Volunteer Flowers

All of these flowers, though amaranth isn't exactly that, appeared here without me planting them. The amaranth I would have pulled up but I figured it came from the birdseed and I was curious. It isn't the prettiest thing but I think it has some sort of beauty. I think I will try to save this plume to feed the birds later on when food is more scarce.

Calendula flowers have appeared all over my garden. I enjoy them very much.

This viola came from a bunch I planted last year that all died out. Out of several dozen, just 2 or 3 plants have reappeared.

The Wilder Side

I have 2 categories of wild in my garden though arguably, most of it looks wild. I have had someone walk by and ask if he might help me by weeding. Well, let's just say that no one can weed my garden but me. My 2 wildest things are my bird/squirrel sown flowers and almost all of my backyard.

This safflower is finally in bloom. It is a birdseed flower. It's not as pretty as sunflowers but I am committed to letting it go to seed. Perhaps I will collect it before it resows itself.

This is part of my cilantro bed. Right now all of it is bolting and going to seed. The advantage of this is that I may adorn my food with flowers and green coriander seeds, milder than mature seeds.

This white queen tomato is flanked by more birdseed flowers, sunflowers which I transplanted when very small to the back.

Here's my Dr. Wyche tomato. I look at this picture and see several problems with my backyard. I think this explains why my front gets more attention. I might do something later on to help this tomato grow better than it will as currently planted. I oughta rip out those redmustards that are bolting. Aw, the warmth of summer!

Bored Cats

Sally was a very bad girl this morning. She took a dump in my flowerbed that borders the sidewalk. For a second I thought, "Hmm, one of the dogs walking by will take care of that." I ended up digging a deep hole, in a dark corner, far away from anything growing because she unfortunately has done this before. No, I don't compost their kitty litter though I suppose I could. That gets disposed of another way.

I don't think that there's much I can do to make her stop except to stick bamboo skewers in the ground. If she does this to this highly visible bed, I might resort to that.

Here's another bored looking cat, the feral boy I sometimes call "Cheedarhead". I actually brushed him while he ate this morning. I always make him eat at my feet so I can pet him. He pretends to hate being petted but I think he likes it. I think he liked the brush. Cat hair, actually, any hair, and nail clippings, are an excellent fertilizers. I've been burying it just below many things I have planted.

Abe is nipping at the catnip which is finally growing beyond its dome. I am very, very pleased with my birdseed sunflowers. I have no idea how big they'll get but I haven't seen any bigger than mine, at least in my neighborhood.

Random photos

I took this swan picture by the light of 2 lightbulbs. It had just rained and the chamomile looked like some fairy thing. I had to doctor the result a bit but I like it. Eh, it's a canon powershot... I mean I guess there might have been something fancy I could have done to take this better but still.

Here's me editing my garden, sorta akin to copy and paste. I decided to stick some more of my birdfeeder sunflowers in back. Surprizingly, they spring back pretty quickly, especially given that it's been so cool and wet. I still have a bunch of millet and other mystery birdseed babies in that I'm not sure about. I blame the squirrels!

I love chives. They make a simple thing really nice. They are one of the 1st green things in the spring, they are super easy to grow, even in pots and their flowers are pretty and edible. I have been known to scope out chives that are slightly differently colored but in this garden I only have lavender.

I understand that in certain SE Asian cities crowded, and I mean crowded beyond what most of us experience that you see lots of little pots full of various onion greens. If you have only a balcony and want fresh produce, start with chives.

Here's the 1st eggplant I planted this year. It is called ichiban, which means "number one" in Japanese. If I had to choose one eggplant to grow it would be ichiban. It's beautiful with black stems, I am rather partial to dark things, and very productive as well as good eating. I tend to harvest eggplant while young which is when they are most tasty and this also keeps the plant productive.

For some reason I have ended up getting this from boxstores, though last year I ordered one from California. My local nurseries spurn this eggplant and instead favor 'little fingers' which is also a similar, nice eggplant, but not as pretty. Its stems are green but the eggplant is similar. Don't get me wrong, I have a little fingers too that I haven't planted yet but, I will plead with my local nurseries to carry ichiban! It is called 'number one' for a reason.

Here's yet another post today. I think what I am doing is worthwhile but currently I have an average of only 10 visitors a day. I hope that this will increase. Anyway, it is my habit to post before I am done editing which means that if you are really keen on this blog, you oughta not click on new posts until they are at least an hour old.

My boyfriend got me set up on bit.ly which I forward to my twitter account when I am really(I think) done editing a post so if my incomplete posts are annoying, you might do better to follow me on twitter and click on the bit.ly link. I am gobbism.