Horrible weather today. Cloudy, gray skies as far as the eye can see. I was hoping for a sunny day so I could get a kick-start on my tan before we hit the beaches in Crete (the way this is going I'm almost certainly going to be lobster-red after five minutes outdoors). But it was not to be. So to bring a bit of sunshine into my life, here's the update on our window-sill garden, already promised last weekend.
The photos were taken early Saturday morning before I work. I'm glad I decided to document the development because it's really exciting to see how much they've grown since the last photo session. And you really wouldn't believe how much they've grown since these photos were taken! There'll definately be another update along really soon - the snow peas are starting to flower, so I want to show it off!
The tomato plant: I was pretty sure that this one had hardly grown an inch since I bought it at the flower marked on Stortorget in the end of May. But when I looked at the previously photo I discovered that it in fact had almost doubled in height! I was totally surprised! The plant support has been extended with some duct-tape and a few wooden skewers. And we'll hopefully have our first taste of home-grown cherry-tomatoes before our holiday as he little yellow flowers are starting to open.
Snow peas (sukkererter): "Jack, you're bean-stalks ready"! It's scary just how much these have grown the past month or so, and since this shot they've grown even more! According to the discription on the seed bag they're going to be no taller than 50 cm. Puh, lucky! Supporting a taller plant would be a bit problematic. As mentioned above, pretty, white flowers are starting to show!
Basil in a pot (basilikum): This one is starting to fill out nicely. Looking like the one's you buy at the grocery's, but much better! I'm hoping it won't wither & die like all the one's I've bought in the shop, becaue you either water it to much, to little, or it's already half dead on the inside. Just look how much it's grown (P.S. Check out the difference in the snow peas since end of May)!
Leaves a delicous smell on when I run my finger tips over the leaves. According to wikipedia basil is very beneficial to your health as it's oil has antioxidant, anti-cancer, antiviral and anti-microbial properties. Fun fact, according to F's dad it's wiebacterialHealth-wise it's full of beneficial Fun tip: apparently basil is widely used in Crete as a method to fend of mosquitos, and most balconies have a planted hedge of basil.
The garden nasturtium (blomkarse): Last time it was bearly a stalk with leaves on and now it's crawling up the window. I love just love the large windows in our flat - and as you can see the plants do too! They're really thriving on all the sun light coming in (hurray for the greenhouse effect). Now the nasturtium really needs to be re-potted soon, well actually, several weeks ago. It's getting a bit big to handle and soon it will engulf it's neighbours in the seeding box. The problem is that I haven't been able to get hold of the pots I want. They're sold out at the hobby shop, so PLEASE let me know if you've come across terracotta pots anywhere in Oslo - I beg you!
Chilli: There's only one thing to say about this photo: HOT! I can't wait to these babies grow up and we can use home-grown chilli for cooking. I'm a big fan of chili, and I basically use it in everything I make. Hot & spicy, just how I like it!
The baby-strawberries (markjordbær): Coming along nicely, and looking a bit more substantial now compared to the small flecks of green on black back in May. The leaves are actually looking like real strawberry leaves now. I don't know how many put into each compartment, but there's still seedlings coming up regularily. But still no chance of strawberries this year...
! SURPRISE REVEAL !
Sweet pepper (paprika): RememberI told you I planted a few seeds from a red sweet pepper bought in the shop? It was sort of a experiment and I didn't have high hopes that it would work. Though amazingly enough out of the four seeds I planted, two have sprouted. Just look how big this one is! Now I'm just wondering how big a pepper plant is, 'cause this guy is already taller than the chilli...
