Self Watering Planter from a Brita Pitcher

I love self watering planters; they are both brilliant and forgiving.  There are so many tutorials out there about constructing your own self watering planter.  In the most basic form, there is a water basin, a contained small area of soil touching down into the water basin, and an upper basin holding all the soil and plants.  A Brita, or any water filter type pitcher, has a lower basin (where all the filtered water goes), an upper basin where the faucet water goes, and a cylinder to hold the filter that reaches from the upper chamber to the lower.  Exact same idea as a self watering planter.

I thought I'd give it a try as a mini kitchen garden.  I put some decorative rocks in the lower chamber so my planter would have a lower center of gravity and be less likely to tip over.  Then I placed a square of old t-shirt (anything that allows water through but stops all the dirt from coming out the bottom will work) over the grate at the bottom of the cylinder.  Filled the top chamber with soil and potted a few lettuce seedlings.  Then a watered a bit on the top of the soil to get it going and filled the bottom chamber with water.  The water level has to be fairly high because it must be filled a few inches above the cylinder. 

That was it.  All I had to do was maintain the water level above the cylinder.  Full Disclosure: The water did get murky.  I suppose one could lift of the plant part and fill the bottom with fresh water from time to time to have a more pleasant looking plant.  But the main point is that the pitcher totally worked!  Perfectly watered lettuce up until the time I ate it for dinner.

Currently, I have it next to a strawberry plant outside that is sending out runners.  The runner roots are already coming out the bottom.  So very easy, and a great way to up-cycle those old filter pitchers!

It Finally Happened: My Orchid Re-Bloomed

It has been about 10 years since I have been buying orchids at Trader Joe's and other such places.  I convinced myself that buying them over and over again is like saving money because the flowers last at least a month and would be cheaper than buying cut flowers every week.  (Not that I have ever actually bought cut flowers once a week, but IF I did....).  I have never once succeeded in a re-bloom.  They were basically long lasting cut flowers.  Yes, I poured over my books and other peoples blogs about making it happen.  I watered frequently, I watered infrequently, I trimmed the stem, etc.  None of these things ever actually worked.  Eventually the leaves turned yellow and the plant was tossed.

BUT, now everything has changed!  My mother bought me a lovely yellow orchid for my birthday last November.  It kept flowers on it until mid-December.  A few months later I was visiting a friend and noticed that he had an orchid on the verge of re-bloom.  His answer was simple, keep the orchid in a window and every time you water it (like once a week), give it a quarter turn.  Could it be that easy?  Window, water and quarter turn?

So, I did that very thing.  I set a calendar reminder to water the plant every Thursday.  The way I water is pretty straight forward.  My pot has holes, so I stick the plant under the kitchen sink and soak through with water.  Then I make sure all the water is drained out.  Yes, of course, I did still forget to water it some Thursdays and it still re-bloomed.  As I said, my plant is in a pot with plenty of holes so it gets plenty of air (the perk of taking ceramics classes is being able to make holey pots in just the right size!).  I cut off the flowerless stem about mid way down and just above one of the nodes (or what I think was a node).  I placed it in a west facing window because that was the only practical window in my apartment. I watered and turned for a couple months.  Sometimes, I'd put a few drops of African Violet fertilizer in the water, because that is the fertilizer I already owned.
Then, out of now where it started growing a new stem.  A month and a half later, it started blooming.  There have been blooms on it now for at least two months and it seems to be going strong.

Yellow and pink orchid re-blooming- July 2012

My Four Easy Steps to Re-Blooming An Orchid:
1. Put the orchid in a window.
2. Make sure the plant has plenty of air circulation around root system.
3. Water once a week by soaking the roots and letting excess water drain out (i.e. no standing water in the roots).
4. Turn the plant a quarter turn with every water. 

I hope these steps work for you too.

Chive Blossom Infused Vinegar

It has been ages since I blogged.  Still gardening, just not blogging.  You know the story.  But I had to break my silence for this discover.  I saw somewhere (and I am sure I pinned it on pinterest) chive blossom vinegar.  Yes, yes, yes.
I have two chive clusters growing this year.  What happens is that my chives all start flowering, I dead head the flowers when they are dry and just bury them back in the soil.  So, as you can imagine, my chive clusters keep getting bigger.  Sometimes I remember to eat the flowers on salads and once I sprinkled the petals on some risotto (highly recommended and really impresses the guests). I really like eating the flowers, but I just forget about them.  It feels like this season the little purple flowers have been prolific.  Constant flowers.  I was thrilled to find this recipe for infused vinegar.

Vinegar recipe:
Snip Chive Flowers (just the good ones) and cover them with white distilled vinegar.  Let sit for 2-3 weeks.  Strain and filter.  Filtering is just super straining to get a clear vinegar.  Basically use a coffee filter.  Also, you can shake the jars from time to time if you feel the urge.

What I did:
This morning I snipped off approximately 6 chive blossoms.  I rinsed them to get rid of any inhabitants and set them on a towel to dry a bit.  Then I washed a canning jar and the lid.  Ready to go.

Because I was feeling particularly excited, I snipped of a largish onion blossom as well.  I had bought some purple bulbed green onions last spring from none other than Walmart.  They grew very nicely and I enjoyed the constant availability of fresh green onion.  I didn't eat them all and I now find myself with a dozen or so way too overgrown/massive green onion stalks.  Several stalks formed large white flowers.  I'm nothing but curious, so I have just been watching them grow.  I am hoping that they will go to seed and give me some volunteer onions for the fall season.   (I love volunteer plants.  I've got a volunteer lettuce and parsley plant growing right now from former plants that have since gone to seed and been removed).  But in my excitement for chive blossom vinegar, I thought why not have purple green onion blossom vinegar as well.  So I plucked off one of the large cream colored flower heads and dumped it in a second jam jar.

I filled both jars with vinegar.  After only a few hours the chive vinegar is turning pink and smells like onion.  Now to wait.

My plan is to continue to add chive flowers to the vinegar they become ripe, or perhaps start a second jar.  It isn't too early to start infusing stuff for the holidays.  I may try the next batch using white wine vinegar instead of distilled vinegar.  And who knows, I am feeling inspired to toss a few blossoms into my jug of refrigerator pickles.  YUM!

Ultra Dwarf Nectarine Harvest

I promised that I would tell you whatever happened with my nectarine.  Well, here it is. I got about 10 mini nectarines. They were DELICIOUS.  They were ready and falling off the dwarf tree about two weeks ago.  It was such a surprise how tasty the were.  I am so very pleased with this little guy.  I cannot wait to see what he will do after I prune him back in the fall.  I can already see little nodes developing on all the branches (actually, I am not sure at all what that means-- maybe I should do some research soon on when exactly and how I am supposed to prune this guy).  I wish this photo could really show off how small the nectarines really are.  The dimensions look funny. But that glass bowl they are sitting in is pretty tiny.  Not even really the size of a regular cereal bowl.  I'd estimate that the fruits were a bit larger than a golf ball.

Ultra Dwarf Nectarine

About a year ago Sandra and I went to Lowes browsing the veggie seedlings.  There was a sale on dwarf and full size trees.  I snagged this ultra dwarf nectarine for 5 dollars.  Seriously, 5 dollars.  I have no clue whether a nectarine will thrive in a pot in San Diego, but I guess we will all find out.  I potted it in a lightweight pot from Walmart (cost 20 bucks) and it did nothing.  It just chilled with its leaves until the fall when it dropped all its leaves and just looked like a few sticks-- a few sad sticks.  Then about a month ago I noticed it was growing some nubby things.  Well, those nubby things, it turns out are flower buds.  I snapped a picture this morning of the first flowers and you can even see the little leaves that are about to explode.
I cannot wait to see the whole tree full of these delicate pink flowers. I will just die if I open my curtains in the morning and see hummingbirds poking around the flowers.  Then I would just die again if it actually gives me some nectarines! I have pretty low expectations since I haven't ever seen a stone fruit tree anywhere in my neighborhood.  Time will tell.
Oh, and just to be extra adorable, I planted four June-bearing strawberries at the base of the tree.  It would be ridiculous to see big red strawberries living next to ripening nectarines.  Don't worry, if that happens I will definitely post some pictures.

Mini Pomegranate

The dwarf pomegranate is a-thrivin'.  Though I was not expecting any fruit on the little guy for another year, this dwarf tree/bush bore three mini fruits this season.  It really couldn't be cuter.  Here is a picture of the fruit that was cracked open on the branch today.  The seeds are hardly the red jewel color I'd expect from a pomegranate and they were extremely tart and tiny.  Maybe it is because that plant is still so young.  But, the flowers keep coming on this plant.  I would really encourage anyone living in So Cal to find one of these dwarf plants for their house/apartment.   It is so easy to care for; the flowers are pretty and attract hummingbirds.  AND, as a benefit, the pomegranate fruit is so beautiful and so perfect. I am considering ordering another one of these plants because I don't think one is nearly enough ;) 

PS.  I bought mine at Gurneys.com if you are curious, but I think this time around, I'd just ask my local nursery for suggestions on where to buy it locally.

Armenian Cucumbers

I am only sort of into cucumbers.  If you slather them with some kind of bad-for-you dip, or use them to flavor water, then I really enjoy them.  But if you just hand me a bit of cucumber, I’d rather not.  Trust me you, I want to love cucumbers because they are light and refreshing and make you stay skinny but, they just don’t quite do it for me plain.

So, it make sense that I am growing a giant Armenian cucumber plant, right?  Not really.  Sandra bought one of those six packs last winter from some nursery and gave me two of the plants.  Now, I rarely, if ever, reject a plant.  So, I stuffed the two plants in with my strawberries.  One of the plants met an early death, but the other, well, that is a whole other story.  It is mega!

What’s that?  You’ve never heard of an Armenian cucumber.  Well, me either.  I am still trying to figure out why Sandra bought this plant in the first place.  I mean, both of us live in little apartments and have very limited growing spaces.  Most cucumbers need to be trellised, and that, my dear reader, is just too much work.

Now, the Armenian cucumber is actually not really a cucumber.  It’s in the melon family and just tastes and sort of looks like a cucumber—a mega cucumber.  These babies can be 3 feet long!  According to my sources, if you have ever seen “Pickled Wild Cucumber” in a middle eastern store, you were looking at Armenian Cucumber.  Anyone had this delicacy?

They are thin skinned and don’t need to be peeled.  Just wash, slice, and enjoy.  My plant has so far yielded one major cucumber.  I think it was over a foot when I picked it.  I had to give half to my mom because no way was this girl going to eat over a foot of cucumber.

Pollination Troubles-

I am a tad concerned that I have only had one mature fruit.  There are loads and loads of flowers and the darn plant keeps getting bigger and bigger.  It has attached itself to several of my tomato plants and is growing down and over my fencing.  It doesn’t have to be trellised (if you trellis the plant, it will give you really straight fruits, if you let it go wild, the fruit will curve) but my plant is in such a place that it can cascade down several feet.  So, I’ve been trying to pollinate the plant by pulling off the male flowers and rubbing them into the female flowers.  Weird, I know.  Especially since there is a serious ant farm living in the planter with the strawberries and cucumber.  I figured with all these ants walking up and down the stalks, the flowers would surely be pollinated.  Not so much.  

Pest Problems-

Damn those spider mites.  They are loving the Armenian cucumber, and strangely, the ants are loving the spider mites.  Have you ever heard of bug-eating ants?  I have been trying to organically control the spider mite population by spraying them with jets of water.  It actually seems to be working. 

Overall, I’d say this is a very satisfying plant to grow.  It just gets so big, there is something new to look at every day.  So if you are into cucumbers and giant plants, this one is for you.  AND it seems to enjoy growing in a container. 

I’ll try to post a picture the next time I pick one of them.