4.07.2016

(still) the great white north...

it is somewhere near midnight and the stillness is intermittently broken by the sound of snow plows scraping against city streets. i know Canadians love their Winters, but come on already! inside, we are weathering the situation in classic us fashion: he is watching bad movies while working on a storyboard for some show, and i am dyeing yarn while drinking cheap champagne (from a coffee cup, because i am classy like that). clearly, my way makes far more sense.

i was anxiously awaiting the next phase of the balcony garden project, but this turn in the weather has dampened said excitement. i lowered the thermostat when it seemed that we were heading for an early Spring, only to be hit by a cold snap which seems to have damaged a few of the tomato plants that were nearest to the window. lesson learned. the heat has since been turned back up to 'still Winter' levels, and i am pleased to say that the survivors seems to be doing okay. [ignore my yellow-socked feet, left].


the zucchinis even appear to be thriving. 



note the (re)use of Perrier bottles as water reservoirs, which keeps the soil from drying out between regular watering.



on a related note, i recently purchased two fabric planters, and they (finally) arrived this week [here they are on Amazon, but i got them for about one-third the price on their Canadian site]. to be honest, i am not really sold on the "air pruning" benefits associated with grow-bags. yes, they are effective at preventing roots for becoming restricted, but this happens primarily because the roots die off when they come in contact with the air along the perimeter of these highly-porous pots. this does prevent the roots from becoming pot-bound (i.e., when they grow in a tight, tangled mess along the edges of a too-small pot), but the constant pruning also forces the plant to expend a great deal of resources in continuously replacing the dying roots. while i do like the concept of preventing pot-bound roots in plants that will linger for a long while, this is still Canada, and i would be lucky if it stays warm long enough to actually harvest anything before the Summer ends.

i did, however, specifically get the bags as the superior drainage they offer makes for an ideal setting for growing potatoes. apparently, it is also really good for growing cats.



seriously, i took one of the bags out of the package and walked away for a whole minute to find my camera, and she had already made herself comfortable by the time i returned.



and she refused to move, even as i was attempting to photograph the stitching inside of the bag.



then she took a nap, which is how all the best stories end.

1 comment:

  1. at a guess, I'd say you might have to buy another bag. This one's been taken over by the Cat Plant. Don't you just love the way they colonize things...

    ReplyDelete