Flora

As a wedding gift from my co-workers, I received an AeroGarden.  At the time, you know, I was living in a 2nd and 3rd story apartment in Soulard, with no yard and little convenient room for an herb garden.  I also realized, after receiving this gift, that I really had no room for the AeroGarden in my apartment, so it stayed boxed until the week after we closed on the new house. 

The box was missing the most important equipment, though -- the grow bulbs, but I called customer service and they shipped two more out right away.  One day at lunch I "planted" the seven herbs that came with the Garden:  mint, Italian basil, dill, thyme, parsley, purple basil and chives.  And since the AeroGarden is aeroponic, planting is a relative term.  Essentially, you fill the reservoir with water, place the seed capsules (which come in little plastic ramekins, covered with a cardboard cutout that indicates which herb it is) into the proper hole (as they were laid out in the carton), drop the right nutrient packet in the reservoir, cap the capsules with more little ramekins and wait.  Once the seeds have sprouted, you remove the lids and watch them grow.  I wish I had a picture.

By far, Guido the Italian Basil, is the muscle of the group.  He's bolstered by his buddy Krishna, the Purple Basil.  The Chives have their own basketball team, the Jives.  Father Thyme recently had, along with Sowa, the Dill plant, a misadventure with a rogue grow bulb.  He's coming back though.  Crisp, the Parsley and Piperita, the Mint are laying low under the broad reach of Guido, who towers above them all.  I think Guido needs to be taken down a notch.  I see a margherita pizza in Guido's future.

Those are the inside plants.

Outside, my little container garden consists of two heirloom tomato plants and an hibiscus bush that were given to me by my father and all replanted in 18-in containers given to me by my mother.  I was certain they'd all be dead by now, but, in fact, they are THRIVING.  My hibiscus has approximately 10-11 blooms, which is 8-9 more than it had when I took it home.  My father's hibiscus is not blooming at all.  My tomato plants are getting taller and fuller (they were wimpy looking when I planted them, and I was sure I'd killed the one even before I got it in the dirt.  Interestingly, the runt plant has been joined by some other plant.  I'm not sure whether it's an unexpected tomato plant, or a weed, but it's growing at the same rate as the tomato, and it's stem is about as woody as the tomato plant, so I'm leaving it for now.  If it's a week, it's a big damn weed.

I hammered all my geckos into the fence posts near my makeshift garden, so it's a colorful little spot in the otherwise bland, generic green grassed and concrete patioed yard.

Next:  the story of the birds.

Posted by: Book on 6/26/2008 8:19:25 AM , 6 comments