September Progress

September rebootThe Little Hurricane has recently been redubbed Typhoid C.  You see, yesterday marked the one-month anniversary of our shared illnesses. That’s 30-odd days of hacking coughs, multi-colored mucus, razor-studded throats, viscous vomit, and booger crusts. Not to mention shared a  fever of 103. Yeah, yeah: hot-blooded. Got it. Still no fun.

What does a toddler’s discharge have to do with the health and well-being of the little blue deck? Everything, it seems. It’s like the deck doesn’t exist, let alone the computer upon which the deck is rendered public. All that matters is saline solution, honey, vomit dodging, and sleeping. This morning, though, despite a shocking lack of sleep and an abundance of the aforementioned symptoms, the deck’s disarray was too much for this sniffling gardener to handle. So while little Ms. Typhoid and her similarly afflicted father departed for the store and the playground, the deck got some half-assed love.

The final tomatoes were plucked and sad, tired plants were bagged. A smattering of cucumber beetles got smushed, just for the heck of it, and the C. Borealis (AKA french orange hybrid melon) upon which they were feasting gave up its last fruit.

September rebootWhat containers remain have been haphazardly scatter-seeded with lettuce, winter cress (AKA creasy creens courtesy of Bartram’s Garden), radishes, kale, and kohlrabi (courtesy of Startin Yer Garten).

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Swag!

One of the strange (and rare) side benefits of blogging about urban container gardening is the occasional delivery of free stuff. Swag! In this case, six darling seed packets were slipped into POD’s mailslot, courtesy of Bartram’s Garden.Bartram's Garden SeedsIt seems only appropriate that on this, Philadelphia’s coldest day to date (or so it seems), a celebration of seeds should appear. With that and a tip of the hat to the Australian Open (go Clijsters!), POD presents:

Latuca sative (Tennis Ball Lettuce and Speckled Lettuce)
Barbarea verna (Winter Cress)
Coriandrum sativum (Coriander)
Pisum sativum (Prussian Blue Pea)
Atriplex hortensis (Red Orach, AKA Mountain Spinach)

While the Red Orach and Winter Cress will likely join the collection of edible Plants Out Front (POF just doesn’t have the same ring, does it?), the others will hit the dirt just as soon possibly possible. Especially exciting are the instructions on the Winter Cress which encourage impatient growers to “Sow in Fall for a crop of spicy greens that will last without protection until spring, or sow very early in the spring…” Already, notes for next year.

Check in for updates once the growing season commences — and by all means, check out Bartram’s collection of volunteer-collected heirloom seeds.