Well, it looks like a flower.

And besides, it's my blog and I can talk about food if I want to. And food is the end result of a vegetable garden, so in a weird way it's all related, right?

Anyway, I'm going to a rubber stamp workshop at a friend's house today, and she's stressed out over selling her house and buying another house and her husband travels quite a bit and her mom (who lives with them) had surgery a while back and still can't get around too well and she has two very young children -- so I volunteered to bring the food.

I know ya'll have been making these fruit pizzas for, like, ever, but this is my first attempt, and isn't it pretty? Yes, the chocolate is a bit blobby, but I'm sure that will NOT affect the taste. I'm also making sesame chicken strips which are in the oven baking right now, and I wish you could smell them, because they're making the dogs walk around sniffing with their noses in the air. And I have a cheese ball chilling in the fridge. Oh, and I have to leave in 10 minutes and the laundry is still spinning in the dryer.

My god, I can seriously NOT get anywhere on time!

Shhh--be very, very quiet ...

... the seeds are germinating.

I planted two of the planters today -- the one with plant already growing contains a Crazy Daisy (the green stuff you see), lavender from seed (which may not grow -- lavender can be weird that way) and lettuce of all sorts but mostly red. And green. And frizzy. And mixed in with other yummy lettuce-y things like bull's blood beets and mustard greens (which were both in the mesclun mix I bought).

The second seemingly naked planter contains green and yellow (my fave) beans -- why did I plant green beans which I like when I LOVE the yellow ones -- marigolds in the corners and lettuce broadcast thinly over top everything. Yes, I know the lettuce is going to grow where the beans are, but by the time the beans are getting big enough to do anything, the lettuce will be bolting and I'll pull it out to give the beans more room. And I did warn you -- I push the limits of what can grow in a finite amount of space. I'll fertilize and thin. Don't worry -- it's all good.

The other three planters are still empty. In two weeks, I'll sow more yellow bean seeds in one (with more lettuce and marigolds) for a continuous harvest. My blueberry plants are on the way, so I'll plant them in one when they arrive, along with whatever else I can find that will grow in acid soil. And hopefully my tomato plants will be shipped soon and I'll plant the last one with them. And basil. Lots and lots of basil. I grew Summerlong two years ago and absolutely loved it -- the flavor was superb. I kept the flower heads cut off, and they just branched out into gorgeous mounds of green deliciousness that smelled wonderful whenever I walked past.

I bought Summerlong again this year, because I just think its the best. I'm not into lemon or chocolate or cinnamon or other unusually scented/flavored basils. While they probably smell wonderful, I really think basil should taste like basil and not cinnamon. Or lemon. Does it taste cinnamony enough to put on my oatmeal? Will my green tea taste better with the addition of lemon basil? And how about a nice glass of milk with lots of -- you guessed it -- chocolate basil. I think not, so what's the point in growing them? My basil will go into summer salads or be layered with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes and dressed lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I can hardly wait!

For now, I'll just be quiet so I don't disturb those little seeds from getting on with what they do best.

And come to think of it, I don't think there's a chocolate basil plant. Maybe I'm thinking of Chocolate Cosmos ...

We interrupt this gardening blog for a book review.

Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers by Edward C. Smith. Copyright 2006; published by Storey Publishing.

As I mentioned below, I've been gardening for years, but only in raised beds in my backyard in Indiana. I grew flowers in containers, but not vegetables, so my patio experience with vegetables is new to me.

Being the consumate book collector, when I find a topic that interests me, I look for a book to support it. Or two or three, and then I buy them all. I'm all about having information and choices. Deciding to raise veggies in pots on my patio was no different, and I found a book! Huzzah! Sadly, the huzzah is for finding the book, not for the book itself.

Let me start by saying the photos are drop-dead gorgeous. Close-ups of luscious vegetables at their peak abound. And there are LOTS of them. All very exciting and inspirational. The actual gardening info, not so much.

The most helpful part of the book, to me at least, is the chapter on soil. Explaining how a plant takes up water and nutrients and why putting regular garden soil in a container is not a good option was very helpful info. The part of this chapter that just seemed silly to me is about starting and maintaining a compost heap. Good info, but if you're an apartment dweller -- not really an option.

The author also spent a great deal of time taking about what he planted in his earth garden. I would have rather had that space dedicated to more info about what to plant in containers -- that's supposed to be the focus of this book. And I wish the info had been more on patio gardening, rather than the author's experience of using his containers to supplement what he grows in his earth garden. What also slightly annoyed me is that the focus of the book is self-watering containers, but Mr. Smith spends a large amount of time talking about growing herbs in regular pots because they thrive on poor conditions such as dry soil and hot weather. That's great to know, but please don't devote a whole chapter to herbs that can't be successfully grown in self-watering containers. Instead give me options--tell me about the ones that will do well.

I guess I'm jaded. I know a lot about gardening. I have many, many gardening books -- from Square Foot Gardening (my holy bible of gardening) to books on starting seeds. I thought I needed to know a lot more to garden in containers, but after reading this book, I probably knew enough to get started without it.

If you're new to gardening, read the book. But try to borrow it from a library first before you spend the money for it. I found most of the information it contained on the Internet. If you already have earth-gardening experience, my advice is go to gardenweb.com and visit the container gardening forum.

All that said, this is a beautiful book, and I will refer to it from time to time, especially the last part about varieties of plants that work best in containers. It just isn't going to become the reference that I'd hoped it would. And all of this is just my opinion -- yours may vary (that's what makes the world so interesting).

And today's garden news is ...

... there's no news! I came home yesterday with every intention of spending the day outside planting all my little seeds. And then I woke up this morning and took the dogs out for their walk. Brrr! We all froze our butts off! Even Miss Chelsea, who stares wind in the face with her ears aerodynamically held back and just lets it just blow right over her, didn't want to stay out today. So I turned the heat back on and we spent the day inside, rubber stamping (me) and sleeping (them, and then me this afternoon). It's been seriously warm here for over two weeks, with above-average temps in the 80s, which makes this cold snap seems even colder.

Or else after being here over a year, all of our blood is getting thinner ...

Almost after

The seeds arrived yesterday. Little packages of life held dormant by a hard seed case. Seeds are the absolute most amazing thing to me.

Take a tomato seed, for example. One little seed, if watered and given sunlight, can grow up to be a plant over 10' tall that willingly provides a bushel of luscious, juicy red fruits that are perfect for adding to a slice of bread slathered with mayonnaise and garnished with lettuce. And bacon. And sprinkled with generous amounts of salt and pepper. One tiny, seemingly lifeless seed is where it all starts.

I've had tomato seeds survive the worst of winters in my garden (I was never very good about cleaning out the beds at the end of the growing season). At the first thaw, those little seeds crack open and out comes this amazing plant that can grow inches in just one day. Multiply that by the dozens of tomatoes that got left in the beds in the fall, and you can just imagine what I had growing in the spring! And nothing smells more like spring than a tomato plant.

You know, God sure knew what He was doing with all the seed business. And I am so humbled by it all.

The before view

The self-watering containers arrived. The casters arrived. All the various accoutrements were in the box. No container gardening book was to be found, though. Anywhere. I called GSC, only to find out the books were on back order. Sigh. I need the book. But my seeds aren't here yet, so as long as the book arrives soon, it's still all good.

I originally wanted to ask the Fedex delivery person to take the boxes around to the patio, but it was really hot yesterday. I figured I could carry them through the [cool, air-conditioned] apartment to the patio. Turns out I got some exercise -- those boxes were heavy!

So here's a photo of the containers and everything that came with them. I hope to finish assembling them after work today!

The before before view

This is a view of my patio, sans garden. We're looking out from the west corner to the sidewalk and the street beyond. The patio faces south. There's a good view of the short hedge in front of my patio. There's a 12" wide strip of dirt behind the hedges. Empty dirt people!!! It won't be for long. That's what all the zinnia seeds are for. I figure they're hardy enough to start growing in a semi-shady location, and they'll be taller than the hedges in front of them in no time at all, so shade won't be an issue at that point.

My patio looks small in the photo, but it's actually quite large. The strip along the front is about 10 feet wide and 4 feet deep. The shaded part under the porch of the apartment above me is about 6 feet wide and 8 feet deep. I have a table and chairs tucked in the corner -- just right for having a cup of tea and reading outside. You can also see the corner of my wonderful glider, which I don't use often enough.

My garden containers are supposed to arrive later today. I'm working at home today to wait for the Fedex delivery person. Since the containers were shipped with soil, I'm thinking those boxes are going to be heavy. I'm going to ask him to just wheel them right around front to the patio.

Woohoo -- I can't wait to get started!