Growing, growing, growing.

I can’t believe I didn’t post pictures from September of the plants, but alas, I did not. And now, the spring season is here and my herbs are planted and I have updates for that, too.

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And now, in March:

This was Merv when I first planted him, back in June of 2012.

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Here was Merv in the beginning of March – look how far he’s grown…except I need him to grow wide, not tall. No matter, we can fix that!DSC_0896

We just have to do a little surgery on him…

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Snip, snip! Now Merv is TWO plants!

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It took him a couple weeks, but he’s starting to grow back now!

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And, his top half has rooted…this is Sally. She needs a name plate, coming soon. I don’t know why Merv became Sally, he just did. I just write down the names I feel in my heart.

So this is my aloe plant, which started as a small baby plant wayyyyy back years ago as a window plant.

Just to show you, this is the aloe last year in March. Also, please note the flowers to the right – there are pink, and white, and some yellow.

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Look at these beasts now – out of control! The pink and the white have totally overtaken the yellow, and the white have actually started to turn pink.

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But at least the yellow is finally sprouting, despite the bullies surrounding it.

Anyways, back to aloe.

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So this is the aloe now – overgrown, sad, and it has recently started stabbing the UPS man. Seriously, I think he cut himself once. I felt horrible, and knew that it was time to put it apart…I didn’t know exactly what to do, so I of course Googled it, and researched how to fillet the aloe so I can store it.

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aloe

Step one: Remove from the aloe plant with a knife. YOU GUYS ALOE PLANTS ARE SMELLLYYY AND THEY EMIT YELLOW SAP. Don’t be alarmed, like I was, sappy and Googling “yellow slime + aloe.”

Step two: Cut the spiky sides off, and the tip w/ the sap on it.

Step three: Slice horizontally off the top green part. Then do the same for the bottom. Try to do it so the curved side is down the first time (you’ll understand when you see it.) (If you ever actually do this.)

Step four: You have aloe! Hurray! It’s slippery, isn’t it? I put mine in the freezer for burns I will inevitably suffer someday in the kitchen.

Up later…seed bombs and herbs!

Ides of March

Today is the Ides of March. It’s best known as being the day that Caesar was killed. In antiquity it was dedicated to the god Mars (god of war, god of agriculture.) And I plan on bringing that antiquity back, as my plants are staging a coup and threatening to overthrow my kitchen and my life.

My basil is flowering. My rosemary is drying before my eyes. The aloe is taking over my porch now, and the jasmine is browning, I just planted flowers in a pot that doesn’t have a good draining system, and Jeff’s tropical leaf plant is half alive.

This past weekend I repotted the rosemary after its roots crawled out the drainage hole it its pot and attacked my metal Buddha that oversees the window garden. I put the aloe into the ivy pot. (Sorry ivy but you were just dead. You just were. And I’m sorry that it was me who killed you.) I then put said aloe outside, to free up window space. Soon, when I grace the farmer’s market with my presence again, I will see what other options I have. In the meantime I might try to cut and re-root my basil (I don’t know whether this is possible or not) and I am also going to revive my rosemary, and see what I can do about those flowers I planted.

The answer to most of my questions, I am sure, is research, and a good trip to the Home Depot. And maybe sacrificing a pig to Mars.