Goldsmith Garden

[goldsmithgarden]

How strawberries happen. Three years ago these pictures would be a total mystery to me. Living in the city my whole life I’ve been SO disconnected from where my food comes from. It wasn’t something we ever really learned about in school. I mean, I knew intellectually that vegetables start as seeds-grow into plants- and somehow produce the vegetable. But what that really looks like was lost. That’s why I’ve been taking pictures of all my plants at different stages to really see the changes they go through.

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I’ve been really interested in dahlias this summer. Without really knowing much about them I bought a few. Now I’m pretty sure one of them isn’t gonna make it, he’s real brown. But the others seem to be doing alright. I’m excited to learn more about these beautiful blooms. Maybe next year I’ll have a big floral wall of different sized dahlias ❤️

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Been away awhile. Working away on a fairly big backyard project (still in progress) but I’ve got so many beautiful pictures from it I thought I’d start sharing again! Here’s three strawberry plants I bought and planted last year. Only three of six survived but they came back strong this year against all odds!

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Quick little garden update! So my fledgling catnip certainly got a pick me up! I really dislike not having actual sun exposure in that window because the lights just don't cover enough space for everything I want to grow. So I took out the forth tray and put the catnip up to get some decent light and boy do they appreciate it. (As does remp!) One of the basil kinds is flowering and I'm gonna let it. Mostly because fruit and vegetable seeds I get now (mind blown!) but I still can't really wrap my head around tiny black seeds like basil. Sunflower seeds are obvious, but how do you get a seed out of these tiny flowers??

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On a trip to Tucson Arizona a few years ago a couple friends of mine picked these little guys up for me. How adorable are they?? In between the slabs, and boulders, and shiny stones there were tiny little jasper dinosaurs. They had been sitting on my desk but I thought they might like the window garden instead. Gotta have fun

[goldsmithgarden]

So I was young and impressionable and ever so confused when I first ventured into this crazy herb planting world. I picked up some basil seeds at a planting class because it was that, or complicated looking flowers. Little did I know that the 'culinary blend' of basil seeds would give me such grief. They grow at different rates! They look different! They smell different! And I literally didn't pick up on the fact that they were different kinds of basil until after they were grown and I double checked the packet. 😳

[goldsmithgarden]

My pepper plants!!! I’m actually not sure if I’m even allowed to do this. I know some plant seeds are patented or whatever so you can’t grow (sell?) them? Does it count if you just grab the seeds to plant instead of throwing them in the compost?? Anyways I figure it’s okay since I’m not exactly gonna start selling all the peppers and make a fortune!!! 🤑 Mostly I was just curious to see if it would even work! But here we are. Peppers! And it wasn’t even difficult. I mean, they’re not growing super fast but they did all (four of them) germinate and become little plants so I’m a call it a win👍🏼

[goldsmithgarden]

I don’t know if it’s too gross but I finally got myself a bit of fly paper. I didn’t really think beforehand that bugs are a part of real plants. It was super weird to have them indoors! I’m hoping these are normal flies and not something bad for my herbs. I made the mistake of reading up on (outdoor) herb gardens. I am now terrified of all the bugs that could hurt my plants. Never mind that it’s an indoor garden and I have no idea how they would even get in to the plants.

[goldsmithgarden]

The state of my window table today. I’m pretty happy with my mad organizing skills. I’ve got pots lined around the back between the window and the light table (Tom!). Moved Tom a bit to the left, leaving enough room to put a few pots along the side, and a row of seedlings along the front. I am using all the available space to catch the most light for my plants. 😎

I’ll be happy when most of these guys go outside for the summer! It really only works now because they’re so small.

Check out those baby peppers!! It worked!

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The peas have a flower!!!!!! It’s so exciting! Am so confusing!

Three of the peas I planted have been directly under a light and they are pretty darn big! The stems are larger, the leaves are bigger. Yet it’s the much smaller plant that was the first to flower. It makes no sense to me. I mean I happy and excited, but it makes no sense!

[goldsmithgarden]

Sage! My sage seeds have sprouted, and boy do they look happy!

I don’t know why, but every time I see these guys they look like really excited and happy cartoons to me. Throwing their giant hands up in the air.

… Maybe that’s just me…

[goldsmithgarden]

My little DIY herb box now has herbs! Some lavender on the end, and coriander in the middle.

Shameful secret time: I legitimately thought I was buying parsley. It was in the same area as the parsley which was labeled, and I picked it up and took it home. Went to transfer it and realized the smell was all wrong and took a look at the tag. Yea. Coriander.

Which is still pretty cool. The leaves are edible and so are the seeds. One is cilantro and another is coriander! Same plant! That’s pretty cool.

[goldsmithgarden]

Got myself a couple new flowers. Heliotrope and Siberian iris. Now that I have some gravel I'm feeling much more confident about repotting into the old glass vase. I wish I had stuck to learning about plants a few years ago. I love this old vase and always thought it was beautiful with flowers growing in it. But they all died horribly every time I tried. Turns out most plants need good drainage and lots of direct sunlight. I'm feeling pretty good about this attempt. Of course now's when I say I kept forgetting to water the heliotrope 😱 I check my plants pretty much every couple of days, but I kept missing the heliotrope (and the catnip, but that's pretty well established and in a decently large container). So it's looking a little droopy and brown around the edges. So here I go in an attempt to prevent its untimely death.

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They were throwing out these condiment containers a few days ago and I thought they might make great mini herb planters, with a few DIY adjustments. •So I flipped the spacer upside down to get a bit more space under the containers. •Made a few holes in the bottom for drainage. •Filled it with a base layer of pea gravel. •Filled the rest with soil. •Finished it up with a bit of paint

[goldsmithgarden]

Found some old bamboo sticks and twine and made myself a trellis for my peas. Gah! Starting gardening with no supplies can get decently expensive. Especially since it's mostly indoor and without enough natural sunlight. It's nice to get some found object supplies 😊

[goldsmithgarden]

Repotted my aloe plant. I kept forgetting to buy cactus soil. I know most plants they say to water it thoroughly after repotting, but it was recommended to me to leave the aloe for a couple days before watering. It made sense to me since aloe holds water in its leaves and likes a dry environment. Didn’t want to shock the roots or something.

I should probably remove the pink leaf. It’s shrivelling, and discoloured. I think that’s means it’s dead. But do I leave it alone, let the plant do its thing naturally? Or do I go ahead and cut it off? And if I do cut it off, can I still use the gel in the leaf? Or did it go bad like the rest of it?

Plants are so confusing!

[goldsmithgarden]

I now officially have a mint corner on my bench. Catnip, lime balm, and peppermint. I also finally repotted the lime balm. I thought it would be so much easier in plastic pots, because of all the holes at the bottom. I could put the plant on Tom's mat and let the soil and roots water themselves. But I inherited a moisture sensor thing. It's like a scale with a wire attached to a metal stick with a sensor at the end, I feel pretty nerdy using it! But now I don't have to rely on my negligible experience to tell if it needs more water. The terracotta pots really do hold moisture in without letting it sit. The benefits of having once large hole in the raised bottom for drainage I guess.