Seeds from Brian

I received an unexpected packet of seeds in the mail today. It was so cool!
Here's what Brian sent me:

Japanese Eggplant (I need these because I'm having the worst time getting my eggplants to live past the teeny seedling stage).
Colorado Columbine--these are very pretty.
Petunias- I wonder what color they are?
Italian Basil-I will definitely use these!

Getting these seeds in the mail definitely made my day. THANKS BRIAN!

And, Joelle & Clayton, your seeds are going in the mail tomorrow morning!

Happy Gardening!

Garden Update--Cassabanana

As of my last post one of my Cassabananas died. It was so sad, but I still have two left. The two seem strong so I'm hoping to plant both of them in my garden this year.

I'm giving the African Horned Melon to the little boy next door, once it has at least a few true leaves. Right now it just has the seed leaves and one true leaf is poking out.

I took the house down when we had two hot days in a row. Then immediately it got cold. Well, cold for here, because it's in the 60s. I know that some other parts of the country (like where my mother lives) its still snowing.

The sunflowers are about 3 feet high. The peas I planted to grow on them have all been eaten by something except for one. Such is what happens when you try to grow organic!

I planted the ground cherry that I received and I have five of the tiniest seedlings growing in my bedroom seedling nursery. I hope that I get one to make it. I'm not sure if it's an Aunt Molly variety because it was a trade. I hope so because I've read that these are the tastiest.

The tomatoes and peppers are both going strong. They aren't big enough to plant outside yet, but I'll keep you posted. I'll post some photos soon.

Oh, and I also planted a dragon tongue bean which has sprouted. It's kind of scarey looking as a sprout. I can't wait to see what it is going to look like as a plant!

The hyacinth bean I planted (3 of them) seem to be rotting instead of growing, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Oh, and I transplanted several plants out of the garden into red cups. I think that one is a cucumber, which is good because none of my cucumbers are growing that I planted this year. And then there are two mystery plants. I hope that they are eggplant, but no way to tell. I'll post photos later.

Or at least I hope I can post photos....

Happy Gardening!

Mail Call!

I'm so excited! This morning the hardy kiwis that I ordered from www.ediblelandscaping.com arived. The package was VERY securely packages as to not damage the plants. I am very impressed with them.

I received a female Anna hardy kiwi, a female Ken's Red hardy kiwi, and a male hardy kiwi. Kiwis need a male and a female plant in order to produce fruit. Now I'll be removing some of our other flower vines to make room for the kiwis. I'm trying to get as much food landscaping as possible in my tiny urban garden...

After I got the UPS package I went to my office to pick up my mail. Here's what I got today:

Michelle sent me some Moonflower seeds and some sugar pie pumpkin seeds. And she sent me a very nice note to go along with it. Thanks Michele!

Risquin sent me some "Love in a Mist" and some Wisteria seeds. She also included a package from her sister which was blue bell squash. I am very excited about the blue bell squash. Apparently it had been sent to me twice before but I never received it. Thanks Risquin!

Dream Johnson sent me some squash, catanach caerulea, columbine, and Japanese eggplant. They were loose in two envelopes so I hope that I don't mix them up! I'm looking forward to growing the Japanese eggplant. Thanks Dream Johnson!

Misha sent me some short neck cushaw squash. I cannot wait to plant my fall garden. Thanks Misha!

I also received a SASE from Barbara with a request for some of my seeds. Barbara, I'm sending your seeds out today.

Well, that's the Mail Call for today. Thanks for following the TinyUrbanGarden. I hope you tell your friends about me.

Happy Gardening!

Shoot! I think I killed one of the cassabananas!

I'm very blue.

This morning My cassabanana seedling was full of roots and so I didn't want it to stick in the felt so I moved it into a red cup, and added some peat moss all around the little jiffy pellet, and then gave it some water.

I looked at it about an hour ago and the poor little thing was wilted. Her two little seed leaves were looking down like it was crying.

I feel so sad. I moved her into the greenhouse, perhaps she needs more humidity. But the last time this happened the little cassabanana died.

So now it looks like I'm down to two of those plants.

Sniff Sniff. I think I'll have a glass of wine to drown my sorrows.

Seeds from Danny

I'm so excited!  I got some new seeds in the mail for my fall garden!
I'm participating in a couple of different seed swaps and Danny sent me the following seeds:

Hyacinth Beans:

Purple or Maroon Hibiscus:

Pan Patty Squash:

and White Scalloped Squash:

I'm not really sure what the difference is between Patty Pan or Scalloped Squash, so I guess I'll find out when I plant them in my garden!

I love getting seeds in the mail, and I can't wait to plant them.

Happy Gardening!

Cassabanana and African Horned Melon

We got home in one piece, despite the Southwest Airline plane turning into a convertible (no we were not on that plane).

All of the plants look good except the Pineapple, but I guess that is to be expected on a new planting.

One of the best surprises is that I have one seedling of cassabanana, and two are just poking out of the dirt, so I might wind up with THREE plants!  This is good because my first go around with the cassabanana didn't go so well as I only had one plant germinate from twelve seeds that I planted.  The good news is that I contacted www.rareseeds.com and they sent me another packet.  So now out of the six seeds that I planted, it looks like three have germinated already.  I can't wait to see what the fruit tastes like!

On another note, my husband and I stopped off at the store on the way home from the airport and I saw an African Horned Melon there for four bucks.  I decided to buy it to see what it tasted like.  Well, it's pretty bland by itself, but if you add sugar, the flavor really pops out.  I say it tastes like a blend of cucumber and banana.  This fruit is not for folks who don't like seeds.  The fruit is full of them, so it might not be worth eating, but for those of you who are daring, it's worth a shot!

I'll be saving three or four packets of ten seeds each, so if you want to trade me for something really cool, post below and then we'll exchange information privately.

Oh, and the link I added (http://www.greeningofgavin.com/2009/05/african-horned-melon.html)  is to give  you some information about the fruit.  He's showing them green, but mine were bright orange.

Happy Growing!

Patio Gardening: Alpine Strawberries Growing at Last!!

I found this blog of another "beginner" gardener like me! It's so exciting. She is growing strawberries in egg cartons. I've heard you could do this, but I've never actually seen it done. I think that when I get home from my trip I will have to start taking photos of my garden. I really liked the photos that she posted.

Patio Gardening: Alpine Strawberries Growing at Last!!:

I hope that my plants survived the San Diego heat wave in the greenhouse! So crossing my fingers that the housesitter opened both doors so that they didn't cook. :-)

Happy Gardening!