Bad Air Day

With an ozone alert today I couldn’t spend much time gardening but I could bring in some cut flowers for a little bouquet. The purple asters that came in a bouquet I bought at a gourmet grocery had to leave their main stem behind when I changed their water today. Changing flower water daily extends the life of flowers and prevents “bad air” indoors. So to the relocated asters, I added one of my “Becky” rudbeckia flowers, a stem of magenta and white Sweet Williams and some swirling, trailing lettuce flowers. For “greenery” I added some ferny yarrow leaves, leaves from a deep magenta shade plant whose name I didn’t catch and flat-leaved parsley. Oh yes, I cut a peppermint bloom to add to the mix. Using all kinds of things from the garden makes a bouquet more interesting.

Their Own Space

The more I garden, the more interesting “new” things I see. I’ve grown “baby lettuce leaves” before but this is the first time they’ve flowered though I had heard of lettuce “bolting” or going to seed. Since seeding isn’t what I want from my lettuce, I cut the white flowers’ long stems and gathered them with a few other cut flowers from my garden in my favorite yellow-green glass vase. When I worked in flower shops I learned that each flower should have its own space-- “light and airy,” we called it. The wayward, curving stems certainly have found their own space!

Quick Response

The lettuce seeds I planted a short time ago have already sprouted! They obviously like the warm weather too; the warmth seems to be bringing everything out early. I really didn’t plant them that close together; apparently my watering and God’s rain washed them together but that’s okay.

Though the mixed lettuce seed packets always show purple leaves, for some reason none ever emerge in my garden. I would really like to have purple leaves.

We enjoy salads for their nutrition, lightness and no-cook preparation yet it’s amazing how labor-intensive salad-making is in washing so many leaves. It’s worth it though to get really fresh and colorful food and for keeping heat out of the kitchen.

Salad Days

The record-breaking temperatures in the high 80’s have me thinking about salad since the kitchen is too hot for much cooking. The lettuce seeds I planted a while back are coming along nicely and should be big enough to eat soon. Since there is still room in the other half of the pot, I planted more seeds.

It’s actually cool outside—cooler than the 78 degrees in here; for some reason the breeze just doesn’t blow through the windows today—but pollen does. But birds are singing and the sun is shining. And it’s Friday. What a great combination! Now if my computer would behave properly…

True Purpose

It feels so good outdoors today, I didn’t want to come back in. I made the most of the occasion by sweeping up the balcony a bit—any excuse to be out there will do since I’m getting cabin fever with all the Christmas preparations; this is always an exacting task since the “floorboards” have space between and I don’t want to send any potting soil below. The pineapple sage and leftover basil stalks are still fragrant as I brush against them.

Inspired by Gayla Trail’s Grow Great Grub Organic Food from Small Spaces, in which she insists that “grub” (food) can be grown in the smallest of spaces—even a windowsill, I eyed my set of flower-decorated garden pots. I’ve lovingly carried these pots around since I was given them as a parting gift by my co-workers at my first “real” job; I was moving on to greater things. The pots however, have become a place to collect odd things that need recycling but I don’t know where to put them back into the cycle (light bulbs?).


I read a lot about “re-purposing” these days and I enjoy giving things additional purposes (often to keep them out of the landfill) but there’s nothing like getting back to an object’s (or a person’s!) original and true purpose. So I read the list of food plants that will grow in a “slightly shady” window, matching it with my supply of lettuce (two kinds), parsley and chives seeds. I emptied the pots, washed them thoroughly and added a thin layer of gravel for drainage, added soil then seeds, watered them and set them on the window sill. I’ll have to remember to water and drain them in the sink since the hole plugs are long gone and the holder doesn’t allow for saucers (I could put the whole thing in a saucer but it wouldn’t look as good). The “rooster plant” that reigns in this window has to move over; I’ll have to move them all out of the window at night to make way for the blinds. The seeds take about two weeks to sprout; I’ll keep you posted.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15,16 NIV

Fresh Salad

Salad doesn’t get any fresher than picking it from your own garden! In fact, container gardens are usually even closer to the kitchen door than a conventional garden, making salad fresher still.

Lettuce is usually thought of as a cool weather crop but mine has continued to produce right through the sweltering heat. Watering, of course, is key, along with keeping the leaves from coming in contact with the edge of the pot—they incinerate.

Since “baby greens” have become fashionably gourmet, it doesn’t take long to get leaves big enough to add to a small salad (later, you can get enough leaves for a whole serving or more). Packets of seeds with a mixture of varieties are easy to find; though they often advertise purple varieties in the mix, I have yet to sprout any colorful ones.

Even in an average-sized pot you can grow quite a bit of leaf lettuce, especially if you continually reseed. Of course, my pot of lettuce isn’t this full after making the salad but if I keep reseeding, it’ll soon fill again.