Edible walls

The Dirt recently posted about the benefits of green walls (like green roofs, but vertical), highlighting their potential for urban farming. I think that while it's a really cool idea it definitely isn't for every situation. Like for me right now. See, while I wish I could try this out, I don't have a good place for it. I don't want to completely block my view out of the sliding glass doors, and I don't think they'd get enough sun if I put them to the side.

But, if I ever get to build a house or do a major renovation, green walls will definitely be on my "must have" list!

More orchids! 2

Check out this adorable green/yellow guy :)

I picked the best one I could find, but I got what I paid for...



It's super cute, but some of the buds shriveled up :( This happened to me last year, when I bought my first orchid. After a couple fell off, I just trimmed the ends off those branches. Luckily, some of the buds are still green and plump. One even bloomed and all the other blooms still look good! So maybe I got it in good growing conditions soon enough to save it.



Aren't the little red freckles pretty?!


And if anyone noticed the black/white photo in the first shot, yes it's an orchid — the photo was taken on our honeymoon to the Biltmore estate. The greenhouse had the most beautiful orchids. So yeah, I have an orchid growing next to a picture of an orchid. :)

More orchids!

Walmart had $15 orchids again!

So I got a couple more — one for each side of the bed. I spend a lot of time digging through their inventory looking for ones that looked absolutely healthy. This white one I think I made a good choice on — a couple more buds have opened since I bought it a week ago! And everything still looks nice and lush. I'll post photos from the other one tomorrow.

Enjoy some close-ups. I want to know what makes the petals sparkle — so pretty!

My orchid is going to bloom! UPDATE

The flower stalk has grown several inches from when I first posted about this particular plant about a month ago. It started curving over, and developed little bitty buds. I wonder how much longer until it blooms!

Entering domant period in 3...2...1

Slowly going downhill
Strawberries
Orange Mint
Iris

Still hanging on, at least enough to stay green
Alyssum
Pansies
Petunias
Chives

I tried planting a fall crop of lettuce, but in August+September it was too hot, then October was too wet, now they're starting to grow, and I just know there's some bad weather around the corner that'll kill it all. Crossing my fingers I can get a mini-salad out of it before it snows.

Inside, the lemon thyme dropped a lot of old leaves. The lemon verbena dropped a lot too, but I think that's because I accidentally let it dry out. It's really hard to keep everything watered. They're thirsty!

And the stevia is growing some new sprouts.

The herbs make my bedroom smell so good! But they get really thirsty. If I don't water them every day they wilt and start dropping leaves. BUT the extra work paid off when I wanted fresh herbs to make pasta sauce the other day!

Harvesting stevia

I got the chance to harvest the stevia the other day. It was really bright and sunny when I woke up, so I broke off the stems and hung them in the window.

I read that it's best for them to take a day or less to dry in the sun. But these took a couple days.

When they were nice and crispy I tore off the leaves.

And packed them in jars.

They're really, really sweet. I just nibbled a corner and it was almost overwhelming. It didn't have any of that overcooked broccoli taste the other stuff ended up with either. Yay! I think they'll be nice for sweetening tea.

My favorite posts from October

My Latest Garden Images from Gardening in Heels

















Generation X and Y Survey Results from Life on the Balcony






















Half Full from Balcony Gardener















Carving the Death Star I have do this if I host a Halloween party next year.












Vegetarian Chick'n and Dumplings from Fresh 365




















The Garden that Climbs Stairs from The Dirt

The Devil is in the Details from Balcony Gardener