Morning Glories
I just realized I'm really scared to write anything that isn't a haiku, a formal essay, or some type of collective poetry. Well, stupid live journal entries too, clearly.
I keep having all these ideas. But I only write down words and phrases and never full sentences. I tell myself I'll fill in the blanks and post them eventually, but I never do.
I went to San Francisco again yesterday, I wanted to write about it, but I'm scared. I know it sounds silly.
Excluding that one 27.5 hour sleep marathon, for the past week or so I've been a totally normal diurnal human being! I'm proud of myself and it feels really good. Because of this I have also been able to use my body! So I don't feel like all my muscles are atrophying anymore (although they still feel like bricks usually) and I'm not waking up stiff and in pain *every* morning.
The garden is coming along so nicely. I finally built the "spiral" herb garden I had been fantasizing about for so long. But I got kind of confused and I needed more rocks than I had expected, so it's actually not really a spiral. It's more like tiered, concentric circles or something. It's beautiful nonetheless and I am proud. I think it's about 3.5 ft. in diameter and I might build two smaller ones on either side. I also might experiment and switch up the design a bit. In the one that's already built I planted two kinds of catnip (cataria and racemosa). I just discovered this morning that either Chichen or some other cat decided to totally uproot the Nepeta cataria!!! It was so funny. I put it back in the ground but I don't know if it will be safe there now. I put a little pot of Cat Grass (Oats) next to the Nepetas. :) Also planted are borage, bee balm, Agastache rupestris, two sages, both are Salvia officinalis but one is the purple kind (Purpurascens). In the middle tier I planted majoram and thyme (a Turkish variety). To the right of the circle Chris planted three Wormwoods! Artemisia absinthium. To the left, he planted three Hummingbird Sages (Salvia spathacea). Behind those I transplanted something called Texas White Sage, but I'm not sure if there's any hope for it. It's all dried out and dead looking, but since it's pretty woody I thought maybe it will come back? I hope. I don't actually know what the species was, it had little tiny toothed leaves and little tiny white flowers. Behind the herb circle the Grandpa Ott's Morning Glories are persistently, yet very slowly vining up the trellis. I don't know what's up with them. I don't know if it's the variety, soil, sun, water, or trellis but they never spread very far or vine up very high and they don't get too many blooms. They seem to start to do well for a bit every spring and fall but then the leaves get dry and yellowish and they die back. I really want this variety to work because the blooms are just so fucking incredible. They literally GLOW.
I have two Lavender plants, an English Lavender and some other dwarf species with real nice pinkish flowers. I want them to get big and bush so I'm not sure where I'm going to put them yet.
I've got one of the three raised vegetable beds planted full I think. I planted a bunch seeds: Spicy Mesclun Salad Mix, Collards, Cherry Belle Radish, Daikon Radish, Rainbow Carrots (Orange, Yellow, Purple, White), and a Chioggia Beet Mix. And I transplanted some seedlings: A red Cherry Tomato, Yellow Pear Tomato, Black Krim Tomato, Japanese Black Trifele Tomato, Jalapeño Pepper, Habanero Pepper, Kung Pao Pepper, Japanese Long Eggplant, Thai Basil, and Purple Basil. Today I noticed another plant in there that looks like another pepper but I have no idea who put it there, what it is, or when it showed up exactly.
The other two raised beds that are supposed to be for veggies aren't this year. One of them Chichen liked to use as a pooping box so I thought it wise not to plant food in there for a while. So we just scattered a shit load of California Native Wildflowers. I don't know everything that's in there, but there is some California Poppy, Clarkia, and Lupine. The Magenta Spreen Lamb's Quarters have also popped up there, among many other areas of the yard. I was so excited the Lupines sprouted because I've never been able to get them to germinate before and there's at least one growing in another area too next to some other California Poppies, some Papaver Somniferum sprouts, and a Foxglove I transplanted.
The middle raised bed is half full of herbs that I want to figure out how to transplant and/or take cuttings from and propagate somewhere else. The Oregano, Lemon Balm, Chocolate Mint, some other Spearmint or Peppermint, and Chives keep coming back there every year.
I planted like 3 or 4 different kinds of Nasturtiums under the bird bath. There are the Jewel Mix ones that have been there for a few years. But I also planted Empress of India, Mahagony, and a Black and White Mix. Two different kinds have sprouted but I'm not sure which ones. One of them has the most beautiful deep green, almost black leaves with hints of blue and purple.
The Red Cottage Marigolds and Kablouna Calendula Mix have sprouted in their little pots. And I think one of the Datura wrightii seeds finally sprouted. I'm hoping!!! The Blue Fescue is also doing quite well. I planted the seeds in plastic gallon milk jugs I cut in half, but I'm not sure when and where I should try to transplant them.
In the retaining wall area near the driveway Chris put in a Gum Plant (Grindella, not sure which species), and I put in two more Grindella hirsutulas. He also put in a small Manzanita, California Wild Rose, and White Sage (Salvia apiana). An Oak seedling volunteered there too, we've felt too sad to yank it yet but we're gonna have to because it just won't work there.
In the retaining wall behind the fence I planted four Sunflower varieties: Russian Mammoth, Moulin Rouge, Evening Sun, and Autumn Beauty as well as Warihio Amaranth. Once those get a few inches tall I'm gonna plant Purple Royalty and Blue Lake Bush Beans to vine up the Sunflowers and Amaranth. Then I'm gonna plant a couple different varities of pumpkin to trail along the whole thing. We also wanted some Melon and/or other types of Squash but I'm not sure whether that's just too much in one area. Some kind of inky cap mushrooms sprouted all over the place back there but they are all gone now.
On the west side of the house the Cardoon is doing well and even made a new baby. Chris put in three flowering Dogwoods next to them. Nearby he also put in some Coffee Berry and Lemonade Berry.
My next tasks are:
Cut some branches off of the Mulberry tree and lash them together to make a teepee for Snow Peas and maybe Cucumbers.
Figure out how to put together a worm bin out of nurser flats, plastic sheeting, and scrap wood. I bought the red wrigglers a few days ago so I need to get on that soon so the poor little guys don't die.
Once the soil dries out a bit more, dig in the red lava rocks and cactus/succulent mix into the large berm in the front yard and plant all the cactuculents. We have so many Echeverias, Dudleyas, Agaves, Aloes, Sedums,Aeoniums, and a few Cacti.
Also, my mom started a little Chia Pig. :)
Photos of everything soonish.
I keep having all these ideas. But I only write down words and phrases and never full sentences. I tell myself I'll fill in the blanks and post them eventually, but I never do.
I went to San Francisco again yesterday, I wanted to write about it, but I'm scared. I know it sounds silly.
Excluding that one 27.5 hour sleep marathon, for the past week or so I've been a totally normal diurnal human being! I'm proud of myself and it feels really good. Because of this I have also been able to use my body! So I don't feel like all my muscles are atrophying anymore (although they still feel like bricks usually) and I'm not waking up stiff and in pain *every* morning.
The garden is coming along so nicely. I finally built the "spiral" herb garden I had been fantasizing about for so long. But I got kind of confused and I needed more rocks than I had expected, so it's actually not really a spiral. It's more like tiered, concentric circles or something. It's beautiful nonetheless and I am proud. I think it's about 3.5 ft. in diameter and I might build two smaller ones on either side. I also might experiment and switch up the design a bit. In the one that's already built I planted two kinds of catnip (cataria and racemosa). I just discovered this morning that either Chichen or some other cat decided to totally uproot the Nepeta cataria!!! It was so funny. I put it back in the ground but I don't know if it will be safe there now. I put a little pot of Cat Grass (Oats) next to the Nepetas. :) Also planted are borage, bee balm, Agastache rupestris, two sages, both are Salvia officinalis but one is the purple kind (Purpurascens). In the middle tier I planted majoram and thyme (a Turkish variety). To the right of the circle Chris planted three Wormwoods! Artemisia absinthium. To the left, he planted three Hummingbird Sages (Salvia spathacea). Behind those I transplanted something called Texas White Sage, but I'm not sure if there's any hope for it. It's all dried out and dead looking, but since it's pretty woody I thought maybe it will come back? I hope. I don't actually know what the species was, it had little tiny toothed leaves and little tiny white flowers. Behind the herb circle the Grandpa Ott's Morning Glories are persistently, yet very slowly vining up the trellis. I don't know what's up with them. I don't know if it's the variety, soil, sun, water, or trellis but they never spread very far or vine up very high and they don't get too many blooms. They seem to start to do well for a bit every spring and fall but then the leaves get dry and yellowish and they die back. I really want this variety to work because the blooms are just so fucking incredible. They literally GLOW.
I have two Lavender plants, an English Lavender and some other dwarf species with real nice pinkish flowers. I want them to get big and bush so I'm not sure where I'm going to put them yet.
I've got one of the three raised vegetable beds planted full I think. I planted a bunch seeds: Spicy Mesclun Salad Mix, Collards, Cherry Belle Radish, Daikon Radish, Rainbow Carrots (Orange, Yellow, Purple, White), and a Chioggia Beet Mix. And I transplanted some seedlings: A red Cherry Tomato, Yellow Pear Tomato, Black Krim Tomato, Japanese Black Trifele Tomato, Jalapeño Pepper, Habanero Pepper, Kung Pao Pepper, Japanese Long Eggplant, Thai Basil, and Purple Basil. Today I noticed another plant in there that looks like another pepper but I have no idea who put it there, what it is, or when it showed up exactly.
The other two raised beds that are supposed to be for veggies aren't this year. One of them Chichen liked to use as a pooping box so I thought it wise not to plant food in there for a while. So we just scattered a shit load of California Native Wildflowers. I don't know everything that's in there, but there is some California Poppy, Clarkia, and Lupine. The Magenta Spreen Lamb's Quarters have also popped up there, among many other areas of the yard. I was so excited the Lupines sprouted because I've never been able to get them to germinate before and there's at least one growing in another area too next to some other California Poppies, some Papaver Somniferum sprouts, and a Foxglove I transplanted.
The middle raised bed is half full of herbs that I want to figure out how to transplant and/or take cuttings from and propagate somewhere else. The Oregano, Lemon Balm, Chocolate Mint, some other Spearmint or Peppermint, and Chives keep coming back there every year.
I planted like 3 or 4 different kinds of Nasturtiums under the bird bath. There are the Jewel Mix ones that have been there for a few years. But I also planted Empress of India, Mahagony, and a Black and White Mix. Two different kinds have sprouted but I'm not sure which ones. One of them has the most beautiful deep green, almost black leaves with hints of blue and purple.
The Red Cottage Marigolds and Kablouna Calendula Mix have sprouted in their little pots. And I think one of the Datura wrightii seeds finally sprouted. I'm hoping!!! The Blue Fescue is also doing quite well. I planted the seeds in plastic gallon milk jugs I cut in half, but I'm not sure when and where I should try to transplant them.
In the retaining wall area near the driveway Chris put in a Gum Plant (Grindella, not sure which species), and I put in two more Grindella hirsutulas. He also put in a small Manzanita, California Wild Rose, and White Sage (Salvia apiana). An Oak seedling volunteered there too, we've felt too sad to yank it yet but we're gonna have to because it just won't work there.
In the retaining wall behind the fence I planted four Sunflower varieties: Russian Mammoth, Moulin Rouge, Evening Sun, and Autumn Beauty as well as Warihio Amaranth. Once those get a few inches tall I'm gonna plant Purple Royalty and Blue Lake Bush Beans to vine up the Sunflowers and Amaranth. Then I'm gonna plant a couple different varities of pumpkin to trail along the whole thing. We also wanted some Melon and/or other types of Squash but I'm not sure whether that's just too much in one area. Some kind of inky cap mushrooms sprouted all over the place back there but they are all gone now.
On the west side of the house the Cardoon is doing well and even made a new baby. Chris put in three flowering Dogwoods next to them. Nearby he also put in some Coffee Berry and Lemonade Berry.
My next tasks are:
Cut some branches off of the Mulberry tree and lash them together to make a teepee for Snow Peas and maybe Cucumbers.
Figure out how to put together a worm bin out of nurser flats, plastic sheeting, and scrap wood. I bought the red wrigglers a few days ago so I need to get on that soon so the poor little guys don't die.
Once the soil dries out a bit more, dig in the red lava rocks and cactus/succulent mix into the large berm in the front yard and plant all the cactuculents. We have so many Echeverias, Dudleyas, Agaves, Aloes, Sedums,Aeoniums, and a few Cacti.
Also, my mom started a little Chia Pig. :)
Photos of everything soonish.