Cosmic Tomato Justice…

My tomato plants look like crap. Yes, they do.

It was only a few of weeks ago that I was feeling a little smug. You see a neighbor was on vacation and I was watering their tomato plants. I remember thinking mine looked oh so much better  (mistake #2).

There’s another neighbor whose plants I can see from one of our windows. They looked so sparse and spindly, unlike my happy leafy plants. Another notch on my growing tomato ego (mistake #3).

And then there was my blog post back in March, where I mentioned the fact I’d never rotated my tomato crop and always planted them in the same spot but never had any problems…(mistake #1). I was practically begging the tomato gods to take me down right? Well they have, big time. I’ve still got a decent amount of fruit on the vines but the leaves, oh the leaves…

Powdery Mildew brought on our wet cool spring? A reaction to my less than frequent watering once the rains stopped at the beginning of July? Or worse…a soil condition brought on my growing tomatoes here year after year?

Please let me know your thoughts…I’m all ears.

Just look, I’ve got lots of happy basil. But what’s the use of basil when you’re tomatoes may cease to produce? And besides, successful tomato growing is a point of pride in my family.

The first topic of discussion…when did you get your first ripe tomato this year? Closely followed by how tall your plants? And just how many tomatoes are you harvesting every day????

This is the closest I’ve ever come to feeling like I might be disowned, the tomato failure, and the family member that nobody talks about anymore…

Raising the next generation...of weeds

There was a middle school here.

It was built in 1966 with windows that didn't open; a design flaw that no doubt frustrated those trapped within and also allowed a dangerous build-up of radon gas. The leaky roof, combined with lack of ventilation, encouraged the growth of toxic mold.

These factors, combined with structural problems, made the 268,899 sq-ft building too costly to repair. It came down in 2007… but will live on forever in Gus Van Sant’s film Elephant.

Back in 2007 rumors about what Portland Public Schools would do with the now vacant lot circulated like wildfire through the neighborhood. However the timing was bad for any prospective development and the lot has set empty for 5 years. It has been interesting to watch the changing landscape, what first moved in, what has thrived, the fire that swept through last summer doesn’t seem to have changed things much.

When walking Lila through this field I stick to the well worn pathways, danger lurks in the long grass and weeds. Maybe not real danger, but the kind you don’t want to encounter in flip flops (a lot of dogs romp through here daily).

But I was curious about what else was growing here, just beyond what I could see. So this time I came prepared, with appropriate footwear and the camera…

The title of this post was inspired by this wonderful colony of thistle.

At first the purple blooms attracted me…

But then I realized what was hiding just behind...

Enough seed to, well, cover all of NE Portland!

It is beautiful…and also a little horrifying.

The next generation, I think they’ll be fine.

Time to look for a little happy distraction…

Oh! Beware the wild beast. Can you see her? There on the left, Lila loves trudging through the tall weeds. A furry four legged seed dispersal device.

One of my favorite parts of this landscape it the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) planted along the western edge. Although I didn’t manage to capture it’s elegant form it really is a beautiful tree.

I can’t imagine that anyone tends it, at least not recently…

But it lives on, looking good year round. This time of year is covered in fruit…

Things that make you smile are good things…

Surely you’ve heard of yarn bombing? This one is the best ever…

To whoever made this stop-sign flower, I thank you!

May your day contain a few unexpected smiles!

That’s better!

Do you ever find yourself staring at something repeatedly thinking “that’s just not right”…I do!

For instance originally I stuck a few Tillandsia in these hanging planters thinking that would work, but I never liked how it looked, maybe if they had been bigger?...

So when I saw this Cryptanthus at Garden Fever for $7.99 I figured I could divide it into smaller plants and fill up the planters with something a little more inspired.

What I didn’t realize was that the “extra plants” in the pot weren’t pups like you would find on an Agave, which are easily separated and usually have their own roots. No, when you separate these little guys they come right out of the side of the mama plant and look like this…

Which would have had me feeling certain I’d killed them except for the same thing happened late last winter when I repotted other Cryptanthus. This one…

And this one…

Have been living like Tilandsia for months. They get dunked once a week, spritzed if I think about (which is practically never) and that’s it. They may not be thriving but they are very much still alive. So I proceeded with my project but this time put the base of the young plantlets in soil, hoping they'll root. Here’s the result…

Better no?

I was also feeling a little underwhelmed by this planting…

The common thread was they were all gifts, and so they deserved better! I bought a couple of cheap succulents and added them to the mix. Better don’t you think?

My take away…if it’s bugging you and a cheap easy fix will change things then get on it!