Growing day
On saturday after the local age group swim meet was cancelled postponed in favor of potential-pandemic preoccupation, the previously cancelled masters workout was reinstated so I got to get up and get in an easy 2K with my breakfast buddies. This worked out well since I barely got in about 500 (maybe) on Friday morning, owing primarily to my preoccupation with the relay practice that I had arranged not going quite according to plan (the timing equipment worked properly about 50% of the time, and not once for Todd (but everyone is ok with his 0.13 exchange last Feb)). We did some fast 50s and, unlike some of the rest of the crew (Bailey popped a 22-low for a 50 free from a push, nice!) I wasn’t quite feeling the speed yet, but I’m also still sporting the drag suit. The speed will come.
After practice I skipped out on my normal dryland workout in favor of following the taper plan for nationals next week. I went home, had some breakfast and thought about doing a little stretching; Whitney has suggested stretching as a means to relieve the tightness that can make my freestyle stroke get short (and the fly get “praying mantisish” … yuck). In lieu of abusing myself on the foam roller I chose instead to venture back out into the glorious day and get in one last yoga class before the trip. I have to admit, there is an element to that hour that, for me, is not unlike Churchill’s 1939 Russia: “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” And yet, there seems to be always some point in the session where I recognize my cheeks drawing into that familiar feeling of a spontaneous smile; I’m not sure that the lightheartedness helps to grow my understanding any closer to the goal of “Caribbean blue clarity,” but it does seem to help getting into a deeper stretch at least.
When I got back home I decided to check out the progress of some of the other growing things. The lemon tree has 6 lemons on the way and it’s blooming again (how cool is that?)
I really like the perfume of blooming citrus. To me there is a slight similarity to gardenia, though the citrus typically has a sweeter smell that somehow seems more productive (or is it simply less seductive?).
The bramble patch is still blooming on the floricanes that I saved from the tillers …
… and is seems that there will be at least one fruit (though the deer might decide to help themselves at some point)
Following a late lunch at Chuy’s with the out-of-town open water adventurers (more on that later) and a pit stop at Home Depot and Lowes there was still time left for sowing. Into my improvised seed incubator I planted marjoram, rosemary, and summer squash. We’ll have to track these for the next few weeks:
And I helped install a tomatillo, a serrano, and a Santa Fe pepper into some upside down “Tospy turvy” hanging planters. We’ll have to see how these fare against the elements (and the deer).
May 6th, 2009 at 11:40
The Topsy Turvy! I am trying one out this year for the first time, see:
http://cklempay.homeip.net/gallery/03_10_2009/slides/IMG_0404.html
(it is much bigger now, this was taken in early March)
Especially as it has gotten big, it drinks a lot of water. It makes me wish I instead had this one that my sister found:
http://www.gardeners.com/Gardeners-Revolution-Planter/VegetableGardening_TerrificTomatoes,37-850,default,cp.html
A bit pricier, but the 1 gallon water reservoir would be nice..
May 6th, 2009 at 18:56
Hi Corbett,
Ah, the wonders of capillary action; it does look like a slightly more advanced design (and that sentiment agrees with their marketing materials!). I suspect that simply locating the water reservoir on the top significantly limits the soil evaporation rate.
So how often do you water your TT? Its user’s guide claims that it cannot be overwatered. Are you growing tomatoes? How quickly does the plant get visibly thirsty?
May 7th, 2009 at 9:48
Yes, it has tomatoes in it — two plants. One is a big boy hybrid, and the other is a type I forget the name of — I think ‘Bonnie Select’ (with Bonnie being the producer of all of the vegetables for sale at Home Depot). When I went to buy the seedlings, I knew nothing about tomato varieties, and so had no idea what it meant when a bunch of them were labelled as determinate, and the others indeterminate. I thought I’d cover the bases and got one of each. I guess it turns out that determinate means all of its tomatoes are going to peak at once, whereas indeterminate will be a steady ongoing production.
At its current size (no tomatoes can be seen yet, although in past days I think I have seen where they are about to start), I’m watering it every day. I dump a large Dunkin Donuts coffee mug full of water in each day. When it was smaller (like in the picture), this much water would start dripping through. At its current size, it doesn’t drip at all. If I skip a day, the leaves get visibly withered by probably midday of the day I skipped.
October 4th, 2009 at 23:35
[...] After that I thought it might be time to assess the growing things that I planted so many months ago. [...]