34°

It is HAWT, HAWT, HAWT!!!  Best thing to do when it is this hot in a city is to spend the whole day close to water, and keep those thirsty plants watered.  That's exactly what I have been doing.  Dunking myself into a lake and then going home to water my plants in the evening.  Although they get thirsty, they seem to enjoy the sun and are really shooting up into the air.

-  Here are some shots of my corn.  It really has grown a lot in a short amount of time!

Photo taken on the 25th of May, 2014.

 Photo taken on the 8th of June, 2014.

-  My cherry tomato plant now has teeny tiny tomatoes growing from the flowers!  LOOOOK!!!

-  Today I've been finding loads of little black balls everywhere.  They are tiny.  I thought they were some sort of terrible aphid egg that were lying around getting ready to release those terrible bastards upon my plants.  But these little black balls are SEEDS!  Yes, yes, my miner's lettuce is seeding.  I am saving as many of them as I can find.  They are super small.

Black seed in the middle of the leaf.  Get out your magnifying glass!

-  This weekend was Karneval der Kulturen here in Berlin.  And although it is not plant based I definitely want to share a picture I took today whilst wandering around.  A stilt troupe.  This lady was a crane or a stork.  She was sprinkling confetti.  And I love confetti.  One of the other stilt people sat on my shoulder and had a rest.

To finish off, I gotta say that this week hasn't just been brimming with success.  I had to get rid of my monster cucumber plant yesterday.  The reason being...APHIDS.  I know I could have treated the plant in loads of different ways to get rid of the little critters, but I didn't want to risk having an infested plant indoors so close to all my other plants.  I'm ok with having to let go of my one thriving cucumber but I wouldn't be ready to get rid of all my plants because of the mean green eating machines.  I really would love to know how the aphids got here.  I assume it was through one of the plants I was given from a friend's garden.  I have learned my lesson now.

With that I say goodbye and thanks for reading.  I hope you all enjoy the real beginning of the summer sun wherever you are!
..love..

A mish-mash of happenings.

Good day to all.  I will just dive right into this post as it feels like I've got so much to write about today.

 - Let's start with my cucumber plant which has become a bit of a monster.  It has stretched itself over to its neighbouring plant pots and has anchored itself on their support canes.  What a wild thing!  Every day I wake up and take in the wildness of the cucumber and one day about a week ago I was standing there in awe when I discovered a TEENY TINY cucumber hanging off this monster's tentacle!  It is super small and super cute and in that weird cucumber forming stage when the fruit still looks like a very small cactus!

 Please excuse the slight blurriness.

- From cucumber, to basil.  My basil seems like it has resurrected from the dead.  In the winter it just seemed all stick, no leaf and pretty pale.  Recently it has started producing bigger, juicier and greener leaves that smell and taste incredible.  It has made me realise that this Mediterranean plant definitely does need sun and warmth to thrive.  The seed packets speak TRUTH!

 

 - My tomatoes are just growing and growing.  I cannot believe that the kumato tomato seeds that I've planted are doing so well!  I've also noticed how different each type of tomato plant is.  My cherry tomato plants are quite long and have quite a lot of space in between each branch.  Last year i had such a mess of long and winding tomato stems everywhere.  I thought I had done something wrong.  I didn't, it is just the type.  Already on my bigger cherry tomato plant I have pinched out the new shoots at the top in hope that it will start growing outwards and not too far upwards.  My yellow pear tomato plants are looking bushier and lighter in colour than the rest.  Hopefully I will be able to harvest more tomatoes from them this year.  Last year it only produced around 2 or 3 tomatoes.  They were nice but since I wanted to save the seeds I couldn't enjoy them as much.  Lastly, the kumato tomato plants are the darkest of them all in colour of leaves and stem.  They are also getting quite bushy and looking super healthy.  I have quite a few tomato plants already but I would still like to try growing a different type such as tiger stripe or columbiano.  Let's see if I find any.

 Yellow pear on the left and Kumato on the right.  In between the two are my unsuccessful parsley and nasturtium jars.  I think the seeds were just too old.

Here is just a mess of leaves.  My cherry tomato plants are back there somewhere.  The bushy plant in the front is oregano that my grandmother pulled out of her garden and gave me.   

- I finally made it to the Gärten der Welt in Marzahn.  I'd seriously recommend going on a sunny day.  The entrance fee is only 4 Euros and totally worth it.  So first of all it is a HUGE park.  You can sit on the grass, bring a picnic, play frisbee, or bring a blanket and sun yourself.  There is very large hedge maze for getting lost in.  A Chinese tea garden where they serve traditional teas and sweet dumplings by a little lake.  There is a Korean garden with a stream, a humid Balinese garden, a Japanese Zen garden and an Oriental garden.  There are more but these are the ones that I saw.  It was a great day with great company.

I had forgotten how pretty ferns are.

Look at all the shades of red on this Japanese Maple.

It is the season for lilacs.  I had to stop at every tree to smell them.  Last week I was cycling with my grandmother in the south of Germany and whenever we passed a lilac bush we both put our noses up in the air and enjoyed the wonderful scent that when mixed with evening air embodies spring.  I advise you to do the same when you see one.

 Tulips that look like they are blowing in the wind although they're not!

 Tulips that look like they've been salted like a Margarita glass.

- A friend came to see me the other day and she brought me two babies off her cactus that is just growing and growing!

 - In conclusion to this week's monster post, I went to the Plant Market at the Prinzessinnengarten on Moritzplatz on Saturday.  They had loads of exciting seeds and plants to buy there.  There was a lady who had a stall and she had huge jars of corn seeds for sale.  I asked some questions regarding my growing situation and whether or not there are some small corn varieties that don't grow so tall as I am growing in my bedroom.  She said most corn grows pretty tall.  I didn't care.  I bought 4 corn seeds.  I will plant them into my 5 litre buckets and cross my fingers that I will have sweetcorn to eat in autumn!

Look at these buggers!  Not only do they look like really big teeth but they are so beautiful.  I can't stop taking out of the packet and looking at them.  I should plant them quick before I rub them until they break.

So, after this giant essay of a post I'd like to say goodbye, thanks for reading and have a lovely Sunday.

..love..