I’ll admit that having all of these guest bloggers imparting their wisdom on my blog has made me a bit lazy when it comes to the blogosphere.

I would love to provide you with a photo-update of the apartment garden, I don’t have any photos [yet]. But as a teaser, I will have you know that the basil is in full bloom.  While this means that it’s healthy, it also means that I pluck those pesky little white flowers from it’s tiny little leaves on a daily basis. More on this later.

Also soon to grace this blog is my upcoming visit to Winter Park, Florida’s only gastropub, The Ravenous Pig.

Well enough of me telling you about what you will eventually see here. I need to get some photos taken and share the wealth! In the meantime, check out what’s on the menu tonight!

Have a lovely Friday.

Maid of Orleans jasmine only keeps its flowers for a day before they fall off. I am collecting them to make tea.

In other news…one of my lavender plants is doing well, the other is quickly dying. My basil is back in the game and my mint and cilantro are growing like crazy!

I already have big spring plans for the apartment garden. I will be giving my confederate jasmine a new home. It sheds way too many leaves! I’ll replace that pot with another maid of orleans jasmine because it seems to be thriving. If the basil and lavender survive, great! If not, I’m going with more cilantro. I’m getting a little ahead of myself!

Because I know you’re just dying to see the apartment garden in high definition, Eric bought me this baby…

And now I can bring you sweeter photos of the apartment garden…among other things.

I trust you’ve enjoyed my photo journal of the apartment garden’s progress.
Happy Holidays from me and all of the plants!

half of my apartment garden

thriving mint

If you have too many plants in your apartment does it make you a plant lady? Is that the equivalent of a cat lady?

I thought that my basil was feeling a little cramped and a little under the weather.  (I’m not quite sure where the Florida sun went, but we would really like it back.) Then it started to turn brown at the tips and a tiny piece just broke off and started looking like death.

I panicked.

I didn’t want dead plants on my conscience, so I did some research on basil and deduced that it was, in fact, in need of some sun (who isn’t?), additional drainage, and some wiggle room. With this in mind, off to Home Depot I went. I was supposed to buy a new pot, a rooting hormone and more potting soil.

BUT

I started thinking about how empty the spot where the basil once lived would be and I ended up coming home with a new cilantro plant. While this may seem crazy on the surface, because I now have 9 plants in one room of my apartment, I am actually quite proud of myself. My garlic has sprouted (well, all but one…give the little guy a chance), my mint and jasmine are thriving, my lavender has sprouted dozens of new leaves. Maybe I have a green thumb after all.

I’ll leave you with this awesome marinade from the Apartment Gardender’s Garden

my apartment garden: where jasmine blooms in December

the beginnings of garlic

4 to 6 sprigs of cilantro–chopped

3 diced garlic cloves (or two if you want to tone it down a bit)

1/4 cup of lemon or lime juice

1 to 2 tablespoons of butter (depends on how much you’re watching your weight)

You can put this as a sauce on your rice or mix all of the ingredients together (without cooking garlic) use as a marinade for chicken, beef or veggies.

]]> http://chasingeducation.com/2009/12/the-apartment-gardener-plant-lady/feed/ 0 http://chasingeducation.com/2009/12/mr-s-claus-north-pole/ http://chasingeducation.com/2009/12/mr-s-claus-north-pole/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:30:04 +0000 L http://chasingeducation.com/?p=345

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattimattila/ / CC BY 2.0

Dear Santa,

Honestly, I think I’ve been really good this year. I only took one sick day and I got an A in my class. AND most importantly, I didn’t spend any money I didn’t have.

I’m not sure what you can do for me this year. My wish list is void of designer handbags and jewelry (I sent Eric that list!). However, I do have a few big dreams that I would like to make a reality very soon. Would you be interested in financing my aspirations?

Next year I would like to be completely out of credit card debt (I can do this on my own by March, but I was hoping you might help me a long a little bit.)

I would also like to immerse myself in a Hospitality Master’s program. I would really like to go to school full-time, which would require some serious luck when it comes to scheduling OR you could just send fourty or fifty grand my way and I would be all set.

I need to take a vacation this year Santa. Please clear my schedule and put some money in the bank. The last time I went anywhere was circa 2005. I am going to lose my sanity and I’m fairly certain that my sanity is not something you can give me for Christmas. A vacation,however, is very plausible.

Last, and probably least, I would really like to have an outdoor garden in 2010. My lease isn’t up until the end of the summer. This gives you plenty of time to save up the funds for a cute house that is either a) very affordable or b) is for rent and very affordable. I really don’t mind if I get my Christmas presents late. I don’t even mind if you wait until next year to send the cute little house my way.

Best of luck with your deliveries and safe travel to you my friend!

xoxo

-L

P.S. I would also like to have a very famous blog. Thanks!

confederate jasmine and provence lavender re-potted for optimum growth!

I have temporarily stopped buying plants. I figured I should make sure that I can keep 7 plants alive–yes 7!– before I turn my apartment into a tropical paradise.

My final inventory:

• two provence lavender plants
• one mint
• one basil
• three cloves of garlic (they have roots!)
• one maid-of-orleans jasmine (it’s going to bloom any day now!)
• one confederate jasmine

What I’ve learned so far:

• jasmine and lavender prefer to be on the dry side (but they need a good watering once they get very dry)
• mint grows like crazy and is nearly impossible to drown
• I need to do research on pruning/harvesting basil, because I’m fairly certain I did something wrong, as the ends turned a bit brown after I cut it down
• maid-of-orleans jasmine blooms every 30-40 days (awesome!)–the warmer it is the better it blooms (even more awesome!)

I have big plans for my apartment garden. Stay tuned!

Now…onto reaping the benefits of my garden! I made pesto with thai basil from my windowsill herb garden. But not just any pesto…white wine pesto chicken. After watching Julie and Julia tonight, I’m inspired to share with you my very own chasing education original recipe. (side note: I’m feeling so inspired by movies lately first Love Happens made me want to be a gardener and now Julie & Julia is making me want to cook. I wonder if I should be watching movies at all in my current malleable state)

you’ll need:

1. 8 to 12 sprigs of basil (My measurements are impeccable, aren’t they?)

2. 1 cup of cooking wine

3. 6 cloves of garlic

4. one pack of boneless, skinless, thin-sliced chicken breast

step 1: season chicken breast with salt and pepper

step 2: put wine, garlic and basil in the blender for a quick spin– don’t liquefy it completely because aesthetically it’s just not appealing

step 3: pour pesto mixture into a pan and heat on medium/low for 5 minutes

step 4: add chicken to pan, cook for 7 minutes on each side, be sure to spoon pesto over the top of the chicken occasionally

step 5: sprinkle fresh mozzarella over chicken before serving

As a side, I tossed some lightly sautéed red and yellow peppers with a tablespoon of goat cheese and a spoonful of whole-wheat rotini (just a spoonful…pasta will not spare your waistline)…voila!  Relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents your dinner!

confederate jasmine and provence lavender grow in my garden

While I should have been reading chapter 10 of Erika Hoff’s language development textbook, instead I was growing an apartment garden.

Apparently I did not learn my lesson about being too hasty. I planted the confederate jasmine in a window box that I fear may be too small. I also planted the lavender in a pot that I fear may be too small. I’m going to give them both a chance in their current homes, but I promise that if they begin to look ill–or even sad– I will move them to a more spacious location.

thai basil, soon-to-be garlic and mint grow in my window herb garden

On the bright side: my herb garden is perfect. I planted some mint, which looks a bit droopy right now. The move from tiny little pot to window box garden was rough on the little guy. But he did sprout a new sprig last night, so he must be happy. The Thai basil was significantly more resilient to the move and is standing tall and smelling wonderful.

As a little experiment, I planted some garlic cloves. Now we wait to see if I have a green thumb, or if this is going to be more than I bargained for!

How does your garden grow?

P.S. Please send sunshine.

I have started a collection of hobbies over the past year…

scrapbooking
painting
blogging
headband making
instant photography

And as if this list were not long enough, today marks the first day of apartment gardening. I really love flowers they smell wonderful and some even taste good! (Don’t knock it until you try it!) However, having someone buy me a bouquet of roses only to watch them die seems like a colossal waste of money.

Having someone buy me flowers so that I can watch them grow and bloom is a brilliant idea!

And so today I sent Eric to purchase the beginnings of my apartment garden.

provence lavender
mint
confederate jasmine
terracotta window box
2 terracotta pots
potters soil
miracle gro

I also learned my first lesson in gardening today (which also applies to life): don’t be too hasty.

You see, I really wanted jasmine so that I could make tea. As it turns out confederate jasmine isn’t a true jasmine. It’s simply been classified as jasmine because of it’s smell. In other words…it’s not good for making tea and putting in salad. Rather than return the confederate jasmine (I felt like that would be the same as adopting a baby and then taking it back, because it’s not all you wanted it to be), I’m keeping it. I did, however, order some maid-of-orleans jasmine from which I will make a tasty tea.

The maid-of-orleans jasmine was a special order from TopTropicals. They say it will ship in 10 days. Considering how impatient I was to get this apartment garden started, 10 days feels like an eternity.

Photos of my plant-potting adventure coming soon.

Here’s to my plants living healthy, happy lives. Cheers!