Gardens and kitties

[thistlechaser]

I was too hard on my garden. I went to the farmer's market to get basil today because I thought mine was too bad to use (some leaves brown, some with holes in them). Turns out mine is a lot better than what I bought from the market! Bigger leaves, brighter green, and fewer holes/damaged leaves.

Also, while watering this morning, I spotted a big grasshopper. Fun to watch, but then I realized that maybe that was what was eating everything. Google confirms that. "Adult grasshoppers will eat almost any kind of vegetation in the home garden." (I didn't go back outside to kill or move him. My opinion is that anything I put outside is fair game for the bugs that live out there. Come in my apartment and it's a different story.)

Other than that, garden is doing well. It's so dry out that I need to water nearly every day, which is a bit of a pain, but at least I have only a few plants.

The stray kitty doesn't come back much. I leave food out for him and he might not get to it for two days. This is a big problem as it attracts ants. So many ants. D: He seems very hungry, so I don't know why he doesn't come get the food sooner. (Ellie H-A-T-E-S him, but she's behind a (usually closed) window, so I don't think that would be enough to keep him away...)

I need to post about WoW sooner or later, but for now there's a ton of fresh basil to get ready to freeze. I wish I had more freezer space, I'd like to try the "freezing in ice cubes" trick, but I'm going to have to use a ziplock bag instead and hope for the best. (I know it might turn black, but Google tells me that it will still taste just fine.)

It's too bad the farmer's market isn't open every day. I have the sweetest corn on the cob, strawberries, tomatoes for roasting, and other assorted things, but I need to use it all up fast before it goes bad. If it were every day, I could buy less but more frequently.

Comments

Your mood amuses me!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Basil is not a bad thing to smell like. ;)

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Poor stray kitty, I hope somebody else may be also feeding him.

I keep buying fruit and veggies, but unless I peel and cut up the fruit and hand the plate to the boys with a fork, they don't eat it. *sigh* I should just let them go and get scurvy.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

There are enough farmer's markets in the area that if you wanted to go every day, you probably could. :)

[segoryder.livejournal.com]

You sound like such a healthy person o3o

[segoryder.livejournal.com]

Oops put this in the wrong spot, oh weeeeell.

Re: Your mood amuses me!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Very true! :D

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Let them get scurvy and next thing you know they'll be talking like pirates!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ha! Good point! Besides the Saturday by me and Sunday by you ones, I know of a Wednesday and a Friday one. I bet the other days could be covered without driving too much.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Heh, I wish. But I'm trying! <3

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Freezing basil...if the problem is cellular damage when freezing with water/standard freezer, wouldn't freezing with dry ice be better? I've used this trick with berries before I built my liquid nitrogen generator (which will preserve anything quite nicely, but isn't a terribly simple project). At least here in TN, blocks of dry ice are readily available at grocery stores. Drop 'em in a styrofoam cooler, hit the blocks with something hard to break the pieces up a bit, and drop in whatever you want frozen.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a good (and fun!) idea. They seem to be okay at the moment though. We'll see as time passes!