American Dwarf Yellow Marigolds

Someone gave me these marigolds to help keep pests away. It was too late for my basil plant, which was devoured by aphids and other mean insects, but I have been enjoying their colorful blooms, even if the leaves look a little sad at times. They don't smell as funny as I expected, given their reputation.

You can also see my tiny sage plants here, which have been growing a little better lately. They are still much smaller than they should be, though. I have yet to have a sage plant grow large enough to produce leaves I can cook with. Also, there are some pigeons that frequent the balcony and either they or something else munched on several of my sage leaves. Boo to that. I may get one of those ugly owl statues to keep the pigeons away. They were not out there today, though, for the first time in weeks. Maybe they've found another gardener to pester.

My Leek

This is the leek that I planted over a year ago. It seems to be thickening, finally. I have to wonder if it will actually taste good when it is finally big enough to eat. Also, I don't really use leeks in cooking. But hey, anything that stays alive in my garden makes me happy, so I'm not complaining.

I had to pick some garlic prematurely last week because the top had turned brown, dried out, and fallen over. Oh well.

New Garden Setup

I got these two wire shelves at Target for $30 each. My new balcony doesn't get any light to plants if you put them on the ground, but by raising the pots with the shelves, my plants get quite a bit of light. However, I still haven't had any luck with seeds germinating. Maybe I need to start them in small pots like I used to and then transplant them. Why can't they germinate in big pots with plenty of sun and water, though? That doesn't make sense to me.

No Luck

I have two small pots that are about 4"x4"x4" where I've been trying to grow a couple of herbs for almost a year now--lavender and sage. They just aren't growing. It's very frustrating! I'm guessing that they aren't getting enough sunlight, but I don't know how to get them any more light without putting them somewhere where I couldn't watch them and they'd probably get tossed or eaten by a dog or cat within days. I will try to get a photo up soon so you can see just how little these plants have grown but it is raining today and my plants are outside. I live in a very sunny location, but that's not necessarily sufficient.

It amazes me that plants stay alive at all when they aren't really growing. I'm sure there is some sort of adaptive/survival mechanism that causes this, but I was never much of a science whiz.

Another Recommended Gardening Book

The gardening book that has been the most helpful to me as a new gardener has been Burpee's The Complete Vegetable and Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically by Karan Davis Cutler. It is not only a gorgeous book which inspires me to try to grow things, it is also extremely practical and well-organized. The first 8 chapters each focus on an important basic aspect of gardening, such as gardening tools, planning your garden, and coping with garden problems. The rest of the book provides plant profiles and growing advice for over 100 major vegetables and herbs. I think I purchased this book for around $25 from Amazon.

Burpee Seed Catalog

I got a Burpee seed catalog in the mail recently. I really hate how when you order something from a company, you end up on their mailing list. Catalogs take up so much space in my tiny apartment mailbox.

Despite my annoyance, I'm looking forward to checking out their tomato seed offerings. I thought I already had all the seeds I needed, but I remembered that I grew my tomatoes from saved seeds last year and they didn't turn out so well. Maybe I'll have better luck with store-bought (or in this case, catalog-bought) seeds.