the sun is back

This weekend brought warm weather, finally, and I spent most of my time on the front porch and back deck, reading. It was fantastic. I started some seeds a couple of weeks ago, and our next door neighbors (with whom we share the deck and porch) did also, and since the danger of frost is gone, all of the plants have moved outside and the back deck is really coming together:



It's the perfect size to sit with a few housemates, sip iced tea, put up bare feet, and read or talk or just bask. It would be even nicer if the management of the property next door hadn't cut down all of the trees this winter (they were interfering with the telephone lines, but you know, the trees were big--I'm thinking they had been there much longer than any phone lines).

This is a very functional group of plants here--nothing that would attract rats, and no pretty flowers (except for some of the chives, which are flowering, and which I thought were weeds until I tasted one). But there will be flowers on the front porch, and fruits and vegetables can be gotten at the farmers market--I'm still excited that we will have so many fresh herbs to flavor them with. I can't identify some of what the neighbors planted, but I know for sure that we have basil, chives (lots), rosemary, oregano, mint, cilantro, and I think the neighbors are planting spinach and potatoes. Would potatoes attract rats?

Now, while I'm pretty happy with the deck as a whole, I have to say that I'm disappointed with the progress of my seeds. Let's compare:


neighbors' chives


chives that sprouted on their own, and which nobody has watered


more chives that came up on their own


my chives. Can you see them? they're the wispy, limp strands over on the left. While we're on this picture, I'll confess that my rosemary never sprouted at all, so what you see here was purchased from the farmers market on Sunday. I haven't killed it yet, but it's only been a day. Give it time. And over on the right, we see some dirt where the oregano is supposed to be. The oregano sprouted, but stayed very, very tiny, and then all of the sprouts died except for two. Here is one of them:


I should have put something in for scale, but believe me when I tell you that those leaves are no more than 2 mm in diameter. And it's been like a month since they sprouted. So sad. Let's compare this with the neighbors' oregano:


Yes, nice healthy rosemary and oregano bushes.

I also have pictures comparing my cilantro with the neighbors', but it's just more of the same. You get the idea. I think in the future I'll stick with buying and planting things that have already sprouted. The mint and basil plants that I bought seem to still be alive. You know, since yesterday, when I bought them. Oh, and there's one more mystery plant that sprouted in a pot, but its leaves don't smell like anything, so it's probably just a weed. I don't think I'll taste it.