The Homestead Hobbyist

Die Pflanzen (The Plants)

This plot has the turnips, kale, Monnopa spinach, and herbs in it, as well as the mushrooms (you can see a few growing up from the sides of the box). The lavender hasn't sprouted yet. I finally realized that the watering schedule for this plot has to be different than the others, due to the soil composition. This is worrisome. Will the fungi continue after I've transplanted my plants? Every little gram of soil in there has thousands, if not more, of little fungal cells, I'm certain. Although I guess that's pretty par for the course; it's good to have healthy, commensal microflora. I just don't know if they're competing for nutrients, and I'd rather they not. And what if they do generate psychoactive compounds? What if I get ergotism??

Here's my favourite plot: the one with the pumpkins and the soybeans (and the chickpeas now, too!). Those pumpkin plants are only two weeks old. I'm going to have to cull the herd soon. Five pumpkin plants in my apartment? I hope I can find homes for them with coworkers... But it's a bit early in the year to be handing out seedlings.

Radicchio, basil, and chives, oh my! I don't know what it is about these little pots, but things that grow in them never do amazingly well. The RBC however (no, not the Royal Bank of Canada, but good guess!), seem to be doing alright. As you can tell on the left, there are only a few little Greek Mini Yevani basil plants, whereas in the first plot pic, I have an entire row of Mrs. Burn's Lemon Basil. I don't know how many I'll need, but two or three is probably good for both. Yevani will just have to get over the inequality. Life isn't fair!

My Correnta spinach! I want to pluck their little leaves right now and toss a salad. But that would be less satisfying than if I allowed them to grow a few more weeks and made a salad then. I will be eating spinach for many moons!

Grow, Envy, grow! I dropped and broke a coffee mug, so I planted some extra soybeans a few days ago. I know I'll want them. I was thinking of bringing them into the office, so I can have a snack at work if I forget to harvest my edamame at home.

This is the closest I got to a glamour shot this morning. I had rotated the plot, so the soybeans are closer to the window (and the pumpkins aren't blocking the light for the peppers). But the pumpkins are blocking my shot (see upper right). I like the layered perspective it gives, and I tried to duplicate it with other photos, but my camera couldn't decide what to focus on and started smoking a little.