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..

Easter Adventures.

It's the EASTER HOLIDAYS!!  It's exciting to have a very much needed break from the daily grind.  My family is visiting me from the south of Germany and yesterday we went to the Pfaueninsel on Wannsee.  The weather was perfect.  And we went on a short ferry ride to get to the island.  The island is a nature reserve with an abundance of beautiful flowers, a rose garden and free roaming peacocks, pheasants and other birdy things. 

Our ticket to get across the tiny bit of water over to the island.

A posing peacock.  There were people feeding him.  We didn't have anything to feed him with so my mum threw a stone in his direction to trick him.  At first he fell for it and turned around and started walking towards us with his epic plumage trailing behind him, he then looked at my mum's grinning face and cawed (more like meowed) at her in disgust.

 The great view of sail boats on Wannsee on our way to Pfaueninsel's aviary.

Today was again an absolutely lovely day.  We spent it in Potsdam.  The weather was as excellent if not even better than yesterday's weather!  We walked around the Park Sancoussi.  Things were a'bloomin and there were A LOT of tourists.  But we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We sat on a bench in the Sicilian Garden and ate our grapes and strawberries in the hawt hawt sunshine.  We then went on a small Easter egg hunt.  I happened to have 3 small chocolates in the bottom of my bag, which I hid around the Sicilian Garden.

 The flowers that are planted in front of Schloss Sancoussi.

A ginko tree starting to put out its teeny tiny leaves.  At first we didn't realise that these were ginko trees.  Super super super cute!

 So that was my Easter weekend in a nutshell.  Hope you've had a wonderful time with family, friends, or even in alone.  All that counts is that it was enjoyed.  Thanks for reading and see you next week.

..love..

Repotting and a sprung spring

So yesterday was my big day of repotting plants.  I bought a 20 litre bag of soil and began the messy but wonderful job.

Here are my beans, peas, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber.  My cherry tomato seedlings are still teeny tiny and look a little ridiculous in their big buckets!

These are my various tomatoes.  The yellow pear tomato seeds I saved from last year's tomatoes.  And the kumato tomatoes are kind of an experiment.  I saved the seeds from a store bought kumato tomato.  I'd like to see if they will end up bearing fruit or not. 

I didn't repot my chives, but I just wanted to show how great they are doing!

At the end of February I sowed some peppermint seeds in an old yoghurt pot with a transparent lid (great for keeping seeds warm and moist).   They are finally sprouting!  And they are absolutely tiny little seedlings.  Looks like a very small and very cute forest.

So spring has definitely sprung here in Berlin and one thing I love about spring is the abundance of beautiful flowers that you can buy.  I received these tulips as a gift, they are so beautiful and super photogenic.

 

I hope you all enjoy a springful Sunday!

..love..