tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50248863982643770932024-03-05T16:13:34.076-08:00My Kailua Garden: a teenager's attempt at growthUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-36113190021056157732012-03-29T13:31:00.000-07:002012-03-29T13:31:55.030-07:00Spring CleaningHey all!<br />
Last week I was finally able to go in an rejuvenate my suffering garden (and my school stressed self). You've gotta love SPRING BREAK :D<br />
After the hard rain we had been having+my slight procrastination of garden upkeep, I had a ton of greens to harvest, grass to pull, old plants to pull up (it always makes me sad to see them go, but excited to see what will go in their place), and seedlings to transplant. Phew! Still, I love it!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the arugula (this is a full sized towel!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is after the arugula harvest. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table>I went out one day and just harvested arugula (from a one foot square) and was up to my ears in the green stuff (My mom is in love with it, no complaints from her side). I ended up with three Safeway bags of the stuff.<br />
*Important tip: when harvesting, use the towel to also COVER or SHADE your greens. I went inside and a bunch of my harvest was wilting at the bottom. I had to race to get it in bags with a damp paper towel and into the fridge.<br />
Cut leaves + sun = :/<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of this from one cutting!!! I was stunned. </td></tr>
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Then I went in to tackle some of the neighboring square. It was (and still is) full to bursting with Burpee's Chop Suey Mix (look behind the harvested arugula to see it before any harvest). I just think of them as the purpose salad/stir-fry square. I only had one Kale plant in the square foot, but the leaves I harvested were enough to make a full gallon freezer bag of spicy Mexican kale chips :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkay3tO47in8x61xGTw5g6kiByyVL_I-wjdEUt9PMz_FImWLzM5vV4jz-_IplIZ7BG8ACzrj8kEP7DdyXgmeXZYpCtOzLRcNgMGI-CUgX7oxHLNSrdIfYbZoxrX4QckKV-UmjhkQv8rMNk/s1600/photo+1%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkay3tO47in8x61xGTw5g6kiByyVL_I-wjdEUt9PMz_FImWLzM5vV4jz-_IplIZ7BG8ACzrj8kEP7DdyXgmeXZYpCtOzLRcNgMGI-CUgX7oxHLNSrdIfYbZoxrX4QckKV-UmjhkQv8rMNk/s320/photo+1%25282%2529.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0aM3LCibeTqB-xxGDQsG1kavgNll3dYgK_7bEfaJrI65dwa2iYZjCzdUltUvVq5k_2Jm1mtHkKkCfslht7pun-tij3ApBPLwjzIJHJLOLZyRrE4Jqn3iqPiUzvXxdlccfzw7I7RMkdWg/s1600/photo+2%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>On another venture to the garden I continued to harvest from my stir-fry square. Wheedling through to cut out my tender bok-choy and Chinese cabbage. I can't wait to have it stir fried with plum sauce. (I think that will be on the menu as tonight's vegetable. hmmm.....)<br />
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The next day I went into my stir fry square, scissors in hand, towel at the ready. I needed to harvest some of the dominant green from the square (I don't remember what it's called so don't ask. If you know, please share :)<br />
After a full session of harvesting, I only really shaved a bit off the top (Round 2 this weekend!) Look What I ended up with! I needed to harvest more, but couldn't fathom that I would use it if any more than this. This pile on my counter was over half a foot high! (Still, the torn off leaves are great in salad, and with stems they shine in stir fry. Easy to eat)<br />
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After all of my greens harvesting, I decided to make salad mixes for some of my friends to get it off my hands. I went out and picked some beet and radish greens, divided my mountain of arugula, mystery green, and separated it all into 4 very full Safeway bags. Three of my neighbors found themselves with a wonderful salad base, and we got a huge bag as well. (Though with all that is still in the garden I probably could have given away all 4 and harvested another for our salad....) Ours of course had extra arugula for my mom.<br />
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Not only did I Harvest all of this wonder, my Pineapples are growing!!!!!! Look! I never knew that they make flowers on their eyes, so pretty!<br />
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I also pulled up my cucumbers after a successful season of pickling and salads. In my next post I'll show you all the fun things I put in their place ;)<br />
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Thanks for reading!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-75805150456968372432012-02-06T16:05:00.000-08:002012-02-06T16:05:04.099-08:00My Harvest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNkf2MTf6_JZ9uLqAx7k-V6iZgbPd_03aRnO6TECy7DRUmYIGX1DJH62AGzcw_HJCVn9pkNqVefQH8h6U2Ld9W7xESynqlBYjxHfBLNMz5c8WSJd9vFMMpbWrwXD9kaegrv3d35eYUeLv/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNkf2MTf6_JZ9uLqAx7k-V6iZgbPd_03aRnO6TECy7DRUmYIGX1DJH62AGzcw_HJCVn9pkNqVefQH8h6U2Ld9W7xESynqlBYjxHfBLNMz5c8WSJd9vFMMpbWrwXD9kaegrv3d35eYUeLv/s400/photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNkf2MTf6_JZ9uLqAx7k-V6iZgbPd_03aRnO6TECy7DRUmYIGX1DJH62AGzcw_HJCVn9pkNqVefQH8h6U2Ld9W7xESynqlBYjxHfBLNMz5c8WSJd9vFMMpbWrwXD9kaegrv3d35eYUeLv/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1"><br />
</a></div>Here was the bountiful harvest I came home to after a long three days being a PCCS at Girl Scout Camp and chasing around a hyper hoard of Brownies.<br />
From clock-wise from top left I gathered:<br />
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Adult arugula leaves<br />
Hericot Vert<br />
Some Asian greens from a Burpee Chop-suey Mix<br />
Baby arugula (my mom's favorite)<br />
A yellow zuchinni<br />
4 pickling cucumbers<br />
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I am super excited to see my cucumbers growing (due to my unfortunate attempts before, they turned orange.....)<br />
Better yet, this week's new recipe will definitely be pickles. I will post my results on my other blog in the near future :)<br />
As for the zuchinni, I get to harvest some of his friends today, and I ate him for lunch cut with a portabella mushroom and some cherry tomatoes heated with some spices, a little non-stick spray, and salt on the stove-top. Mmmmmmm....<br />
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Until next time,<br />
Keep up the gardening!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-23261818028235055062012-01-29T18:31:00.000-08:002012-01-29T18:31:42.541-08:00First Zuchini<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhw0FKMTCsPQ5HKAx58KNyXN7zLPi_NtGauiVkKTvZNOfO8xAagmvXnsW0VPaF3WovkO6UrLcjUMK1CLuX2KtoZhGOg-cKJwMQHiFZu-wALFBkkQECQmw2jxsuk1sTFi4qCtbk4X74rgk/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhw0FKMTCsPQ5HKAx58KNyXN7zLPi_NtGauiVkKTvZNOfO8xAagmvXnsW0VPaF3WovkO6UrLcjUMK1CLuX2KtoZhGOg-cKJwMQHiFZu-wALFBkkQECQmw2jxsuk1sTFi4qCtbk4X74rgk/s400/photo.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burpee Yellow Zuchini</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Yay! The first of many. I cut it a little late, so it is a touch too big. Other than that its beautiful. I cut it off the plant this morning, and will slice/grate it into tonight's salad. MMMMMM!<br />
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Soon there will be enough blossoms to harvest along with the squash! I am so excited to play around with them in the kitchen. If I do anything fun I'll be sure to post the link to my other blog!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-70166197385441761422012-01-17T20:51:00.000-08:002012-01-17T20:51:00.107-08:00What's Growing On?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"> Recently I went to Koolau Farmers and bought some herbs as well as some mite spray.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Growing I have rosemerry, mint, and a potted lemon tree. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyP1NGpNPw8fHO1qESA86tnFcYLFkPOwsSUzdhF4z6GMMBBk6Lcxk_c-NJX7LVFmivy3JMu2ZzZf8oduVQ-0D38Hw2M0PU06dQ_6-uJyVbqXOggtpsbkiKveGrUj3OA6a2f14HSQW8daR_/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyP1NGpNPw8fHO1qESA86tnFcYLFkPOwsSUzdhF4z6GMMBBk6Lcxk_c-NJX7LVFmivy3JMu2ZzZf8oduVQ-0D38Hw2M0PU06dQ_6-uJyVbqXOggtpsbkiKveGrUj3OA6a2f14HSQW8daR_/s320/photo+1.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBC4wvYUjMiV7c5QrpymnkSNqssy__Sn36g8od7J4uZ4Hl3o8bjnyAvvNRKgj0q_VID8VqgFg3LX8kITVMnWkqXdTv-Snphosfj3m3IfUFKbayaSwJriDlRbwM0LpwDchMI6stLwPFvAYW/s1600/meblog_January_13_2012_03_18_32_PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBC4wvYUjMiV7c5QrpymnkSNqssy__Sn36g8od7J4uZ4Hl3o8bjnyAvvNRKgj0q_VID8VqgFg3LX8kITVMnWkqXdTv-Snphosfj3m3IfUFKbayaSwJriDlRbwM0LpwDchMI6stLwPFvAYW/s1600/meblog_January_13_2012_03_18_32_PM.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmavhKpFZqKOufKCEt54jrrxRzed96Dpq7wj3Br6-ADkeG1Zscdc56R_0NvEG29nLbdPY2vU2SXuGhDzXsJR8JxGLymCXrQd9TkI-R43uxc3qW0cZJNYjnpIYDtyCJT5SGp6Vi3udoiXM/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmavhKpFZqKOufKCEt54jrrxRzed96Dpq7wj3Br6-ADkeG1Zscdc56R_0NvEG29nLbdPY2vU2SXuGhDzXsJR8JxGLymCXrQd9TkI-R43uxc3qW0cZJNYjnpIYDtyCJT5SGp6Vi3udoiXM/s320/photo+2.JPG" width="238" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Also growing I have:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Cucumbers- </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I am growing a pickling type and a burpless slicing type (Burpee). So far both have their attributes. The pickling is shooting off with blinding speed, but only one of the seeds I planted germinated (of 8). The slicing takes longer to sprout, but of the 8 seeds I planted, 3 plants popped up. No word on taste yet. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Arrugala-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">still little sproutlings</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Mixed greens-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">also sproutlings</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Beets- </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Only 3 are groing right now as sproutlings because my cat decided to nap on top of them. (see other post on the cat)</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Zuchinni Yellow (Burpee)-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">taking off at breakneck speed. Already sporting beautiful blossoms (the males soon to be stuffed and baked mmmmm...)</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Zuchini (Burpee)-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">still growing to full size, haven'y\t put out blossoms yet</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Green Beans-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">all still trying to reach the trellis. I hope they'll take off soon, I guess patience is an important part of gardening</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Carrots/radishes-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">still sleeping in the dirt</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Lima beans-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I cut the stalks off at the roots. Now I am just drying out the vine and attatched beans so I can bag it up, hit it with a tennis raquet, and collect the dried beans (I'll be sure to post on theat event!)</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">My Eggplant Tree from Frankies Nursury (grafted jap. eggplant to a tree relative)-</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Growing 2 eggplants right now :)</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-45810136998615173722012-01-13T17:11:00.000-08:002012-01-13T17:12:16.986-08:00Kitty-Cat Troubles<div align="center"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My adorable cat Snowflake thinks she can help me in the garden. As wonderful as it is to find all of your beet seedlings uprooted, tilled, and refurbished as a napping spot, I decided Snowflake was not allowed in the garden. My solution (if it is really effective I will be sure to comment) is cheap and hopefully efficient. Also bamboo is a very sustainable material, and wont leach any weird chemicals into the soil. The answer: bamboo skewers. I put them up like a picket fence around my raised garden close togeather. My cat has been hopping up onto the edge of the garden to enter. My thought is that she wont want to jump through the barrier, and that it would be too high to be convenient for her to jump it. Instead she can sunbathe in the dirt behind the garden. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyBqjDeP2O9yXiwEqF_y_XEmGGIsZd4RdcXNL4fWbL_9-oI0knVKtruYJbsYbtetnJzJuxxGiOHsNeu6Ln7ZcqTwqJ3bc3fHubGI1QTHsuRW5LkCTPlYS1Z1uAy0I14MCegzSJcY_6M23/s1600/garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyBqjDeP2O9yXiwEqF_y_XEmGGIsZd4RdcXNL4fWbL_9-oI0knVKtruYJbsYbtetnJzJuxxGiOHsNeu6Ln7ZcqTwqJ3bc3fHubGI1QTHsuRW5LkCTPlYS1Z1uAy0I14MCegzSJcY_6M23/s320/garden.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://photos.googleapis.com/data/media/api/user/102206871012760183386/albumid/5610110370727550593/photoid/5697283824033186898?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSt5J6t3rXNxgE" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>^ my "fence" and in the background, the culprit ^</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-13163469481285288492012-01-01T10:47:00.000-08:002012-01-13T17:14:35.314-08:00Raised Gardens and all their glory!!!!Happy New Year!<br />
I have been putting off this post until I could show a garden with life about it's soil. Me and my dad built this 4x6 garden with the help of Home Depot online. <br />
After constructing the beast, setting it in place, and filling it with drainage rocks and soil, it was ready. I decided to go with square foot gardening. From all that I've read, it really is the most space efficient method (correct me if you think otherwise). To make things easier I went out with some string and some nails, and set up an easy (removable) grid. <br />
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Visibly planted I have:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-Burpee yellow and green zucchini (front left)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-pickling and burp-less cucumbers (3 rows back)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-green beans (back row)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As invisible seeds I have:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-Danver half long carrots</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-arugula</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-chop-suey mix greens</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-salad mix greens</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-beets</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In Sprouting green house:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-cherry tomatoes</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-mystery heirloom tomatoes</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-yellow bell peppers </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-basil</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-borage</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">-mystery eggplant</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I am super stoked!!!! It is finally happening, I am gardening in my garden!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-7071264099178618412011-09-29T19:25:00.000-07:002012-01-06T08:53:22.258-08:00Lima Beans and other things<div align="center">Hello Blogging world. Sorry to have been gone so long. I was busy traveling and passing the first bit of my 10th grade year in high school, so not much time to blog. Alas here I am! A while ago, I stuck 2 Lima beans into the ground and for what seemed like forever they were spindly little nothing vines. Well not anymore! My plant gets bigger everyday and sports lots of pods all along it like a string of Christmas lights. The first few I picked I decided to pick fresh and then dry, I don't like this method. For one I am a terrible judge at when a bean is "done". Pick when plump does not suffice when telling a teenager when to harvest. Therefore I have resorted to plan B; let them harvest all the way and pick when the pod has turned orangy brown. <br />
<img height="320" src="http://photos.googleapis.com/data/media/api/user/102206871012760183386/albumid/5610110370727550593/photoid/5657969200741179874?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSt5J6t3rXNxgE" width="238" /></div><br />
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Now instead of sad little shriveled Lima beans, I have full, purple beans! (and yes this epiphany was today so I have a total of 3 harvested...) Happily there are countless pods on the plant and more pop up everyday.<br />
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Among my Lima beans on the same trellis are those cucumbers from a while back. Quite frankly they are doing terribly, BUT since the Lima beans have shaded the vine, less cucumber mishaps have occurred and more are looking like this little green one below, and less like these shriveled abominations below.<br />
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Hopefully I will get at least one cucumber from my experience. Next time I will not start them in the heat of mid-summer. (Bad move on my part) My cukes also may have some sort of disease or bug because the few that grow large have shriveled and turned orange. It may have been my watering them too little with the combo of too much sun, but if you have any tips let me know. <br />
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Also in my garden are two itty-bitty clumps of pumpkin plants. I procrastinated so they were planted late and will only be ready for "Fall" not Halloween. At least they are green and flowering. <br />
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Also I haven't put anything new and exciting in my menagerie of pots because my birthday was last week and that means my raised gardens are being built this and next weekend!!!! Finally space to plant freely. <br />
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Thank you to the few that read my blog. I will do better to post much more often.<br />
Happy Gardening!<br />
Wish Me Luck. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-80199094846160230102011-07-09T13:23:00.000-07:002012-01-06T08:54:36.735-08:00Every Plant's Dream Snack<div align="center"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img height="320" src="http://photos.googleapis.com/data/media/api/user/102206871012760183386/albumid/5610110370727550593/photoid/5627449448922811794?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSt5J6t3rXNxgE" width="238" /></div></div><br />
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Last weekend on 4th of July, me and my family harvested worm castings from our worm bin (how patriotic, I know) After the fun but messy experience i have a hefty bucket of worm doo-doo ready to dry a bit and be worked in as fertilizer. I have found that unmixed or quickly dried unstirred worm castings, end up as little rock like clumps that don't seem to help at all. This time I'm taking it slow and keeping my bucket in the sun, stirring it everyday to keep the top from getting all hard, while the bottom is a puddle. Soon I'll mix it into soil, but until then, it will sit in my backyard baking to every plants dream snack.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-10409615699016404342011-07-09T13:00:00.000-07:002012-01-06T08:56:10.407-08:00CUCUMBERS!!!!!!!!!!<div align="center"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="320" src="http://photos.googleapis.com/data/media/api/user/102206871012760183386/albumid/5610110370727550593/photoid/5627441062343819330?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSt5J6t3rXNxgE" width="238" /></div></div><div style="border: medium none;"><a href="http://photos.googleapis.com/data/media/api/user/102206871012760183386/albumid/5610110370727550593/photoid/5627441080721516850?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSt5J6t3rXNxgE" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://photos.googleapis.com/data/media/api/user/102206871012760183386/albumid/5610110370727550593/photoid/5627441080721516850?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSt5J6t3rXNxgE" width="238" /></a></div><br />
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If i were to pick a favorite fruit/veg. of all time, it would have to be the cucumber. There is little better than a sliced cucumber and jalapeno hummus. Mmmmmmm.... The tendrils are strong and rapidly climbing my thrown together trellis. I planted two types, a pickling cucumber ans a slicing cucumber, furthermore two vines of one species are much faster growing than the other (if only i could remember which is which : / ) Oh well, I guess we'll see when they are ripe. Today has been a floral day, not only have I seen my first sugar snap pea pod, but the first cucumber blossoms are budding up. The sight of them makes me absolutely giddy that i may actually produce cukes at my house! Also when I turned my eye to my eggplant tree, its ever-bearing blossoms have struck up again, soon to give me yummy Japanese eggplant. (see below) The Ola design global bucket is keeping my plants perfectly watered ( but if you try it i would recommend actually painting all the way to 1/2 inch under where the soil will touch to stall evaporation....) I'll just fix mine with duct tape, the magical substance that fixes everything! Well until next time (which is in like 4 minutes) happy gardening!<br />
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This morning as i was out watering all of my plants I came across an odd sight. Amongst my small sugar snap pea flowers was a itty-bitty pod. :D It's so new the petals still haven't fallen all the way off, so it has a little white boot.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-15701051388862042932011-06-18T17:04:00.000-07:002012-01-06T08:57:58.548-08:00Peas and Carrots!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68qc0v5aNCCU-39TmFts0aODZRqm5w-BGMQIIY6Uqf1Lqx5YLi8SAE1vgwdjgC3LcP2m-EoBtr-pnTuOFgiyrwW3NaFUDWYwk3V7vKPHQ_Up8o-IqK8JP_V6nHNTNehvutzl97jskcQC_/s1600/GB+peas+and+carrots+top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68qc0v5aNCCU-39TmFts0aODZRqm5w-BGMQIIY6Uqf1Lqx5YLi8SAE1vgwdjgC3LcP2m-EoBtr-pnTuOFgiyrwW3NaFUDWYwk3V7vKPHQ_Up8o-IqK8JP_V6nHNTNehvutzl97jskcQC_/s320/GB+peas+and+carrots+top.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: medium none;">Its hard to say there are any vegetables I like better than sugar snap peas, and carrots (except maybe a cucumber, but that is for another post), and they have finally made their way into my currently potted garden. They are planted in the original global buckets design (see previous post) and are doing wonderfully so far. There are six beauteous little sugar snap pea plants surrounding and island of carrots. Yesterday I thinned the carrots to a 1 to 2 inch spacing and nearly wept when I had to be rid of the would-have-been orange jewels. Oh well, thinning is a part of gardening. The little peas are at the frustrating stage where I need to train them to the trellis, and the tall carrots don't really help much. Its good to know in a few days that they will be climbing the trellis with no human help at all! </div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">My brain can't help but jump ahead to when I will be plucking plump little pods of the vine and plucking carrots from their bed. mmmmm... there is little better than oven roasted carrots, or eating snap peas cold from the fridge with hummus. </div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-27119035415444739212011-06-18T16:43:00.000-07:002012-01-06T09:01:17.332-08:00Global BucketsSo I've been using the global buckets designs for a few weeks now, but I didn't think it made any sense to write about them if I didn't know how they worked. Global buckets are some designs made by a set of teenage boys, fixed on saving the world. For all of our sakes, it make it a lot easier to be able to put the pot wherever you want, and have it water itself for days. I decided to try the original stacked design, and the Ola irrigation design (pretty much two terracotta pots glued together). Both designs have their pros and cons, and furthermore, certain plants are definitely better suited to one system vs. the other. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68qc0v5aNCCU-39TmFts0aODZRqm5w-BGMQIIY6Uqf1Lqx5YLi8SAE1vgwdjgC3LcP2m-EoBtr-pnTuOFgiyrwW3NaFUDWYwk3V7vKPHQ_Up8o-IqK8JP_V6nHNTNehvutzl97jskcQC_/s1600/GB+peas+and+carrots+top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; height: 129px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 162px;"><img border="0" height="200" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68qc0v5aNCCU-39TmFts0aODZRqm5w-BGMQIIY6Uqf1Lqx5YLi8SAE1vgwdjgC3LcP2m-EoBtr-pnTuOFgiyrwW3NaFUDWYwk3V7vKPHQ_Up8o-IqK8JP_V6nHNTNehvutzl97jskcQC_/s200/GB+peas+and+carrots+top.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">original design, seen from top<br />
planted: peas and carrots</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs17S442YyB6MNNZqzdhJhtVMwae6TW6CI6tmZvKGAUD22WN6SpJN5cgjMbjU2MvcUSW8HEJQE_YDFfGvo8mZ7nd6HANcHwPf8Hrm10jgAPbKjtB62uwLFXMQUHnxyAvaisfOjVMpHYT0H/s1600/GB+peas+and+carrots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs17S442YyB6MNNZqzdhJhtVMwae6TW6CI6tmZvKGAUD22WN6SpJN5cgjMbjU2MvcUSW8HEJQE_YDFfGvo8mZ7nd6HANcHwPf8Hrm10jgAPbKjtB62uwLFXMQUHnxyAvaisfOjVMpHYT0H/s200/GB+peas+and+carrots.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">original design seen from side view</td></tr>
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<div style="border: medium none;">1. The original design is very efficient at watering itself once the plants have roots, and hold a very substantial amount of water. I say when the plants have roots because, although basic osmosis contributes to how this set-up works (two buckets stacked, the space between is the reservoir, a cup with dirt links the two cavities and when the soil dries, water is pulled into it) the roots will also draw the water up. This is not so true as to with seeds. The other downside is that there is quite a bit of set-up involved. Drilling, and carving and measuring.... I could go on. But once the system was a go, it worked swimmingly. </div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEHauMwRyXckQQjyehPSjGIZqroFBpCIFt0pZ396X_nzXp-41nHzAa6Bkjw8osBTbpo7nNq6WM9XTuI1V8BvTkrTOA5aZGClgIWOdu9co6KLLVwiEVqXEuhQpxH9SIgKPfHqJZnnpxd3O/s1600/ola+pot+cukes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEHauMwRyXckQQjyehPSjGIZqroFBpCIFt0pZ396X_nzXp-41nHzAa6Bkjw8osBTbpo7nNq6WM9XTuI1V8BvTkrTOA5aZGClgIWOdu9co6KLLVwiEVqXEuhQpxH9SIgKPfHqJZnnpxd3O/s200/ola+pot+cukes.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ola design<br />
planted: cucumbers<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2cYds83aJ-4vRf9XDqOioC1wgWbo9DPKwScQIstcb10ZynC37jThOirnK0RdjlLzywKWkqMKgCP8BE1ZfWeazm1UOZYBzhCBqHzsaJcSSm-7Ey80XvOinz7A63MxqoN9490pq8pqO4aA/s1600/ola+pot+see+water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2cYds83aJ-4vRf9XDqOioC1wgWbo9DPKwScQIstcb10ZynC37jThOirnK0RdjlLzywKWkqMKgCP8BE1ZfWeazm1UOZYBzhCBqHzsaJcSSm-7Ey80XvOinz7A63MxqoN9490pq8pqO4aA/s200/ola+pot+see+water.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ola design,<br />
Here you can see the water darkening<br />
the soil as it is doing all through the<br />
bucket under the top bit of dirt</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border: medium none;">2. The Ola design is definitely my favorite. no drilling or anything that complex. Put plainly, I took the two pots... and wait for it.... glued them together with one of the drainage holes sealed. That was it. After a coat of white paint over the top two inches or so to stall evaporation, I was done. Then I took a five gallon bucket and buried the contraption except for the painted (don't be like me, bury all the non-painted pot to stop evaporation) bit so I could fill the cavity through the drainage hole. </div><div style="border: medium none;">Now if you think that cheap self watering containers that you can ignore for days at a time are a cool idea then I would head to the link below. If you then decide on the Ola system (which I highly recommend) you can use the following substitutions if you don't have tile or caulk. For the tile just go out and find a rock big enough to cover the drainage hole (not hard to do), if you don't have caulk, hot glue from a crafting hot glue gun works just as well and its more likely you have it on hand (or a friend that does). As a final note, you can directly plant seeds in this system without having to water by hand until they sprout. </div><div style="border: medium none;"> </div><div style="border: medium none;">When it comes to what plants work in the global buckets, the sky is the limit. Pretty much anything will do. The only limitation is that when using the Ola system, you will be planting around the bucket unless you bury the system using the bucket-saucer method, and then glue some PVC as a channel so to fill the reservoir. (easier than creating the original system in my humble teenage opinion)</div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;">Right now:</div><br />
<div style="border: medium none;">in 1. I have peas around the edge, and carrots in the middle as filler (can't waste an inch of soil!) </div><div style="border: medium none;"> ( I was thoroughly pleased when I discovered I placed peas and carrots together.) :)</div><div style="border: medium none;">in 2. I have cucumbers </div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;"> If i haven't said it enough, I like the Ola design better, it is cheaper, easier to make, and holds plenty of good old H20.</div><br />
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<a href="http://www.globalbuckets.org/p/new-designs.html">http://www.globalbuckets.org/p/new-designs.html</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-22160907956490432092011-05-29T16:18:00.000-07:002011-11-29T09:07:22.142-08:00Poha ProblemsI bought a Poha berry plant at Ko'olau farmers yesterday, and to my dismay, upon re-potting i discovered a colony of ants lived below my new plant. :( Today I tried drowning them out, but am scared to go so far as to drastically over water my plant. I may just have to re-pot it again, but let the root bulb sit in a bucket of water for a while along with the dirt to get the little buggers.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNohLKB7Fjwp1JKsGqNH50rmvzpZZriV9SrrQPeDrPRytw_93rr4Z6nQJaNdqpSxzrlBMvNn7ity24djby1LvTMTYalMveGj7DsCUbw6xbcYTnyVpZ_jHkI3OiNYMFqGgnLpf5IvHHCo4/s1600/DSCF0573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNohLKB7Fjwp1JKsGqNH50rmvzpZZriV9SrrQPeDrPRytw_93rr4Z6nQJaNdqpSxzrlBMvNn7ity24djby1LvTMTYalMveGj7DsCUbw6xbcYTnyVpZ_jHkI3OiNYMFqGgnLpf5IvHHCo4/s320/DSCF0573.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Normally I am fine with ants, but when I re-potted one bit me, and I do NOT need biting ants as part of my garden. *Sigh*Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-2477223274003111522011-05-29T16:11:00.000-07:002012-01-06T09:02:17.538-08:00What's Growing?Right now in my garden I'm growing:<br />
3 tomatoes (one unknown, one grape, and one UH variety large) <i>big square pots </i><br />
1 eggplant tree (from Frankie's Nursery, its a Japanese eggplant grafted to a close tree forming relative) <i>behind tomatoes</i><br />
Strawberries <i>window boxes</i><br />
Carrots <i>5 gal bucket and window box</i><br />
Basil <i>behind borage</i><br />
Borage <i>foremost pot</i><br />
Lilikoi <i>fence</i><br />
3 Pineapples <i>pots</i><br />
Hawaiian peppers <i>small pots</i><br />
Sugar Snap peas <i>5 gal. bucket</i><br />
And as of yesterday... Poha Berries<i> cage</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoPVy7WJvgIkQPY-mwZBoHEdZnOKpYPw4NuU_NkYgm5THNfGCvtFryYhGc_gxonrfy2Kc8LHFd5R1QXdPUz5o2pfVpYhrssYzEhe7AQafFj649NyaDRRu9QDNrWpd5X2vaBNEBWQAuhMD/s1600/DSCF0572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoPVy7WJvgIkQPY-mwZBoHEdZnOKpYPw4NuU_NkYgm5THNfGCvtFryYhGc_gxonrfy2Kc8LHFd5R1QXdPUz5o2pfVpYhrssYzEhe7AQafFj649NyaDRRu9QDNrWpd5X2vaBNEBWQAuhMD/s400/DSCF0572.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5024886398264377093.post-17914625316350619072011-05-23T19:59:00.001-07:002011-05-23T20:04:18.264-07:00Well This is Where it All begins, kind of...Here it is. I have finally entered the garden blogging world. If you couldn't tell from my title, I have little experience, and in the past have not been blessed with a green thumb, but instead a thumb of death. It is quite sad because I do love gardening, and now I am going to change it! Our house's old garden was replaced with a water feature, because the ground there was treated with termite repellant. Not the makings for scrumdiddlyumptous food. So I have began my own container garden until my birthday when i get a raised garden!!!!!! (unless I find a better way of gardening) So with that I must begin to blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0