One of my favorite sayings of Amanda’s was always “invest in things that grow”, and it just so happened we left our high rise apartment dwelling in the winter after she took her own life, and for the first time in my life I owned outdoor space. Now every growing season I tend to my tiny urban patches daily, and it’s one of the most rewarding undertakings I have ever known.

In July I harvested beets for the first time, from what I call my $0 garden. Alpine Mignonette Strawberries are in their second year and were grown from seed. Golden beet seeds from a seed exchange with an old schoolmate. The cherry tomato is a volunteer from my compost.

The beets and tomatoes were incorporated into this lovely salad. One day I’ll grow the carrot, cucumber, ginger and lettuce too!
My basils’ (Genovese & Purple Petra) haircut got turned into pesto with some old chopped walnuts sitting in the pantry. When I grow sunflowers again I’ll be using sunflower seeds instead.
I trimmed yam leaves from the grocery store and rooted them in water. Once the roots were several inches long I transplanted them into soil. Now I have yam leaves to eat from my own roof!
I also bought a kabocha pumpkin many months ago and saved and germinated the seeds. This may be my only fruit from the endeavor, but we’ve enjoyed the blossoms all spring and summer so far.
Another “volunteer” tomato. This one is apparently not a cherry variety.
I saved a pineapple top from a pineapple from the grocery store. I was able to get it to root in water and then I transplanted it in soil. Due to the fact that this method only produces a single pineapple in 3-5 years. I have taken to calling it “Mini’s (High School) Graduation Pineapple” ??
This is a volunteer morning glory that got carried to me by the wind or the birds. There is a diner down the street with a whole wall of this stuff so I think of it as a gift from them.
The last harvest of July: I plucked some tomatoes and trimmed a little basil for upcoming pizza night. I also found a single All-Stars Strawberry which is another variety that I have but isn’t a very productive bunch. The kabocha blossoms I nip because I rarely see female blossoms that can be pollinated to produce fruit, so we end up just eating all the mostly male blossoms.

Little Good Things Growing
Tagged on:         

You May Also Like

Plant Appreciation Post: End of the Growing Season!

July 2017

July 2017

August 2017

August 2017