Plants in Pots: The Story Thus Far

So this is what my container garden looked like in its prime, around early July of last year:

Basil, cilantro, and rosemary…

…Okra and spinach, jointly, just barely sprouting up.

And this is what it looked between last August and this past February:

Uh, yeah. Lord knows what was living in there.

I went on a three-week trip out of the country last summer, and that is essentially what I returned to. I figured I should throw in the all-purpose gloves and plan more thoroughly for next spring. Well, next spring is here!

I did manage to reap a bit of produce for all my hard work. Four okra pods.

Four!

I’ve spruced up the containers for this year, and added a couple more smaller ones. This year, one big container's got carrots, and the other one's got a Roma tomato plant in the center surrounded by spinach (don't know if that'll work. Alas, I've got to conserve space). The smaller containers hold basil, bell peppers, a second tomato plant I got for free (Early Girl variety), rosemary from last year, and thyme. The rosemary confounds me; it died, then sprouted again out of nowhere despite the fact that I did nothing to it. Now that I've transferred it to another pot and care for it, it decides to shrivel up and die. What?

When I get pics off my camera, I’ll be sure to put them up, not that there's a ton of activity going on in those pots thus far. The carrots are sprouting some, along with the bell peppers. The Early Girl plant seems to be doing the best, but that's probably because it was a started plant to begin with.

Anyway, here's to hoping that this experience continues to be fun and rewarding this year.

Topics of Interest

I mentioned in my first post that this blog would cover my long-term goals, my interests and hobbies, my thoughts, dreams, and other things. I figured that I should be more specific. To be included in the aforementioned topics:

Writing! I am a writer. At least, this is what I tell myself. At the top of my Writing-Related Things To Do List is, of course, to finish my contribution to the legend of the Great American Novel, (which I always thought was both funny and appropriate because I’m Nigerian American, and what’s more American than our nation’s whole “melting pot” identity, and the idea of a person from humble or foreign (or both) roots attaining her or his goals through hard work?). I’ve been trying to finish the same novel since I was seventeen, but trust me, you’ll hear enough of that story later on. In addition to my novel, I also write fanfiction and tv and movie screenplays (I’m a mass communications major, and writing for tv is my career goal). I’m also planning a documentary (the subject of which I will divulge at a later time).

Guitar. I’ve been trying to learn the guitar since I was fourteen. My parents got me one for my fifteenth birthday—it was a total surprise. I fell in love with it-- a little Yamaha beginner’s guitar for $100 at Guitar Center. I still love the little guy, even though at the moment it’s sitting in its case, still waiting for me to learn how to harness its incredible, beautiful powers. I figure talking about learning might actually get me to keep practicing.

Bottle caps. Yeah. Like the little metal ones on the top of glass bottles. I’ve been sort of subconsciously collecting them since I was twelve. This year, I decided to pursue it more seriously again.

Photos. I took a photography class in both high school and the beginning of college, and I’ve always wanted to continue, even though photography is kind of expensive. I bought a fantastic film camera for my college class, but now I want to give digital photography a try. At the very least, I’m interested in taking pictures of my everyday life. I wish I had a better digital camera.

Gardening. I started a container garden last May, for Mother’s Day. After a while it kind of turned into my own personal project, heh, although both of my parents have shown interest in it. Unfortunately, I took a trip out of the country in July and came back in August. It’s amazing how quickly a perfectly healthy container of basil, rosemary, and cilantro can become a brown, weed-ravaged pot of “what the hell?”

Food. Seeing as I eat a lot, and spend a lot of time cooking for myself, there’s no way I won’t talk about what I’m eating or cooking or baking at least a few times. After roughly a couple years of vegetarianism, I became a vegan around the beginning of this year, so food is important to me—it’s a reflection of my lifestyle. Relax, omnis; while I encourage people to consider the impact of any of their actions on other beings and the planet, I’m not one to proselytize. Just sit back and enjoy the food piccies, yeah?

Well, that’s a good enough snippet for now. Until later!