Coffee Poem

Would that a man love
A woman like his coffee
Cup to lips, a few hot sips
The fair aroma enjoyed
And then
The whole taken in-
Until their thirsts slacken.

End of Growing Season!

Today I awoke to a sleety, snowing mess. I must confess I had never expected it to snow this early in Philly.

So, the first freeze and the first snow are contemporaneous this year, both today on October 29.

Fortunately the Plumeria was brought in yesterday, so it'll have another year to flower.

Sweet Pea finally bloomed

Late Spring Update

Unexpectedly, I wound up with five days off in a row from work, and even tomorrow I could saunter out early to get a jump on the Memorial Day weekend. So, since I got to stay at home and blog for money as best I can, I managed to exercise fairly regularly on the elliptical machine I bought back in 2007. Despite the light duty I normally subject it to (ignoring it altogether is light, right?) it's started to get a weird little bump as I run on it. This makes working out a little louder, but that's why the volume on the radio goes up. And, in addition to a slowly improving waistband situation, this has given me the opportunity to listen to the radio again I've enjoyed listening to 104.5. They play the latest Cake songs, so that's at a minimum a good reason to tune in.

But the other thing I worked on was the garden. So far, the Sweet Peas have grown quite nicely, but nary a flower. The Sweet Alyssum is blooming well with both white and purple flowers.

I did have a surprising failure: no action from my nasturtium seeds. But I suppose it's not really fair to call it a failure. They were two season old seeds. Just not viable anymore. For that pot I've planted marigold seeds instead, and hopefully they'll come up. Unfortunately, since we're already in late May it could be a while before the flowers pop up. If a few weeks go by and there's no action, I'll probably go ahead and just buy some ready grown ones. More expensive, but that's what I get for waiting.

That's also what I had to do for the lavender plant. About $4 for two plants. Unfortunately last years lavender did not come back on its own, and the seeds would have been too slow to start. So, again, I opted for the shortcut. Hopefully they'll fill in the window-box.

Also planted were zinnias and sunflowers. Both are big favorites, and should come up reliably now that we have warmer weather. And later in the season I'll put the Kauai Honeymoon Plumeria back outside.

As for the reliable standards: beautiful dwarf snapdragons and the big Sedum Matrona are still going strong. I also noticed while futzing with the pots that cute little mantises were guarding against invading insects, so the egg cases left last year must have made it safely through the winter.

Sweet Alyssum in Spring

First Snapdragon of 2011

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and it was a gorgeous day. Today's not too shabby, either.

On the way to work I shot this photo of my first flower of 2011: A snapdragon

As an aside, the camera here is a Motorola Defy smartphone. Sadly, my prior phone's long service came to an end on March 21 after an unpleasantly wet day.

AeroGarden as a Late Winter Pick-Me-Up

For Christmas, I was happy to receive an AeroGarden. It took me awhile to set it up, but now it's ready to go. After only 4 days, it's already showing tiny little buds which my camera's macro mode got to record.

End of Season 2010

Tonight there's a risk of flurries, and the low the past couple of evenings has skated beneath freezing, so I'm confident calling today, Monday December 6, 2010, the last day of the growing season.

Of course, I'll be happy if my snapdragons surprise me and stick around a while!

Baby Bubba Okra in a Pot

South Philly's Finest One Pot Okra Plant

The Pictures as promised:



And here's a close-up of the leaves:

Quote

Fierce love also takes the form of gentleness.

Big Money Post

You know, I've had this blog up now for quite some time.

One reason it exists is to provide an outlet for my longer-form musings that otherwise I'd commit to paper and then ignore forever.

Starting last year, I decided to turn on advertising. Sadly, as of yet, I have not earned dime one. But I figure if I want to make the big money in on-line advertising, I should post a bit more frequently than once every three months.

Since I get to see the logs for this page, I know that most people who visit are coming to find something other than my poetry. For instance, lots of folks are looking for pictures of a baby bubba hybrid okra growing in a pot.

And as it turns out, this year I again planted a pot of okra on my front porch and am getting good results! About every 4 days I get a new okra pod right on my doorstep. And, happily, no one bothers to steal it.

If, like a great many Philadelphians I have met over the years, you are unacquainted with the okra, let me suggest simply microwaving one fresh young pod for 30 seconds. Then, eat all of it, other than the spiny little cap at the base. It is delicious! Just like that! No butter, maybe a little salt, but otherwise great tasting all on its own. Or you could prepare that southern classic, fried okra. Or, I suppose, just stop in at you local Church's Chicken (there's two locations in the Suburban Station concourse.)

Speaking of delicious, greasy food, at long last I've regained (and then some) my wedding diet weight-loss. Unfortunately, this means that I must diet. Well, I suppose I don't have to, but the unpleasant alternative would be buying all new clothes. Which, in itself would not be so bad, except for my utter poverty.

Being something of an obstinate sort, and taking due consideration of human physiology, I have decided to attempt to eat less than or exactly 1800 calories a day. For a man my size, per this helpful website, I should be slimming down smartly.

So I have spent the last three days constantly searching to various websites to find out how many calories are in the foods I eat.

Which reminds me...it turns out that the plumeria stalk we picked up from Kauai, Hawaii during our honeymoon finally bloomed this year!

New Seeds on the Way

MARIGOLD SNOWBALL HYB
HERB LAVENDER ANGUSTIFOLIA
OKRA BABY BUBBA HYB
SNAPDRAGON CINDERELLA MXD CLR
SALVIA LADY IN RED
NASTURTIUM PAPAYA CREAM
SUNFLOWER BABY BEAR
LAVENDER PROVENCE BLUE

Snow!

End of Growing Season

Today, December 5, 2009, the weather has finally turned decisively cold. Today we're seeing a wintry mix. The 2009 growing season for my corner of South Philly is now over.

New Poem

Oh Lord, Help me to write a single true thing, and it will be
Obviously Your handiwork. Like a sparrow taking flight
Or the daily sky-filling dance of the celestial host
Softly reassure the ostensibly incredulous men
Of a skeptical age. But a hint of honest work lurking
In my doughy frame, well, a global conflagration of faith
Would surely result. The new Philadelphia miracle
Pricking the pickled hearts of jaded reporters and jejune
Bloggers. I hear they say a prophet is not without honor-
I forget the rest, but if in your plenitude you could send
A doe-eyed fact-checker in a size zero dress I’d nail
The quote down. My story I would share the world over for a
Small fee to cover my costs, and a large fee to cover my
Wife’s. I pray you would not disdain my pleas for worldly lucre,
Or worldly fame, and perhaps goodly looks, for all are to Your
Glory. Help me, Lord, a procrastinating writer to start
Telling of your love, and capturing finally a small part.

Lotus Pot Yesterday

It's alive! Check out those floating leaves. You go, Lotus, you go.

More Plant Pictures

Beautiful red Celosia



Snapdragons! These are volunteers from last season. Check out the gorgeous orange. The parents were dwarf, but these look pretty tall.

The Chill

Today I had the disconcerting experience of walking into Rite-Aid, noticing the fine late glow of the setting day in the west, and then getting hit with a blustery storm as soon as I walked out. (Weirdly enough, to verify the URL I just looked at Rite-Aids site, and they've got a big link up for Swine Flu Facts. And a rebate program for the allergy drug Zyrtec. Hmm, maybe I should check out their page more often.)

Anyway...it's been very unsettled weather as of late.

The plants, of course, have varying levels of excitement about this chilly (55 degree) wet weather.

I have a big pot filled with both the Zowie Zinnia and a lovely draping of Nasturtiums all around it. Up until this week, the Nasturtiums were all leaves. Big, beautiful green leaves, but still, just leaves. In the just the last few days the first lovely frilled yellow flowers have started to appear.

In fact, I should probably note that Nasturtiums have generally been one of the most lovely, and reliable, of the flowers I've grown.

Oh, and there has been quite a show from some Snapdragons that overwintered in my big back pot as well.

The Weather Channel predicts that tomorrow and Friday will make it into the 70s. I hope so.

The News from NY is Good - I Passed

Back in February I took the NY Bar exam in Albany. Today I got an email saying I Passed. Tomorrow, it should be publicly posted! Woo-hoo! I am so happy I don't have to study again!

To all the folks who had to put up with me while studying...thank you!

Starting a Lotus

A long-time request for my garden has been a lotus. Doing a search I found a press release from Auburn University. They are looking for ways to commercialize this beautiful flower. From the press release, I went to Ten Mile Creek Nursury, and happily I was able to get a Red Dragonfly rhizome. Unfortunately it's been quite chilly this week in Philadelphia, so I'm worried it will just go dormant. When it quits raining I may try to snap a picture.