Probably not exciting to most, but I am loving the broccoli I am growing on the roof this year. I would hug them if I could. I’m clearly losing my mind and maybe need to get out more.
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An Edible Bouquet: Four Seasons Lettuce
Today’s photo was taken by Davin.
Yesterday was the first day of summer (YES!), which just happens to be coinciding with the near end to some of the roof lettuce. As I was harvesting a couple of heads that were starting to get bitter, I noticed how much this head of ‘Four Seasons’ lettuce looked like a bouquet and asked Davin to take a picture of me holding it like one.
Don’t you think it could work as an alternative wedding bouquet? How about a smaller head as a boutonniere? If I were to suddenly decide to stop living in sin (16 years and counting!) I would totally do this. Maybe with a couple more heads of lettuce thrown in. Then we’d wash it up and serve it at the reception.
Someone do this! Someone go to the prom wearing this as a wrist corsage. Send me a picture when you do.
Related: Make an edible chive bouquet.
Leave a commentHappy Summer Solstice, 2009
In celebration of the advent of summer, my partner Davin replaced the chalkboard portion of this frame with a new one (the old had become warped from a year spent outdoors) and made the first drawing of the season. Our goal this year is to document all the drawings on the board with a photo. We didn’t do that last year and subsequently lost any record of some brilliant drawings.
This first drawing was inspired by the collection of pots set on the table underneath the chalkboard (the shadiest part of the roof). Here’s what it looks like hung above them. Most of the plants sitting on that table are greens, lettuce, and violas that have been shifted to less intense heat and sun regions of the roof as a way to extend their life a little bit longer. We still have a ton of lettuce going and can’t possibly eat it all at once! Most of the remaining plants are occupying space underneath taller plants that provide a little bit of respite from the heat and are in larger pots that stay moist longer.
I wrote more about making a chalkboard for the garden when we came up with it on a whim last year. This year we picked up two chalk pastel pencils at our local art supply store Woolfit’s that allow you to draw much thinner lines than a typical piece of chalk. They’re so great and easy to use that we plan to get more in a wide variety of colours.
More chalkboard drawings (2008): Swiss chard, We Want Sun, Rain, No Squirrels, Flowers, in progress, torture and waterboarding.
Leave a commentVariegated Cuban Oregano
Yesterday, I found this variegated Cuban oregano plant for only a couple of bucks at a small parking lot nursery. Isn’t it gorgeous?! I wish the internet had smell-o-vision and you could get a whiff of this thing through the screen. Delicious, pungent, sweet, and strange all at once. A lot of new plants have come into my life this spring, but I am probably most excited about this one.
Maybe. I don’t know, ask me again tomorrow. My favourites tend to change rapidly throughout the growing season. Two days ago it was a variegated hot pepper plant. I experienced a recurring love affair with the ‘Tom Thumb’ peas just five minutes ago. With so much happening in the garden from day-to-day, it’s hard to stick to any one plant. They all have their moments!
I haven’t come to any solid conclusions about Broadleaf thyme, aka Cuban oregano, Coleus amboinicus, aka Plectranthus amboinicus since I last wrote about it in 2007. I still can’t say definitively which is which; however, I have come upon several plants since then and there are distinct differences. About a year ago, at a small corner shop, I have found a type for sale with a similarly distinct and pungent aroma, but with much smaller leaves and softer fuzz than the plants I am familiar with.
I have also seen the plant cultivated in Cuba, and it was the one I’ve had for a few years now, the one I previously referred to as broadleaf thyme. Given that I saw the plant in Cuba, I’ve since switched to referring to it as Cuban oregano (Plectranthus amboinicus var.) and will continue to do so until I am convinced otherwise.
Do you have any experiences growing and eating these plants? have you come to any conclusions about the name?
Leave a commentOrange Horned Poppy
This is the flower of the horned poppy (Glaucium flavum), another from Barry’s garden.
It’s a stunning flower, but what I really like about this plant are the blue/green leaves. They have a very interesting shape and structure, and are covered with tiny hairs. They’re the kind of leaves Karl Blossfeldt would have photographed. I checked my book shelf and they’re not in there, but that’s not to say he didn’t, just that they aren’t in the book I have.
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