Tag: Garden Posts

This last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the world renowned Japanese Gardens in Buenos Aires. Outside of Japan, they are some of the largest Japanese Gardens in the world, and I have been looking forward to visiting them ever since I arrived. The Japanese Gardens are located in Buenos Aires, just north of the Palermo area and the Buenos Aires zoo. I walked there from my apartment near Paraguay and Gurrachuga, and it took me about 30 minutes or so to get there. This was the first real trip I had done in Buenos Aires where I decided to take my digital SLR along with me. At the advice of a friend, I stowed my SLR in a backpack, and simply removed it whenever I needed to take a photo or so. The reason to do that is that walking around with a fancy SLR camera makes you […]

While out watering my tomato plants outside tonight, I noticed that a few of the roma tomatoes were looking a bit limp. Upon further investigation, it appears that not only are they ripening a bit early, they also have some weird dark spot on the bottom of most of the fruits. I did a bit of research, and it sounds exactly like blossom end rot. Blossom end rot typically is a result of lack of calcium, which in a lot of cases is due to inconsistencies in moisture or large temperature swings. Given that my plants got pretty dry there a few times, especially in this last heat wave, I’m pretty sure it was probably due to that. Either way, most of the tomatoes that have already fruited appear to be suffering from it, which basically means I’m hooped. Some of the green ones look ok still, so maybe they’ll […]

As I’m sitting here writing this, my face is covered in snot and I can barely feel my tongue or my lips. I just made what must be one of the hottest pico de gallo dishes in recorded history. You think it was hot outside there today in Vancouver? I’m pretty sure it was way hotter in that bowl of pico. One of my hot red peppers was ready tonight on my patio, as well as a few yellow banana peppers. I wasn’t really sure what to make for dinner, so I decided to have a light dinner of pico de gallo. I went to the store to pick up some lime, roma tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and some nacho chips. I’ve never made pico, but it wasn’t too difficult. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have put all three hot peppers into my pico, and should have instead used only one. […]

Yes, that’s all I’ve become. I wake up, I go outside, my plants get mad at me, and I spend the morning watering them and looking after them. For those who are just joining the saga, I planted a few tomato plants on my patio at the end of May. I’ve watched them grow, seen them fall down a few times, nursed them back to health, and in return, I’ve been rewarded by the growth of a pile of little tiny tomatoes. One of the challenges with growing fruits and vegetables on your patio is that it’s really hard to get them enough water, especially in this kind of heat. With a normal garden, you can soak the soil thoroughly such that the plants basically have a moisture reservoir. For a plant in a 12″ pot though, there’s really not too much you can do, other than water them twice […]

I moved into a new apartment in January, and for the first time in ages, had a decent sized patio. Since my patio faces south (and subsequently, receives a lot of afternoon soon), I figured I would try growing a few different vegetables. When I started, I had just a few planters, and it looked something like this: When things started sprouting, I got excited and decided to plant a few more things. Here’s a shot a few weeks after I started: I haven’t taken any photos of it in a while, but here’s a shot I took a few weeks ago. Since that time, a lot of tomatoes have formed on my tomato plants, and my peppers are about half way grown. I’m pretty excited for the tomatoes to be done, at which point I can make some home made pico de gallo.

I’m interrupting my photo entries for a quick post about my home garden. As I mentioned in a previous post, I decided the other day that I wanted to try growing a few things on my patio. I used to help my grandma with her garden when I was a kid, and I have fond memories out in the back of her house playing in the dirt. My patio in Chilliwack is about twice the size as my patio was in Vancouver, so I’m definitely sure I have the room now to grow a few vegetables. I swung by the garden center the other day and picked up a few things. First, I picked up some soil, since I don’t really have a lot at home. Then I picked up a few containers that are meant to be hung off your patio. I grabbed a pile of seeds, and some […]