The Orchid Continues

As I attempt to not die from whatever lung disease I caught over the holidays, I have had one amazing delight that's helped me through the phelgm-iest illness parts: My orchid is blooming! 

The very same orchid from this post in 2013. I told myself even then that it would bloom eventually, and it did. 

So happy! 

It's been three years since I rescued it from it's near death experience and it seems to finally be happy enough to bloom.

Now for my lungs to get happy... and to get back to posting! <3

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist

Plantlings to Ploddlers to Tiny Tomatoes

The gardening season is coming to a close. Within the next couple weeks my tomato babies will be grandparents, nearing the end of their time living on my balcony.

(I was warned that it was a bad idea to personify my plants... It's just So Sad.)

As fall approaches and canning season is in full fervour,  I find my little plant babies grumbling about the cold and fussing about too much rain. It reminds me of the beginning though. Time has just Flown by. 

Overall, Mission: Urban Garden on the Balcony has been a success! My petunias Exploded. My basil and mint grew too big for their containers so I had to cut them back. And my tomatoes bounced back from having blight earlier in June and I got a delightful crop of tomatoes (which I have to admit to eating most of myself....). And lastly, my poor clamatis, which I thought was deadened from an early summer planter flood, bloomed! I'm super pleased with the results. 

Of course this just means that next year there will be even grander plans that I'll attempt to half-ass. It just worked out so well this time round! Maybe next year it'll work out even better. 

To Optimism. To Gardening. To next year not eating all my tomatoes and making garlic tomato and roasted red pepper jam!

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist


The Last Sunlight Bender

As previously said, I am an amateur gardener (in the most generous sense). My grandfather was the real gardener in the family and among the books and plants I also inherited from him a green thumb, an inclination for trying new things and a stubborn head. 

This past spring I planted seeds for the third time in my life. Amazingly, they grew! All credit goes to the mind blowing process that is seed germination. As the little plinfants grew and grew, they started to require some more room. (Kinda like crib to big kid bed! Yes. My plants are my babies. Also Yes. I foresee this being a traumatic allegory decision.)

Anyways. I started by harassing a friend with a car to drive me to a garden centre. Mission get my plinfants a big kid bed: initiate! I also got a lovely lattice for the balcony. Decorating with plants, check. 

I filled the weighted planter with black dirt and potting soil (gloves not required!) and got my Sweetie tomato babies into their new home. Now, tomatoes aren't stand alone plants. They need cages. Like bars on the top bunk. (Oooo. Bunk bed analogy. 12 self-points.) Since my access to the garden centre was limited (Miss you Taylor!!) it was off to the dollar store to figure out a makeshift temporary cage. String stick cage = better than nothing!

Actually, I was really pleased with the dollar store's seasonal garden aisle, if I'm honest. I ended up buying bins to repot the Tiny Tims tomatoes, and later, actual metal cages. 

So far so good! My plant babies were living full time outside and I bought some fertilizer to keep them growing strong. Unfortunately though, the weather was not cooperating. 4 days straight of cloud and rain make for very unhappy plant campers. Especially since they're stuck in planters. I did what I could to reduce the amount of water that deluged my plant babies, but weather is an unstoppable force. 

My Sweetie's currently have some blight, which makes me cry a bit, but hopefully with some pruning, good weather and lots of sun they will feel better. They seem to still be pretty happy as they've fruited! Yay! The Tiny Tims are also flowering; Basil plants are getting woody; and Mint is bushing out. (Haha.) So far mission balcony garden is doing very well! 

-knocks on wood-

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist

Seedling Update!

Quicky Update!!

My baby plants are growing up! I've thinned out the scraggly seedlings (poor little guys... it was hard to do!) and transferred the heartier guys to some new tubs where they will hopefully grow some stronger roots. 

It's exciting to see plants grow from teeny tiny dots of matter into lovely bright green splendour. Now to wait for flowers and fruit! Fingers crossed for warmer weather! 

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist

The Seedy Start

I've started my own seedlings for two years now but it still seems brand new every year. My gardening stuff unfortunately did not make the move to ON so first step was to get a new seed tray, and new soil, and new seeds! This adorable little green house was the closest to my place. I feel like I will be spending an inordinate amount of time in that place in years to come....

Now that The Stuff was replenished I got to hydrating the little soil disc things. I've never used them before, typically I just used potting soil and pots, but I think I will be using these weird discs again next year. They hydrated very quickly and the mesh makes them easy to move (if necessary). When my little plant roots grow in there will be significantly less fighting with plastic trays for plant freedom too. Yay!

I planted my tomatoes first but I also have a lot of seeds that I've collected over the last year: Apple and plum seeds from my Dad's backyard; Chestnuts from Washington; Citrus seeds from fruit from the grocery store; etc. (Also herb seeds, but pretty sure every gardener has bags of oregano and parsley seeds stashed around.) I found this good beginners guide to planting and caring for seedlings so we'll see what grows! Go Go Gadget Half-Assed Gardening Experiment!

After they seed rows were labeled and watered and lidded, I went on a hunt for a seed warming pad. This turned out to be a rather futile experience. So I turned to making my own heat. AKA Ikea lamp and a "Plant bulb". Despite if the light source is "appropriate" or not, it's warm! So grow seedlings, grow!! <3 

-Andrea

The Half-Assed Hobbyist