Carrot Update

I should have a zillion photos from the weekend, but alas, I had too much fun and failed to drag the camera around.

Updates:

- Indoor carrots are growing in tiny pots!  Even the 3 1/2" pots have carrots in them.  Yes, they're tiny, but heck, that means they can be grown easily indoors.  Most of the indoor carrots are in nursery size gallon pots, and are maturing nicely.  I can barely wait to taste them, as I know they'll be mild and delicious.

- Outdoor carrots in the half whiskey barrels are doing amazing.  I think we're close to harvest on many of them.  But I have to say, the indoor carrots are healthier and happier than the outdoor carrots.  Really makes you wonder....

- Revamped the indoor garden, taking the daily energy consumption down from 1300 watts to 600 watts.  Moving a LOT of tomatoes and cucumbers and onions outside made this possible.  Which gets me to the most fun point of all...

- I populated the raised beds!  Population rough guess:

    - 15 black cherry tomato plants

    - 20 cherry tomato plants

    - 2 flats of short day onions

    - 10 cucumber plants

    - ALL of the mini peppers (about 20)

    - 4 large pepper plants

Plus, Mark built the structure which will support my cucumber trellis!  

The raised beds have automatic watering, 30 minutes per day, using a DIG automatic system and drip watering from spray emitters.

Promise, pictures coming next weekend.

The Barn Owls are Getting So Big...

When you look up "fluffy" in the dictionary, you see these baby barn owls.

Slow Motion Finches

Finches, slowed down so you can watch them hopping happily on the ground.

More Bird Webcams!

I should be outside taking pictures and video of the house finches and the american goldfinches that have chosen to stay for a while longer rather than migrating!  But its cold and windy, so instead I'm indoors watching my favorite bird cams!!

Falcon cam

Eagle cam

Hawk cam

Puffin cam

Great Blue Heron cam

By the way, the american goldfinch males have their summer feathers now.  They're now bright yellow and look like flying flowers : )

Here's a pic from the internet... I'll get some pictures or video of the ones visiting here in the next few weeks.

Baby Barn Owls

Pete, thank you for the Baby Barn Owl Webcam.  I check in on these cuties every day.

Tomato Propagation

Did you know tomato plants root easily in water?  This tomato plant cutting has never been fed, but has rooted in a plastic cup.  Lets see how she's doing.

Look at the roots circling around the cup.

The roots have formed a bowl, and would probably wind endlessly if I didn't rescue it.

Another great shot of the roots.

If she's lucky, this tomato "plant" will see dirt someday : )  Or maybe not....

Red Robin Tomato

One foot tall tomato plants... perfect!   I'm pollinating them with a paintbrush every day.  They're adorable!

Rose!

Rose is not a veggie.  But she's my favorite plant that came with the home.  She has no identifying tags, so we call her "Rose".  This year, the goal is to propagate her and make lots of Rose clones.  She smells so sweet, and she's incredibly hardy.

The perfect rose color...

And what a healthy plant...   Rose just loves to bloom.

This tiny little orange mini rose is a $3.00 find from Home Depot, I believe.  She's very hardy too.

But Rose is the queen of the garden here.

Patio Veggies

I didn't intend to turn the patio into a vegetable garden...  this is only temporary!  Yes, they outgrew the indoor grow room... I had no choice.

You must admit, they all look happy.

Carrots, carrots, and more carrots...

Cherry tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets.

Yum!  I can't wait until they're ripe.

More Indoor Veggie Fun

I have a plethora of carrots growing in nursery pots under fluorescent lights.  I sure hope they make yummy carrots.

This is a cucumber in a hydroponic bucket...  It's not getting much light, but it's flowering prolifically (all males so far).  I'm expecting a female flower soon.

You can see here that the flowers are all female.  Love the tendrils : )

Did I mention I love BASIL?

This is my gooseberry plant.  I'm not sure what she'll do outside in 100 degrees, but we're going to find out soon!

I do have some cucumbers growing on the cucumber plant by the window.  They're pathetic looking, but they might be good...

Mexican Miniature Watermelon... Transplanted

The 12-pack of peat pellets with Mexican Miniature Watermelon (Melothria scabra)

have outgrown their cribs, and need bigger playpens. 

They're reaching out for something to climb.

They look beautiful all lumped together, but they're ready to get real pots.

Ahhhhh, room to grow.  They should be very happy in their 3 1/2" pots for a few weeks until they go outside into the raised bed with the other cucumbers.

Love them!

More From the Veggie Grow Room...

Here's some mini peppers that I have been pollinating using a tiny paint brush.  Hopefully these flowers will be peppers in a few days...

Here's a 9-pack of mini peppers.  I have no idea where I'm going to put all of them.

Bright lights Rainbow Chard.  Yummy and gorgeous!

The cucumbers on the top shelf need water and pots!  I love the long arm with tendrils reaching out...   Ready for a real environment outside.

Lilu's catnip : )

Basil on the left (I LOVE PESTO!) and carrots on the right.

Tonda Di Parigi carrots in 3 1/2" pots.   They're tiny carrots, so I expect them to develop normally in this tiny environment...  We'll see!

I just love the way this chard looks...   Artwork.

Picklebush cucumbers, ready for larger pots and more room so they can flourish indoors.

Veggies out of Room!

Everyone is so happy, they need much more room to reach their potential.  In front we have a very special tomato plant:  Kmart Tom.  I bought a whole bunch of cherry tomato plants from Kmart last year that were already covered with red ripe cherry tomatoes (right place, right time).  They continued to be incredibly prolific until frost.  So, I found this seed on a summer dress when I was straightening up the closet.  Yes, since we really didn't eat any other tomatoes last year, I'm 99.9% sure it's Kmart Tom.  Here he is, ready to excel another summer.  Behind him on the left is mini peppers, on the right onions.    On the far right, Black Cherry Tomato.

The black cherry tomatos are doing very well...  yes, they need more room!  Tomorrow.....