Houseplants

I have three houseplants on the table in front of the breakfast area window - complete with a grow light to support their growth through the winter.

My experimental plant is ginger. A root that I had purchased to add to stir fries sprouted - and I cut off the two areas that sprouted and put the pieces in soil. They have done very well. The original sprouts now are stems and leaves...and there are additional sprouts at the base.

The aloe that had gotten way to large is survived by some smaller versions of itself as my second houseplant. How long will it be before these small ones graduate to the parent’s pot?

So far the sweet potato vines that I rooted in water and then planted in soil are not doing well at all. It is very frustrating. My goal had been to have three pots of the vines so that I could harvest the occasional leave to add to winter salads. Right now they are acting like they preferred to stay in water rather than grow in soil.

Still these few plants are my brace against the coming drabness outdoors. Right now there is still a lot of leaf color but it won’t be long before the color variety in the outdoor scene will be dominated by browns and piney greens….until it snows and we’ll enjoy the clean white for a few days.

Sweet Potato Crop 2014

I clipped the leaves from my sweet potato plant was grew in a trough on my deck all summer over a week ago … enjoying that bounty in salads. Now I have harvested the sweet potatoes themselves. There are 5 good size sweet potatoes and two smaller ones. I cut up the enlarged roots (about the diameter of my little finger but orange inside) for a stir fry before I remembered to take a picture!

I planted a sweet potato that sprouted last October and enjoyed it as a house plant during the winter.

It went out on the deck as soon as the weather was warm and I added a bell pepper and zinnias to the pot. But the sweet potato vine was the dominate plant. I’ve already got the ends of the vines rooting in my kitchen and I’m preparing to plant them as houseplants. Now that I know the leaves are edible, I might trim the plants for fresh salad ingredients this winter - long after this crop of sweet potatoes has been consumed.

Edibles

This summer I’ve been surprised by parts of veggies that I had not realized were edible previously ---- and I’m sure that are probably more surprises to come. Here’s the list to date.

Garlic scapes. These were in one of the early CSA shares. They are cut from the top of the plant in the spring so that the garlic bulbs will form better. There is a small window when they are available but are a short term seasonal treat.  Their general curling form appeals to me too!

Sweet potato leaves and stems. It had never occurred to me that the sweet potato leaves were edible when I made my small harvest in the past. They are good in salads and stir fries (and probably soups too). I even chop up the stems. At first I thought the stems would be too tough for salads but they are no tougher that fresh green beans. Again - the CSA share was my first exposure to the ‘new food.’

Carrot tops. Most of the carrots I buy are already sliced or peeled…their tops long gone. This year I have a few carrots in my own deck garden and the CSA share has provided carrots with their green tops. I had no idea that the fresh tops tasted like parsley (probably with similar nutrition)….until I went to a lecture on food preservation. Now I manage to use some of the tops fresh in salads and then put the rest in the smoothie maker with water to create slurry to freeze in an ice cube tray; they’ll add a fresh green to soups this winter!

Now I’m wondering what else I am putting in the compost pile that should really be part of dinner instead….

CSA Week 15

Week 15 of the Gorman Produce Farm CSA - it’s another week of great food!

There is a little bow wave of garlic, potatoes, and winter squash from previous weeks - but those foods keep for weeks and months. I did make a fabulous custard with leftover baked butternut squash this past week; mixed up in the smoothie maker with just a little honey, baked into a light consistency custard, and then drizzled with maple syrup just before being eaten. Yum! I’ve also enjoyed the small purple potatoes in stir fries (only 2 at a time to not get too overwhelmed with calories. We made a bit batch of spaghetti sauce to have made good use of some frozen tomato sauce I’d cooked when I was overwhelmed with tomatoes a few weeks ago.

The big surprise to me this week is that sweet potato leaves are edible!  Evidently they can be used raw or cooked.  I’ve going to try them both ways and, if I like them, go ahead and cut the leaves from the sweet potato on my deck to enjoy; supposedly it is a good thing to do a few weeks before the sweet potato harvest.

I traded the poblano pepper for an additional bundle of Dinosaur Kale since I enjoy kale chips so much.

Notice that I got all yellow tomatoes too!  They’ll look beautiful with the red leafed lettuce.

Note that I’m using my own bags rather than bringing any plastic produce bags into the house. It feels good to avoid items that will become trash (or recycle if they stay clean).

The Deck Garden - August 2014

The deck garden is probably at its peak this month in terms of foliage. The mint is overflowing the pots that also contain butterfly weed, a few carrots, and a tomato plant.

The cucumber plant is gone but the beans that were in the same pot are blooming again.

The marigolds and zinnias add color. Occasionally the morning glories have a flower although they have not done particularly well on the deck this year.

The sweet potato is still growing rapidly and the soil in the pot is beginning to heave - a sign that the potatoes underneath the plant are growing too. I have some peppers that came up from the ‘not quite decomposed’ compost; hopefully they’ll get big enough to be worth picking. I am starting to get the second crop of tomatoes from the deck plants.

I’m beginning to think more about what I want to grow next year on the deck. Right now I am leaning more toward plants with color (flowers and leaves) rather than vegetables. The CSA is supplying plenty veggies!  The sweet potato vine has been better that previous years in terms of growth and color (the new leaves are a deep red) so I may try to propagate cuttings from the vine after I harvest the sweet potatoes this fall.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - July 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10 for July 2014. I’ve categorized them into 4 groups: CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Howard County Conservancy, travel and outdoors.

CSA

Kohlrabi is a new food for me this summer. It has been included in my CSA share twice and I’ve enjoyed it nutty flavor in stir fries. I may even buy it from the grocery store produce section after the CSA ends in the fall.

Fruit beety has become one of my favorite treats this summer - it is a healthy splurge to celebrate summer…..and a beautiful color to savor too.

Turnips are foods that I liked as snacks growing up but had eaten very infrequently for 30 years. I’m celebrating the re-discovery of how good a crunchy turnip can be.

Howard County Conservancy

Fairy Houses - The Howard Country Conservancy had an event for families to build fairy houses in the woods. I volunteered to help out with the crowd….and it was a lot of fun. The children were very creative with the natural materials of available!

Views in the Forest Shade - I celebrated the natural jewels in the shade on a summer day.

Bugs - Insects and spiders - oh my!

Travel

Travel purse - I found the perfect purse for travel at a thrift store: a pocket on the outside for my Kindle and boarding pass, good closure so nothing can fall out accidently. I am celebrating the bargain!

TSA Pre - I celebrate every time I get a boarding pass with TSA Pre; it is so much easier to go through security with shoes on and the laptop in the backpack.

Outdoors

Heron on the Lotus Pond - The second trip we may to the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Garden in Washington DC - there was a Great Blue Heron that was so intent on fishing that there was plenty of time for pictures. The scene of bird and lotus were the celebration of the day.

Blooming sweet potato - Previous sweet potato plants have grown lots of foliage and potatoes….but this year the plant has blooms too!

My Deck Garden - June 2014

The deck garden has changed quite a lot since my post in May. The sweet potato has a lot more leaves ad may be overwhelming the bell pepper plant in the same trough pot; the pepper plant has a small pepper …. but will it grow big enough to be edible?

The watermelon and cantaloupe are blooming - I look each day for a small melon beginning to form but it hasn’t happened yet.

The tomato plants have a lot of green tomatoes. In the pot next to the peacock pot, a lot of peppers that sprouted from kitchen compost are overwhelming the cilantro that I’ve already harvested once. The spaghetti squash in the peacock pot has been blooming but I have not found any small squash forming yet.

It’s the same story for the zucchini squash.

I’ve harvested mint for the second time this year - from the big round pot and the turtle sandbox. The harvest is already dried and in the crock beside the tea maker.

In the meantime - the beans are growing rapidly in the jug that originally held cat litter and the cucumber that was severely damaged by hail is hanging on - blooming! The shallow bins with miscellaneous flowers are just beginning to bloom. The morning glory has quite a ‘glow.’

My Deck Garden - May 2014

I am enlarging my deck garden this year and done some planting in small pots indoors to be ready.  It was finally warm enough here late last week for them to all go outdoors. I’ve planted combinations of plants in larger pots - one that will spill out over the side and one that will grow upward….or one that makes a large root and one that grows tall. I’m not sure it will work or not, but at least the deck will look interesting this summer and I’ll do a monthly post about the deck garden until the fall. I supplied the plants I had started from seed with potted plants bought at Home Depot once they were sale priced. The mint that wintered on the deck has already sprouted so I simply added something else to those pots. I have pots or troughs of:

Sweet potato and bell pepper

Watermelon and tomato

Zucchini and cilantro

Tomato and spaghetti squash

Cucumber and cilantro

Tomato and cucumber

Spaghetti squash and mint (in the old ‘turtle’ sandbox)

Tomato and carrots (in a repurposed bin that cat litter came in)

Cantaloupe and cilantro

I just realized that I probably should plant some basil somewhere.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 03, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

A Ranking of the Deadliest Animals in the World - The mosquito is the only one more deadly than humans!

Rainbow Slime Recipe for Play - I couldn’t resist…it’s pretty and fun looking…a great activity for the child in us all!

Two items about bees: 5 Facts about Bumblebees—and how to help them (the bumblebees were very active on a redbud blooming in our area) and The Waggle Dance of the Honeybee (this is not a new video…but timely as the bees become more active this year).

10 Spring Cleaning To Dos for Your Digital Abode: Part I - This is a list written for teachers but it makes sense for others as well! Part I is the first 5 of the 10.

Some of the Strangest and Most Artistic Rooftops in the World - The ones that are green with vegetation are my favorites.

Exquisite Macro Photos Reveal the Miniature World of Insects - My favorite is the dragonfly catching a ride on the seed puff.

Mount Baldy at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to Remain Off-Limits Indefinitely - Sand behaving in unexplained way….the world is not always easily understood.

Ethereal Silk Scarves Feature NASA's Photographs of Space - I want one of these for Christmas!

Elegant Animal Illustrations Created Using a Morié Pattern - The owl captured my attention…..and then the bats.

Optimizing sweet potato production - Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. I’m glad they are becoming more appreciated. I’ve always had good luck growing them too.

Sweet Potato House Plant - January 2014

I am enjoying a sweet potato vine as a houseplant this winter. It all started back in mid-October when I discovered a sweet potato had sprouted.  I cut off the sprouted end before I cooked the rest of the potato.

The sprout grew so rapidly in the saucer of water that within a week, I bought a planter box and soil. I included some shells still in the bag brought back from some beach vacation years ago on the top of the soil; pouring water onto shells works well to avoid holes dug by water.

At first the pot looked huge compared to the tiny plant but it continued to grow rapidly. It got pretty tall by early November before falling over and beginning to act like a vine about a month from the time it was planted.

The vine twined around a stick in early December.

In late December, I threaded the end of the vine through a metal sculpture.

In just 3 months indoors the vine had grown around the planter box and leaves spill out over the side. The bright green foliage is welcome in the deep of winter. It sits on the window end of the kitchen table where it gets sun on sunny days and supplemental artificial light for cloudy days and extra hours. It’s the best houseplant I’ve ever had!

I’m going to put the box outdoors after the last possibility of frost and anticipate that the planter box will be full of sweet potatoes by next fall!