the APT.CHEF

Chives looking a little sad. Not enough sunlight. Hot and Spicy Oregano Rosemary

Roma Tomato Adult Strawberry Baby Strawberry

The bottom right image here, is Cilantro (a.k.a. Coriander). It was previously mistaken for parsley in this post, bottom left image.

If you compare the plants in these images, you can really see the changes over the last month and a half. Top to bottom, left to right:

Genovese Basil, second year. Flowering to collect seed. Thai Basil Tiny and growing slow, first year Genovese Basil.

Thyme? and Marjoram. Parsley, first year.

Cilantro Thyme(?)

Sage Marjoram

Home made apple wine, from plain ol' store bought frozen concentrate.

As you can see, it didn't clear very well and, at the time of bottling, it tasted a bit... thin. It could use some acid or a source of tannin. If you make true apple wine from crushed fruit and allow everything to sit in there together for the initial ferment, you draw the natural tannins from the apple's skin and stem (assuming you don't remove all the stems first!).

The recipe was mildly adapted from Jack Keller's awesome site, winemaking.jackkeller.net. I didn't use the pectic enzyme, which is why it is cloudy. I may take another go at it and attempt chilling before bottling, which should drop more sediment to the bottom. If that fails, then I may give the pectic enzyme a try!

Identification.

The images are grouped according to which planting they are. Hopefully, we can help each other identify this guys and then we can compile a sort of time lapse of each green brother and sister growing up! At the top, we have a larger, second-year genovese basil and a tiny little genovese basil (assumption). The little not-so-little fella on the right, looked more like basil when it was young. As it grows, it looks less like the genovese and the leaves, when lightly bruised, emit an anise-like aroma. Literally just identified it. Thai Basil.

The next row, featuring three plants. The two planted together appeared to be of the same seed, the loner of the group ate its twin in the womb. Not sure on any of the three yet, except that they all look quite similar. Sorry for the less than stellar images, the camera was acting fussy.

Next in line, we have two more mystery plantings. One, the fellow leaning to the left, is taking a rather similar appearance to the marjoram potted else where. On that note, if not marjoram, I have begun to assume that it is at least of the oregano genus, Origanum, of the mint family (Lamiaceae).

From the Farmer's Market.

Albion strawberry (everbearing). Had to make a little tray for transporting the mama with the runner. Once the runner is established, it will be trimmed from the mama plant, and I won't have to balance the two in a goofy cardboard tray.

Roma tomato (non-determinant). You can see the leaf I damaged when this little guy road on the back of my bike (bottom, right of center), otherwise it is doing quite well and even has two blooms.

Growing herbs in containers in an apartment can be challenging. For folks with south facing balconies and windows, good eastern exposure, or "green" management have amazing benefits over those of us caught under trees, northern exposure, and/or management with strict rules regarding windows and possible mounts outside or having pots placed outside of "your space".

Our place benefits from good eastern exposure, but only about 4-5 hours worth. Not really enough for full sun plants. We also have the benefit of a west facing balcony, but it is shaded by a large maple allowing only filtered, or partial, sun. This is enough for most of my plants to be satisfied and a few seem to be happy.The seedlings, however, suffer the most from this deficiency. Once they are tall enough and requiring more light, they will attempt to grow to reach the sun (note my marjoram). This causes them to become very leggy and ill producing until such a point that they are receiving either enough light or die trying.

Since it was warming up here, and we like to keep a cool apartment with minimal energy usage, I wanted to block out the morning sun on the hottest days, but did want the plants to suffer. Enter the bed sheet.

Growing plants inside, many depend on reflected light to grow. Considering this logic, I snagged the lightest (both in weight and color) bed sheet we had and tacked it to the ceiling, creating a trapezoid with the wall. In the latter half of the early afternoon, we began moving everybody to the balcony and, wouldn't you know it, they hadn't leaned nearly so hard to follow the sun, nor did any appear to have wasted copious amounts of energy growing toward the window!

Basil!

This is my fifth or sixth year growing basil. The tall guy in the top most image is from last year, he remained alive through the winter and sprouted leaves. I nearly discarded it to make room for the new plants, however I had a soft spot for it due to the damage cause by thrips last year.

The chives, rosemary, and spicy oregano are all over one year old. The chives, once transplanted from one of the smaller round pots, began growing much larger with much more flavor. A few of them are still acting a might stubborn and refuse to leap upward in the manner of the comrades. That's okay though. Diversity is good. The rosemary, while a Mediterranean plant that actually prefers loose, rocky, poor soil, has been doing pretty well, and the slightest brush fills the area with the wonderful aroma. The oregano has been growing in a spindly fashion, as if it desires to be a hanging plant or ground cover. Not sure why, though I have been thinking that it may have something to do with the partial shade environment it is in.

Strawberry and Roma tomato plants I purchased at the last farmer's market i was at. They were both quite the troopers, riding with the groceries on the back of the bike.

It's getting a bit warm over the next few days. Here's a great way to enjoy the heat!

2 packets True Blueberry tea (Celestial Tea) 2 Cups water to boil 1 Cup water to bring to simmer 1 Cup cold/ice water 2 Ounces Lemon juice (i used bottled) 2 Tablespoons sugar or honey

Optional: Mint.

Plot of 6.

Thrip. This little guy was about a millimeter long. They been spotted several times on my chives, and they actually killed last year's basil. The larva of the thrip can often be found on the bottom of leaves and will cause a spotted, blight-like appearance. The link will take you to the wikipedia article.

Parsley! Looking a little foppish in the last image, but they were just trying to get to the sunlight as it crested the eaves. These and the other seedlings all spend part of their day under the grow light. These two fellows are almost ready to follow their previous neighbors (earlier post, re: the two plants whom sprouted from seeds resembling flat parsley seeds) in graduating to a slightly larger pot!

All three of the top images are cilantro. The bottom three are from what looked like flat parsley seeds. Clearly, they were not the same seeds, as they are two different plants!

The full leaved of the two looks quite similar to the cilantro, while the other seems to be a variety of parsley(?). If you have any thoughts, please share them! (someone has mentioned the possibility of it being anise and the fingery one parsley!)

Update on the marjoram: Managed to capture one of the little pests without crushing it. Though teeny tiny, it did appear to be an aphid!

Marjoram, growing at a maddening pace. The stalk at the soil surface was quickly inadequate to support the height, so an old basil stem was used to shore it up. Didn't last long as you can see. The time span of the photos is one week!

The final photo is of some sort of parasite that I haven't identified yet, but it seems to love munching on basil, chives, and marjoram. A bit of dawn dish soap mixed with water and applied with a spray bottle seems to spoil their fun, and, while the plants are indoors, diatomaceous earth (food grade) will be dehydrating their butts. Word of warning, watering will "dissolve" the d.e. and push what doesn't down into the soil. While I have not read anything pertaining to detrimental effects on earthworms, I have seen notes regarding it's use against slugs. Further, it will eradicate all exoskeletoned/carapaced insects. This includes the beneficial ones that will eat the pesky ones if you leave all well enough alone. Something to consider, if you are planting outside in plots, etc.: Companion gardening. The idea is beyond the scope of this post and my knowledge, at present. I just recently began really looking into it. The idea is that by planting certain plants together, they will help each other regarding pests, nutrition, etc.

Lavender or Basil?

I'm thinking basil, as the other seedling in the mini greenhouse started out similar, but has developed broad true leaves that look more like basil. Not the first time I have grown basil from seed, but the first time I paid attention to what was going on. The second two images are of the seedling in the mini greenhouse.