Here’s a little check-in before it all gets away from us.

I’m pleasantly surprised with progress in the (frankenmonster) raised bed. As mentioned before, it really doesn’t get much direct sunlight. I think we did well with our plant decisions; they all seem to like the space and are thriving!

The tommies, oh, the tommies. We’ve located the property’s sunspot, haha! I was a bit concerned initially with the amount of starts we put into each pot – we really packed ’em in!

I’ve done some limited pruning, taking out low-lying stems near the base of the plants and others pointed inwards. These would wilt and fall away naturally so I’m just speeding along Nature’s process, promoting growth up and out. I hope that I’ve got enough structure to support all the fruit that will develop shortly!

As the Dude might say, “I’ve got information, man. New s#*% has come to light.” We’ve jumped into the realm of the experimental. A more robust detailing may be warranted, but for now, I hope you appreciate the short version.

Taking cuttings from my folks’ property in the sticks, we’re hoping to propagate some grape vine. Yeah, you heard right: the smuckery stuff.

These are good ‘ol fashioned concord grapes. Last year, I experimented with making a little bit of homemade jam. I’m a bit hesitant to dive headlong into canning so I didn’t go too nuts. I made a couple batches, but no more than what we could consume and give away within a couple/few weeks. This year, maybe we’ll turn this up a bit.

If these starts develop roots (fingers crossed, I really hope they do!), I’d like to plant a few strategically on the property. Our idea would be to put them into the ground at the base of the back porch. The sky is really the limit here, good sunlight after they climb some and lots of structure for these puppers to go nuts.

Did some say peppers?

Remember I mentioned we only put in a single pepper plant?… and that I’d maybe put in… a little more?… and… that I enjoy…SALSA!

So we got some chillies in. I picked up these seeds, hoping for an aesthetically pleasing plant with a tasty (and hot!) pepper.

Alsoooooooo, I can’t forget. I experimented with a technique I ripped off a YouTube video. You just take some seeds from a grocery store bought pepper, plop them into an egg shell (after you make some delicious scrambles for your amazing girlfriend), add some potting mix and put it into the ground. I tucked two of these (jalapeno seeds) into an open spot in the frankenbed.

Who knows?! Maybe, we’ll get some action.

Now for some added quirk and color, I planted few of these sunflowers. They can grow to about six feet so I’m hoping they don’t dominate the flower bed too much. If they look too unsightly, I can always chop ’em and add to our compost bin.

Pausing to reflect upon our little operation, and little it is, I note the weirdness. Allow me to elaborate: we’ve got all your staples, but we intentionally chose varieties that are a bit uncommon, items we might not necessarily grab at the grocery or farmer’s market.

From the yellow tommies to the purple beans to the bull’s blood beets, we’ve got some weird going… and I like it.

Stay tuned, I’m sure by the next update, everything will be high season!