Having just given away a skosh of tomato seedlings, I’ma write up some tomato knowledge for posterity. Tomatoes need all the sunshine you can give them. They also love water, but hate to be soggy. Seedlings, in small pots, might need to be watered twice a day, but not so much they are sodden. The […]

It froze here last week. Three times. It froze here the two weeks before that, too. Tomato seedlings shouldn’t be this color, you know:   But they’re still standing, and there’s new growth, so maybe – just maybe – I won’t have to restart them…three MONTHS past the optimum starting time. Meanwhile, the Meyer lemon […]

The bathroom is just no place to start seeds. Well, the starting goes ok…it’s the growing thereafter that’s problematic. Not enough light produces leggy seedlings…all stem and very few leaves, as they try desperately to get closer to the light source. This shoves the leaves into contact with the moisture-laden ceiling of the seed tray […]

Everything (that has been started thusfar) is up except the watermelons and two of the peppers. What possessed me to start the watermelons indoors? In January??? I’m going to put it down to spring fever and leave it at that. More seeds incoming, from Local Harvest and RH Shumway. HURRY UP!!

That’s how long it takes to sprout seeds with a bottom-heating seedling mat: Those are several tomatoes and a cantaloupe variety. Looks like I’ll have to install grow-lights in the bathroom! Seeds started: Blacktail Watermelon Ruby Watermelon Dancing/Spinning Gourd Ancho Pepper Paprika Pepper Red Bell Pepper Principe Borghese Tomato Orange Sherbet Cantaloupe Sweet Million Tomato […]

Poor neglected garden blog! It’s been an interesting few years in my absence here. Well, “interesting” in the Chinese curse sense of the word, naturally. We’ve had medical and financial issues to deal with, as well as the sheer psychoticness that is raising a pair of teen-agers. But this year I want my garden back, […]

I have a complete addiction to Mexican food, so thorough and cellular-level that it was all I craved during not one but BOTH pregnancies.  Making it at home has been a bit outside my patience quotient though…moles with 30+ ingredients??  Dude, I WORK for a living! Anyway, I’ve been researching techniques, learning theory and practice…and […]

**Please insert here my usual array of excuses for utterly abandoning my garden/food blog** There, that’s better.  Even though I haven’t been talking about it, we’re still cooking of course.  Twitter has been my medium of choice lately, being both fast and succinct, so all the pics are winding up there.  There’s been turtles and […]

Sorry for the long silence here, but a “strained ligament” in my right knee around Mother’s Day has turned into 6 weeks of anti-inflammatories, constant ice packs, painful stretching and finally a cortisone shot directly behind the kneecap… — giving you a moment to envision that — …which in turn translates into near-total neglect of […]

One of the best yet, I think… The XX – Intro Fol Chen – Cable Tv Keane – Spiralling The Flaming Lips – Watching the Planets The Antlers – Bear Vampire Weekend – Giving Up the Gun MGMT – Time to Pretend The Morning Benders – Excuses The Delta Mirror – He Was Worse Than […]