2010-06-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Something magical happened yesterday in the garden. Maybe it was the 88 degree weather or maybe it was the presence of the new Gardenia or maybe it was the rain from a couple of passing thunderstorms, but this morning presented me with some weird stuff in the garden.

Most notably, these mushrooms in the tomato plant pot:

Weird, right? I swear they were not there yesterday when I watered.

The pea plants are presenting me with a new challenge: how can you use a handful of pea pods on a regular basis? Today I added them to my leftover spaghetti for lunch:

More pea cooking solutions to come, I hope. In fact, that would be a great blog: "Things to do with 6 pea pods." Someone create that and I'll be your biggest fan.

Around the garden this morning...

2010-06-01T07:27:00.001-07:00

I just ate a bunch of pea pods in a stir fry this weekend and these guys are already big enough to eat.

More and more leaves growing on the squash, which had a rough transition outdoors.

With the purchase of my Gardenia, I had a new container to fill. A couple of random cucumber plants now call it home.

The Gardenia loving its first morning at home.

We got a tree!

2010-05-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

So I've been looking to buy a tree. We have lots of short, wide pots of flowers and veggies on the deck, but I wanted something vertical. We also have an empty corner that's been looking pretty sad... which made today's random walk past a flower shop particularly tempting.

You guys, I bought a Gardenia!

To be fair, I didn't know what it was and I was first looking at the Hibiscus tree (crazy pink flowers and pretty tall). But suddenly I caught a whiff of something delicious. Like someone sprayed some perfume, except better. And so I turned my head and caught sight of these bad boys:

After a lengthy conversation with a local gardener who happened to be passing by, I was sold. I carried it home and made the doorman smell the flowers on my way upstairs. When Chris opened the door, there I stood, holding a tree in my arms and grinning like a kid on Christmas. He laughed for ten minutes about that. He buys PS3 games, I buy trees.

Here's the new inhabitant of our deck! I wish you could smell it across the Internets, but you'll have to trust me. It smells crazy good.

Where sunflowers come from.

2010-05-28T07:57:00.001-07:00

Images from the garden

2010-05-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Chris' dad and step-mom arrive today to visit us for the weekend and as I watered the garden this morning, I thought about how far the deck has come in terms of decoration and becoming guest-ready. Last night at dusk I lay out on one of the lounge chairs, the air finally cool enough to breathe, and had the familiar feeling of loving where we live. The moon was full and Oscar was happy to lay under the chair, swishing his tail.

It was a nice night.

Herb garden update

2010-05-25T09:45:00.001-07:00

The herbs are thriving outside- all except the basil growing alongside the tomatoes. It's so windy up on our deck that the poor guys look war-torn. Here are the herbs, holding their ground:

Cilantro: this screams out salsa. Must do that this weekend.

What exactly does one do with oregano?

Even the tomato plants have trouble with the wind:

Basil nursery in toilet paper rolls...

The only thriving basil left; could be because it's been protected by the big sunflowers.

Sneaky Peas.

2010-05-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Attention lovers of Where's Waldo?: feast your eyes on the following pictures and try to find some sugar peas.

Did you see them? Cause I water these plants everyday and I never saw them until yesterday. Sugar Peas would make good chameleons... here's a closer look:

Now it's not enough for dinner yet, but I think I will be taking a couple of these guys off the vine tonight to stimulate more pea production. Exciting news for the little garden that could...

Cucumber spotting!

2010-05-21T07:25:00.001-07:00

The cucumber crop has seen better days. I haven't yet planted them in their new outdoor homes, but they've been living on the picnic table for the last week or so. Here they are, looked ragged:

But last night I noticed something happening on one of the plants. Holy moly, it's a spiky cucumber!

So this looks a little too much like a pickle for my tastes (yes, I am a pickle hater), so I am hoping it keeps growing. Grow, little one, grow!

Either way, veggies are on their way!

Cat grass goes to seed

2010-05-20T08:47:00.001-07:00

Here's what's interesting about plants like cat grass: just as it starts going to seed at the top, new shoots start again at the bottom. I like that symmetry.

Also, this could be the only cat grass that ever made it that far since SOMEONE is still uninterested as hell.

They're pink! And happy-looking!

2010-05-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Now that the garden is up and running, it's time to start investigating flowers for the other part of our deck. We have so much outdoor space (I know, I sound like I deserve a punch in the face) that it looks empty even with the non-trivial-sized garden.

Courtney and I talked through the flower plan the other week; she suggested a few plants that hang off the wooden fence on the deck and several groupings of potted flowers around the area where we hang out and read.

I found this Calibracoa at the farmer's market this weekend and I love it so much. It's bright and big and I think it will be a great hanging plant for the fence. Attempts to attach brackets to said fence this weekend were futile; more on that in another post. For now, here's the pink goodness!

Cucumber Advice Requested!

2010-05-12T08:40:00.001-07:00

My cucumber plants have been fairly wussy so far. I've tried bringing them outside for a few hours at a time and they freak out, brown their leaves and hold the grudge. Even now - 3 weeks since their last outdoor adventure! - they're still holding back growing new leaves. Their fuzzy-flower-messes, however... now those are growing like crazy.

I'm curious to hear from other cucumber growers... is this normal? Doesn't a plant need LEAVES to grow? Evidence below shows a little bit of leaf action, but nothing like the squash. Help!

Growing baby violets

2010-05-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

You know what's the best thing ever? Making baby plants from your adult plants. It's so easy and so inexpensive and so perfect for gifts. Who doesn't want a baby violet for their birthday? No one. That's who.

To make a baby violet cutting, you'll need four items: an already existing violet plant, an empty pot, a container that the pot fits nicely into, and some dirt (here I'm using African violet mix, though I think you can also try plain soil).

First, fill the pot with dirt. Try to fill it up almost all the way.

Next, take a look at your healthy, adult plant. You're going to want to select a couple of leaves that look large and healthy.

Here's one that looks good. (By the way, how cute is the little fur that grows on violets? Adorable.)

I typically cut 2 or 3 leaves PER baby plant. Sometimes one of the leaves rots or doesn't grow new roots. I'd advise against cutting just one leaf. And don't worry about the mama plant- it will take the extra energy it was using to grow those big leaves and turn it into many more smaller leaves (and maybe, if you're lucky, blooms!).

Shove the leaves into the soil so that the soil is covering at least the part where the base meets the stem. Pack the soil firmly against the leaf so that it seems wedged in there.

You're basically done! All that's left is to water your violet. PAY ATTENTION. Violets do NOT like to be watered from the top. It's important to water your violet from the BOTTOM. How do you do that? Pour some water into the bottom container (this one has no holes, though your baby violet container should have some). Water will be sucked up into the soil and help the roots grow from there. This is how you should water your violet for the rest of its life, not just at the beginning!

So what's gonna happen? Put the violet in a warm spot (but not too sunny... partial sun is perfect). Baby plants could take a while to appear. Before we moved to our current apartment and its perfect light, I had leaves in a pot for 6 months. They never died, but I didn't get baby plants either. In our current place, the babies appeared in 2 months or so. Look at these little guys!

So that's it! You don't need to water your violet everyday (in fact, I'd suggest 2 or 3 times per week, max). If you need to go away for a week, your violet will be totally fine if you water it just before you leave. No need to get a plant sitter.

Also, violets don't like having water on their leaves. Often they'll develop brown spots if they get wet. It won't harm the plant, but it's not as nice looking as dark green leaves! For this reason, be sure to water it from the bottom. On a side note, Gloxinia works almost exactly the same. I've used the same process with leaves and soil and watering from the bottom for that plant. No success with babies so far, but I keep trying.

One last thing- it took me years to get flowers on my violets. Don't discourage if you don't have blooms for a while... you still have a lovely little fuzzy plant and I'd guess that a warmer and sunnier spot is the only magic solution to drawing out flowers. Good luck!

Mother's Day weekend means planting with Mom

2010-05-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

My Mom loves planting flowers for our house. Every year we plant them on Mother's Day and watch them bloom until late fall, when she finally has to dump them into our compost heap. The challenge is always figuring out which flowers to buy (she aims for partial-sun plants since both the deck and front of the house are slightly shaded during the day). This year we came home with the following:

Ageratum, Alyssum, Bacopa, Calibrachoa Hybrid, Double Petunia, Petunia, Oxalis, Dracaena Spikes, Snapdragons, Salvia, Variegatus and Hypoestes. Since that's a whole mouthful of names, the photos of our day of planting are below. Enjoy!

Flower power

2010-05-07T07:09:00.001-07:00

This morning I showed Chris how to water the garden while I'm away this weekend (Mother's Day) and just after he went inside, I yelled back to him. I had discovered some sweet pea flowers on the pea vines.

Looks like the cucumbers are trying to follow their lead:

Lessons learned in a garden

2010-05-06T07:11:00.001-07:00

1. You can never grow enough basil.

New basil nursery in toilet paper rolls.

2. Environmental changes can cause plants to freak out... but once they get used to it, new (stronger) growth comes out.

3. There are going to be windy days. If you don't grow a strong stem, you're in trouble.

Sunflowers

4. New growth will use old growth for structure.

New sugar pea sprouts use older vines for support.

5. Gloxinia is a crazy, awesome plant.

Gloxinia mega-blooms.

My walk to work

2010-04-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

I've been walking halfway to work for the past three weeks. This has become one of my favorite things. Even the rainy days have been dry for my 35 minute walk to City Hall and I haven't missed a day yet. From City Hall, I jump on the subway for two stops to work. Easy as pie.

Our first customer

2010-04-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like this blog's name is going to have to change. Two weeks ago we had some friends over for brunch and there was a bird sighting. It was a quick one and the bird didn't eat any of the sunflower seeds set out for it, but it was something.

Then this morning, I'm innocently eating my cereal when I spot this action:

A BIRD! I said in a loud whisper to no one in particular. WAIT THERE! So I quietly ran to grab my camera in case this never happened again.

He (she?) flew away and I noticed all the seeds on the ground. This bird came by to EAT! And here I thought the bird feeder was going to be decorative.

On a high from the bird sighting, I went to check out my Gloxinia and the violets.

Gloxinia is full of more blooms. This one looked particularly grumpy this morning:

One day soon I'll do a post about how you can grow baby plants from violets, but for now I'll just show the pictorial evidence:

Birds and blooms? It's gotta be spring!

P.S. I give my brother or our friend Bob 10 minutes before they identify the little bird in this post. Go!

Squash it Monday!

2010-04-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

Now moved to their outdoor home, we have flowers! And you know what follows flowers... VEGGIES!

Oscar is introduced to his very own crop of cat grass.

2010-04-23T07:18:00.001-07:00

Long Live Fuschia!

2010-04-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today's post is by my friend Sima. I thought it would be fun to have guest gardeners chat about their planting experiences from time to time and she's the first one. Thanks, Sim!

My two-year-old daughter's version of gardening is to take flowers, pull out the petals one by one and collect them in a flower pot alongside her Play-Doh. I think she gets this from me. My approach, though less direct, often wields similar results. Every plant I have brought into the six apartments that I've lived in over the past ten years has died aside from one or two branches of bamboo. Even the eighty-year-old snake plant that my grandfather gave me as he assured me it was easy to care for keeled over after getting caught in the rain. I moved it outside because it looked like it needed more light but what it didn't need was a NY in April storm's worth of water poured on it.

I'm not going to let this deter me. Creating a small terrace garden has been a goal of mine since I moved to NJ in September and ordered my copy of the Cook and the Gardener. And I don't want just any old greenery. I want color and beauty and some herbs or vegetables to bake into something delicious. Like Jen, I'm into projects and I'm always very optimistic when taking on a new one. The biggest challenge to this, besides my gardening skills, is that my terrace only gets full sunlight in one tiny corner, so I have been on the lookout for plants that can thrive with limited sunlight.

On a Sunday trip to the supermarket, I discovered fuschia- pendulous pink globes that will one day burst open into flowers suspended from deep green leaves like paper lanterns . At least fifty tiny worlds of possibility packed into one pot! And the best part? The directions specifically indicate that they like full or partial shade. How could this fail?

When I brought home my fuschia and removed the plastic it was looking a bit droopy and sad but I found a special place for it and watered it thoroughly. I've been checking on it every day (at least once) and today I noticed that my first bud was opening! See those luscious purple curves? Isn't she the sexiest little flower?

I prefer to think that I over-love rather than over-water. So far the fuschia has survived my tending. Now all it has to do is survive my daughter.

Look what we woke up to!

2010-04-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Next summer's $2 project.

2010-04-20T07:06:00.001-07:00

Courtney and I hit up the Farmer's market in Brooklyn Heights this weekend and some of the more tempting purchasing options (other than the apple cider donuts and CAKE!) were the rows and rows of baby plants.

That's when I realized that my tomato plants? They could totally be sold next year. $2 a pot, here I come!

Tomato plants, 44 days old.

Infestation.

2010-04-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

So, this is nasty. A few days ago I noticed some gnat-like insects hanging onto the sugar peas that are still indoors. I waved my hand around to create some wind and knock them off; they did not move. Those little suckers were stuck on there.

I was able to pluck them off one by one, but that got gross. Here's what they look like:

Within two days, they had made it to the squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. I searched a bit online and found a likely answer: I have aphids.

Maybe more appropriately: my garden has aphids. I, thankfully, am bug-free.

Last night I bought a spray bottle, then filled it with 2 tbsp dish soap and lukewarm water. I sprayed every leaf and stem and this morning the situation was better. Apparently the soap makes the stems and leaves too slippery for the insect to keep its footing. Aphids suck the plant to get all that good growing juice. This results in yellow leaves and, eventually, dead plantage. I'm hoping that I caught them in time!

Anyone have experience with these guys?

The first ones out.

2010-04-16T14:29:00.001-07:00

Last night I planted the peas outside and staked them with dowels and dental floss. Today, of course, it was windy and rainy. I've been worried about them all day.

Gloxinia blooms on the way!

2010-04-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is the story of the Gloxinia.

Last year I wanted to have a fire escape garden. On our way back to my place, I saw a garden store.

"I need soil!" I said to Chris. We entered the store to find that the ONLY bag of soil they had weighed 40 pounds.

"I'll carry it!" Chris said. (A KEEPER, LADIES!)

Per usual, I did not have cash on me. To use a card, I had to spend at least $15. I considered my plant options and a stunning (I mean, STUNNING!) little plant called out.

"What's a Gloxinia?" I asked the lady. She told me that it was similar to an African violet and that you care for them much in the same way. I didn't listen to the rest because I too distracted by how amazing it looked in bloom. I purchased both soil and plant and my dashing boyfriend carried the 40 pounds of soil all the way home, where I replenished him with lots of Gatorade since he was looking wilted.

The Gloxinia bloomed for a month, maybe. Then it dropped its flowers and I was unclear what to do next. I had not yet had the awesome blooming African violet experience under my belt, so I was pretty skeptical about it blooming again. I read a blog that told me to cut all the leaves away and put the pot of soil (with bulb) in a dark closet for a few months.

I did that.

Then I brought it out again and started watering. A little leaf grew. Then another one. It was like magic! Then we moved to our current greenhouse apartment.

And THIS, ladies and gentlemen is what we're looking at now!

This plant is about to launch itself into being a full-time bouquet! And I could not be more pumped.

Side note: you may notice a coin sticking out of the soil in one of the photos above. This is a little quirky thing about my planting. There's no rhyme or reason to when this happens, but I like to stick foreign coins in particularly beloved plants. The Gloxinia has a Colombian coin, my cactus has one from India. I think I stuck a Euro in one of the violets. Kind of a fun tradition.

Herbs: the tiniest ones in the garden

2010-04-13T06:57:00.001-07:00

They don't grow very fast or tall, but they sure are the best smelling things in the garden...

Basil, 37 days old.

Cilantro, 37 days old.

Oregano, 37 days old.

Squash it Monday!

2010-04-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Squash, 36 days old.

Surprise! It's a lettuce plant.

2010-04-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was walking through the Farmer's Market this afternoon (and quite hungry, I might add) when I spotted some bags of lettuce. Perfect for a salad, I thought. And then when I got home, I looked more closely:

Still hungry for a salad, I laughed and decided to give them haircuts, then plant them. So that is what I did.

I'm not at all sure they'll survive, but I gave them a home with the rest of the garden inhabitants. They look pretty funny among the babies, I have to say.

Cucumber Casualty.

2010-04-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

So when I planted all my seeds this spring, I assumed that not everything would sprout and grow and thrive. A surprising amount did. Out of all the things I planted, there were only 3 or 4 duds in the bunch.

But today I think we're going to count our first real casualty in the seedling garden. Look at this sad little cucumber guy!

To give you some perspective, here's what his brothers are looking like:

Possibly for the best, though. This weekend I'm going to start moving plants outside and I will have to either buy 5 billion containers for them to live in all summer or give some away. I guess survival of the fittest is alive and well, even in Brooklyn.

Expansion

2010-04-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

So remember that little garden that I started in two old litterboxes? Let me refresh your memory of the old days.

Well, things have changed. My little garden has taken over the place!

The last frost date can't come soon enough... we need these guys out on the deck before they take over the apartment. Or before someone else (who has been keeping his distance lately) gets some destructive ideas...

Les tournesoleils.

2010-04-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

Kind of one of those days already, so how about a few pictures of baby sunflowers to make things a bit brighter?

Community Garden in Seattle

2010-04-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a trip to Seattle and though there is much to share about our garden, I thought I'd take a day to relax and share some images of a community garden instead.

We stumbled onto this on our way to dinner one night. I love the way it seems like many people participate with small plots in this garden and especially how it's not organized in any way. It feels really fun and inspiring.

It really made me miss our little garden at home!

P.S. If you happen to be in Seattle, this garden was on Elliott and Vine. Check it out!

Sugar Pea support line!

2010-03-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

The Sugar Peas have grown too tall for their own good. Though some of them are leaning on the windows, some have found some more creative ways to stay up.

Tendrils getting itchy for some support.

Dental floss as a helper!

A little help from some friends.

Squash it Monday!

2010-03-29T08:55:00.001-07:00

CAT-astophe.

2010-03-27T08:43:00.001-07:00

Here I was, innocently snapping pictures of the sunflowers that are coming up like periscopes on submarines. Like this:

Oscar approached. He jumped on my lap. And then, somehow, I caught this all on camera.

I froze, then Chris came over to help, then I cried a little. Because... WHAT THE HELL, CAT? I know it was an accident, but he sure did look satisfied.

Who knows how this is going to work out. But Chris (with his logical brain) told me that plants in nature have to survive lots more than this. Somehow we put humpty dumpty back together again. Back to our regularly scheduled Saturday programming. Sigh.

Container Gardening... go!

2010-03-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

When you garden in an urban area, you're often limited to "container gardening." But which containers? And where do you buy them? Luckily, it's really easy and cheap to get the containers that will house your summer garden.

I'm big with recycling, so I'm always looking for ways to re-use packaging from the stuff we buy. Since I started this garden a few weeks ago, I'm like a hawk around the recycling bin. Anything that looks remotely helpful for a garden... well, I'm all over it. Here's a bunch of stuff that I have saved up for when I need to re-pot:

Can't wait to try TP rolls for long-rooted seedlings.

Those Jiffy pots in the background are the only things on that table that I purchased. I used them in the very beginning with my seeds, although I could have used egg cartons. We don't eat enough eggs to do the whole garden like this, but I managed to save one for the Oregano:

Not sure how this would do with a larger plant, like the squash. It works great for the teeny Oregano, though.

Here are some other reusable objects that I had lying around:

Cat grass growing in an old strawberry container.

A Trader Joe's asparagus carton is perfect for one block of Jiffy pots. These are growing sunflowers.

When it comes to African violets, you have to water them from the bottom. That means they always need to be placed in a larger bowl or container so that the plant can suck up water through the holes in its pot. Here's the result of a yogurt craving and a night of take-out:

Of course, if you're planting vegetable or fruit plants, you'll want to be sure that the container you're using is the right kind of material. According to Gayla Trail in Grow Great Grub, you have to be careful not to use a plastic container that might break down under heat or time (chemicals in your food = not the goal). Turn your potential container upside-down. Does it have a 1, 2, 4 or 5? You're good to go. Other numbers (3, 6 and 7 specifically) shouldn't be used to grow food.

And that's it! Super easy and super cheap. What are you waiting for? Container-ize!

The Ladies.

2010-03-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

This morning (upon my morning ritual of staring at the garden for a long, long time), I laughed out loud when I saw the broccoli. Like something out of Dream Girls, the broccoli seedlings seem to have grown a couple of arms clothed in bell sleeves alongside their little faces.

Ms. Diva, 18 days old.

Can't you just picture them screaming with delight as you walk in the door? "DAHLING!" they cry, "It's been AGES!"

Funnier still is to see them all together, a bunch of tall, thin broccoli fashionistas, throwing their arms to the sky in dramatic symphony.

Cilantro recognizable!

2010-03-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Lots of people said growing Cilantro is hard. And maybe it is. Maybe it's growing like a weed right now and will hit a wall one of these days, shrivel up and inexplicably die.

But this morning it was doing just fine and is finally starting to look like the Cilantro I know and use and love. Looking at those little leaves is making me mega-hungry for fresh salsa. Now, if only I could grow tortilla chips...

Cilantro, 17 days old.

Tight Grip.

2010-03-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

Squash it Monday!

2010-03-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

You know how I'm thinking about this Monday morning? SQUASH IT!

Squash, 15 days old.

P.S. Cat hair optional.

Sugar Peas, you overachieving scoundrels!

2010-03-21T09:33:00.001-07:00

So we all know overachievers. I'm one of them. This is probably why I love sugar peas so very much.

Here is how they start:

Sugar peas, 3 days old.

Then they're five days old and start showing leaves:

Then they're standing up straight and tall after six days:

Then they're a week old and growing tendrils:

Tendrils! In a week! I think you can see where this is going. The next step after tendrils is a little something I like to call "GRAB ONTO ANYTHING IN MY PATH." Which is why you can imagine I'd be a little worried when they all grew so big and so fast that they were in each other's way.

Sugar peas, 13 days old.

Sugar peas, reaching tendrils at 13 days old.

So yesterday I went on down to Dig and asked what I could do for my little buddies. The plan is to eventually have them wind their way around our railing, but there's another 27 days til the last frost. By then, they will have grown four times around the apartment and laced us to our cat. Luckily, the answer was easy: repot and give them something to aim for.

This is how I found myself repotting sugar peas at 10pm on a Saturday night. When I picked up their Jiffy pots to carry it over to the counter where the surgery would take place, I noticed something that I had never captured in a photo: ROOTS.

Clearly these guys needed some more space. So I moved them (Jiffy pot and all) into larger Jiffy pots, with the knowledge that they are going to expand in the pot, but the goal for the next four weeks is to keep their tendrils otherwise occupied. The guy at Dig suggested wooden dowels, but I found these pieces of wire in some old pots on our deck and figured they might work out ok.

Excited to see if they start wrapping themselves around the wire, but knowing sugar peas, I'll need to find another solution by this evening. Sugar peas, you scoundrels! *shakes fist at sky*

Gardening in 2010

2010-03-21T07:37:00.001-07:00

Last summer, I kept a little garden on my fire escape in Greenpoint. I had enough room for basil, catnip, sugar peas, green beans and lettuce; in the end, only the basil got used. It was a mega-pain to climb out the window to weed the window boxes of lettuce and I only produced enough peas and beans for one meal.

But this year, I'm a little smarter. I'm also in a bit of a different situation in terms of where I live. We have an 600 sq foot deck attached to our place, which means that my garden dreams can handle a ton more energy. Having some friends that are into gardening helps too.

I read through Grow Great Grub yesterday and discovered some tips for the summer. Part of the reason I only ended up with a few peas and beans last summer is... (wait for it...) that I NEVER HARVESTED THEM. I let the same beans and peas on the vines all summer, until I finally picked them in August, when they were dry and inedible. GGG taught me that I have to harvest all summer long so that the plants keep growing food. Genius! (Or really, really obvious).

So how do you grow a garden in Brooklyn? We don't have a yard, so I'll be container gardening like I did last year. Container gardening feels a little restrictive, but I'm hoping to find a way to combine the boxes with the space. One of the coolest plans is to have the sugar peas wrap around the railing that goes all the way around our deck. Decorative peas! Here's a look at what we inherited from the previous tenants:

This year I decided to get things started with seeds instead of small plants. I was itching for spring to start and knew that I could start seeds inside sooner than sowing directly outside. I asked our local garden store for some advice two weeks ago and they told that the last frost of the year is scheduled for mid-April (according to some Farmers). I had about 6 weeks to get the seeds going. And holy crap, are they going!

Sunflowers and sugar peas, plus the watering spoon.

Squash, cilantro, basil and sugar peas.

Sugar peas, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers and oregano.

Here's what I have planned for this summer:
* sugar peas
* broccoli
* squash
* tomatoes
* cucumbers
* watermelon
* basil
* cilantro
* oregano
* sunflowers
* maybe if I'm really brave, a blueberry bush

One of the shortcomings I found on the Internet with regard to growing plants from seeds is a lack of images that show what plants look like after a week, 2 weeks, etc. How do you know you're on track?

I'm hoping to use this space as a seed image archive, a site that new growers can consult to see how their seeds are sprouting. I'm also going to report back about the challenges of container growing and the problems and successes with urban gardens. Planting seeds in boxes on my cement deck sure doesn't feel as earthy as it did when I spent four summers working at a farm during college, but it's a compromise (and creative challenge!) for now.

Birdless in Brooklyn

2010-03-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

My brother got us this bird feeder for Christmas and we finally put it up last weekend. For a whole week, this giant tube of sunflower seeds has been hanging on our deck. While hanging it, I wondered how often we would have to fill it. Daily? Bi-weekly? Where do we buy replacement birdseed when this one ran out?

Turns out, we don't. Cause up here, on the 8th floor of an apartment complex in downtown Brooklyn, we haven't had one bird visitor. If you grew up anywhere greener than a parking garage, you are probably as mystified as I am. Where. Are. The. Birds?!

This blog is a space for me to track what it's like trying to grow a garden and bring a little greenery to my life in Brooklyn. It's about urban gardening, urban wildlife and the parks of New York. Away we go!