BEHOLD! My First Born!!

This week was the most glorious week of my life:  This was the week I saw my very first red tomato.  I've been dying to eat it, but I know I have to share this success with my 2 followers first.  So, here you go:

Isn't he beautiful?!  He's actually even more red than this photo suggests. 

 And now, I will eat him.  (I just realized how awful that is after calling this post "my first born".  Nonetheless:)

He really was delicious!

Even better, he has two brothers from the same little branch that are about a day away from being as red as he is...was.  And 5 little green cousins that are on their way!

In case you're curious, here are some other updates:  I've got 2 good-looking full size tomatoes that I'm still waiting to turn red; a pretty blue flower on the asparagus plant; a half-grown bell pepper; and the rest...well...you win some you lose some.  All of the cilantro plants have flowered, so no more cilantro; basil looks alright; the lettuce looks shot; and the onions are too crowded and turning brown.  I won't include the bad news photos, but here's the up-side of things:

Man, that tomato was yummy.  I can't wait to eat the other two tomorrow.

Is It Time for Fried Green Tomatoes?

The good news is everything is growing, but I'm starting to get really antsy!  How long does it take for those little buggers (my tomatoes) to turn red?!  Are we talking weeks or months?

Also, I'm attempting to harvest seeds from one of my cilantro plants with the hope of re-planting.  I've followed some directions I found online that told me to hang the plant upside down in a bag to collect the seeds.  So far, no luck.  Does this take a while, or am I just seedless?

No pictures today - just had to post my questions.  I'll post some photos soon and I promise you'll be impressed.  (Yep - I'm patient and modest.) 

Miracles Do Happen

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: FRUIT!!

That's right:  There are tomatoes growing on not one, not two, but actually three different plants!!  (I only took pictures of two.)  Charlie has 3 cherry tomatoes coming in and two of the three larger tomato plants also have little baby green tomatoes.  SUCCESS!!! (For full effect, yell "SUCCESS" out loud with a little bit of a growl.)
I can also see some onions growing below the surface:


AND Bella the bell pepper has several flowers coming in, so I imagine she's not too far behind in producing some fruit:

 I'm also getting a little fancy and taking some risks.  I've decide to let Silo flower and hopefully "go to seed."  He kept trying to grow up instead of grow out anyway, so I figured I'd let him do his thing. We will see if I can harvest some coriander in the coming weeks.  I'm trying to keep the other two low by pinching off any upward sprouts.  (Let me know if I'm doing this all wrong.)

 One final brag:  Charlie is getting very tall!  I need to put him in a bigger pot soon so I don't end up being the mother that prevented her child from reaching his full potential.

So, as you can see, mostly fantastic (and miraculous) news this week.  However, I do have one concern.  The leaves on some of my regular tomato plants are turning yellow.  Is this normal?  Or are they just getting too much sun?
But to avoid ending on a bad note, I look forward to showing you juicy red tomatoes very soon!

A flower! A flower!

Well, the sad truth is, I'm not sure I can take credit for my beautiful garden's success.  It's doing very well, but it may have something to do with the fact that I haven't touched it in a week.  My "fiance" (I have to put it in quotes because it's such a weird, snobby-sounding word) can take full responsibility for the following:

  Look how bushy those cilantro and tomato plants are!

 Left to right: half a lettuce plant, bell pepper, Charlie the cherry tomato plant, lettuce.  I probably should have taken measurements to really prove the success, but I can assure you that tomato plant in particular has really shot up!

I can't help wondering if their success is really due to the fact that I was out of state for a week...  Nonetheless, my favorite picture is a headshot of Charlie:

Flowers!!!!!!! woohoo!! I feel like that must be a sign of imminent fruit...yes?

Even though I may not be the one responsible for their growth, the important point to take away from this blog entry is that I haven't killed anything - and that is the real story here.

Assuming I don't kill anything in the next few weeks, I look forward to seeing fruit soon! And, my next challenge will be to grow something from seeds...cue the ominous music.

Welcome to the Family

A lot has happened in a week!  Last weekend, my boyfriend took me to the botanical gardens because he found out they had a herb garden, and he figured I/we could learn some things.  The herb garden wasn't exactly in the best of shape, so he jokingly reassured me that "It's not my fault" as we took pictures of things like invisible basil:

We moved on to the second garden, which was supposed to be a children's garden.  It consisted of a pile of brown mush inside a dinosaur topiary.  Then we went to the third garden, which was in significantly better shape:

I was taking in the view through the Butler window, when all of the sudden, I heard my name, and looked to my left. It was my boyfriend, and he was down on one knee, asking me to marry him.

Of course, I said yes!
So, while I may not have learned much to help me with gardening at home, I definitely wouldn't say the trip was a waste.  :-)  I'm sure you'll pardon the digression...

Back to my plants!

Unfortunately, the morning after my last post, Oliver (oregano) was looking even worse, and I really thought he was beyond recovery.  I may have passed judgment too soon, but I threw him out.  :-(  May he rest in peace.

On the other hand, Silo (cilantro) has made a rather impressive recovery.  A little more frequent watering did him a world of good.

We took another field trip this weekend; this time to Red Barn gardening center.  That place is amazing!  We were like two kids in a candy store running from one side to another trying to determine which herbs and vegetables to get.  Even better than their selection, was their staff.  They were extremely helpful, giving us advice on when and where to plant, how big a pot is needed, how frequently to water, etc.  Thirty bucks later, we had a couple extra cilantro friends for Silo, three new tomato plants and a tomato cage, opal basil, red onion, asparagus, two lettuce plants and a renewed enthusiasm.

From there, we hurried off to Lowe's for some planter box building materials.  Long story short, we ran into a lot of obstacles and issues, and settled on getting a couple big pots and using our extra smaller pots at home.

All of our veggies are now safe and sound in their new pots, watered and fertilized.  Our family has grown tremendously:

Here's Silo with his new friends.  Silo's the tall one.  He is shooting up rather quickly, as many have forewarned me about.  I pinched off his top today to prevent him from going to seed.

Charlie, the cherry tomato plant:

My new (nameless) tomato plants:

Bella (bellpepper):

No individual photos of the others since they're technically not "mine."  My fiance is taking responsibility for the others.  

So now the real test begins:  Can any of our new family memberse survive and actually bare fruit or veggies?  Only time will tell.

Unfortunately, 1 + 1 = 2

I think a simple photo will sum up everything I have to say today:

That, and a sad face :-(

"If Silo Jumped Off a Bridge, Would You?" Oliver Says, "Yes"

Amazing.  Within 3 days, Silo almost dies, and now, on day 4, Oliver's on the brink.

I was home sick today, so I got to see how much sun they were getting.  I thought I had placed the cilantro in a less sunny spot yesterday, so I moved all of them to that spot today.  (Yes, I am currently realizing how stupid that was, considering the cilantro almost died.)  It turns out, the new spot is sunnier than the old spot, so I need to move them back.  I think the oregano got too much sun today.  I'm assuming this after reading an eHow article that says even though oregano prefers full sun, it doesn't do well in very hot climates.  I'm pretty sure Texas qualifies as a very hot climate, so it might be better off in a shadier spot.

Sigh.  Hopefully the oregano will pull through like the cilantro appears to be doing.  I wonder which one will wither tomorrow?

Silo's Near Death Experience

Yesterday I came home to this:

Yep, that's Silo the Cilantro.  Is it too late for him?  Can he be revived?  I had no time to answer these questions because I had to leave for class, so I gave him some water and hoped for the best.

When I came home, I was ecstatic to see he had perked up a little.  Then, I took matters into my own hands. I had no idea what to do in this situation and no one to turn to, so I made a judgment call.  I had read that to harvest cilantro, the stems should be at least 6 inches tall and that you should trim the cilantro to keep it from going to seed.  So I gave him a haircut, and look how well he's doing now!

I also kept all my babies inside last night.  I thought maybe the cold weather the night before was what made Silo sick in the first place.

I'm happy he's not dead yet, though I may have done him in by giving him a haircut.  I truly am clueless.  I know I need to get these little fellas into some bigger better pots soon, but I don't know much of anything else.

The Midget Plants

This is my thumb:

You might notice that it's not green.  Unfortunately, I found that out the hard way.

In the past two years, I've tried growing basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano and bell peppers from seeds.  (I've also managed to kill two pots of daisies and an orchid, and almost killed a palm that my mom had for years, and some lucky bamboo that came with our apartment, which I've read is very difficult to kill.  But back to the seeds...)  Each plant grew to be about two inches tall, and then stopped. They didn't die, or even wither; they just refused to grow.  I tended to them for weeks, reassuring myself with thoughts like, "Maybe this week they'll sprout a new pair of leaves."

Each time I try to make something grow, my boyfriend does his best to mask his laughter with sympathy, and tolerate the cluttered windowsills.  He usually does quite well for about two months. Then, he gives me the look that says, "it's time," and I toss the midget plants.

My last attempt was in the fall.  Wherever they are, I'm pretty sure those plants are still alive, but no more than two inches tall.

So, I've decided to take a new approach.  I've bought small plants instead of seeds.  I figure if they don't shrink overnight, I'm bound to have more success than I've had in the past.  Meet my new babies:

From left to right, we have cilantro, bell pepper, oregano and cherry tomatoes.  I couldn't resist naming them, so we have: Silo Cilantro, Bella Bellpepper, Oliver Oregano and Charlie Cherry Tomato.  Perhaps giving them names will create an emotional attachment that will help ensure my success?

I've created this blog to chronicle my next attempt, but also with the hope that I can get some help from people who actually do have green thumbs.  Any guidance you can give would be much appreciated.  I bought the plants this evening, gave them some water, and they're currently sitting in my sink.  I was planning to buy some much larger pots tomorrow, but I'm really clueless:  What should be my next step?