Int'l Garden Show Impressions: Beds

This will be pretty much a photo post, one of three coming up now, dedicated to the International Garden Show (IGS) in Hamburg, Germany that I went to this past weekend!

I've been looking forward to the IGS basically all year now, looking forward to landscaped beds, gardens, and who knows what else! Although everything was not necessarily as I had expected (or even a bit random), there were some really nice exhibits (like the Hall of Flowers) and some great beds, and all of the plants on the grounds were well taken care of, looked healthy, and were blooming.

I decided to split up my photos so as not to overwhelm you - I've chosen my favorites and divided them up into 3 categories: beds, close-ups, and patterns. Gotta love those colors!

Hope you enjoy my pics and impressions from the show!

succulents with water simulated by colored glass

inside the Hall of Flowers (a few begonias and hydrangeas)

Mums, mums, and more mums!

an uniquely landscaped orchid display

a vertical bed

vibrant outdoor bed

nice color matching of darks and lights

the grounds near the entrance

a bed looking out over the river

interesting mix in this bed

in the World of Continents area...a stone bed

LOVE that flaming red!

one small garden area and hut in the "Small Garden Oasis"

Looking out from the Asian Hut in the "Small Garden Oasis"

...and one more hut with landscaped mini-garden

...uh, algae? In the sustainable food section, kind of a mystery...

bed showing how much water is needed for certain crops/veggies

lots of pretty flowers :)

 Stay tuned for 2 more posts from the IGS!

I'm so mad I could kill 1,000 aphids....

...so I did! Those little *#"§()&?!-ers!!!!!

Since I've been home from my vacation, I've been a bit worried about my chili pepper plants. Although some are getting buds and have even produced some flowers, the new leaves all do not look very healthy - kinda shriveled (not in a lack-of-water kind of way), and even have spotty discoloration:

....jalapeno that I have indoors now

At first I attributed at least the spotting to construction damage (see recent post), but upon closer inspection I discovered:

APHIDS!!!!!! Those stupid little *+"!"§$%!"§! Look at them all on there!!!

  

And of course on the backs of the leaves, too. I mean, just look at all of them on there! Greedy buggers! Groooossss! 

so many....right at the sweet center! eeww!

Of course they go for the good stuff, the nice, new, sweet, tender little buds and flowers. They would do that.

But they can kiss the good times goodbye - I just took action, a sort of balcony genocide if you will (did I really just say that?!)

How to get rid of aphids:

Step One: Power-blast them off with soapy water (I used a hand sprayer and a water/dish soap mix).

Step Two: Swab the rest off (carefully!) with a soapy paper towel. I just sprayed the mix on the towel and wiped off the tops and bottoms of the leaves, not forgetting the stems too.

Step Three: Hope that lasts a while and my plants survive all the soap exposure :) If they come back, I will probably just try spraying with water to see how long that lasts.

These aphids appear to be the monophagous kind, feeding only on one species, in this case my chili peppers. At least they aren't spreading to devour all my plants, and are fairly easy to keep under control (I hope?!) since I have a small garden. I think the plants wanted a little TLC anyway!

The powerful micro-what?: Microgreens!

 ...see? I did come back again sooner! :)

Today's post is about a sort-of new type of harvest, the microgreen! I've only recently learned what they are, and love the idea!

Microgreens...
...are basically just entire plants harvested as seedlings, mostly used to add flavor to dishes and salads, garnish plates and soups, and mix in with spreads and dips!

Microgreens are comprised of either a single variety of vegetable planted densely together, or a mixture of varieties, such as the microgreen packet I bought that consisted of red beets, radishes, cabbage, kohlrabi, pak choi, and swiss chard. Depending which greens you use, the mix can be quite spicy and full of flavor, and differentiate themselves from sprouts in that they are harvested larger and need light and soil to grow rather than just water.

Microgreens are great for indoor or balcony gardeners since they take up little space!! They are also ready to eat within 1-2 weeks, allowing for multiple harvests in your average outdoor season. They are harvested after the first leaves have developed, so at about 1-3 inch length - just cut them all off, wash, and add to your salad or sandwich!

my microgreens (before the construction dust got to them)!

Microgreens are also very nutritious! They can contain up to 40 times higher levels of important nutrients than the mature vegetables, says realfarmacy. Think stem cells - these buggers are concentrated!

NPR also agrees that microgreens are way more packed with nutrients than the full versions and are not only safer than sprouts but offer a burst of taste to top off your dishes. I have used my microgreens in place of sprouts several times and love it!


If you can't find a package of microgreens at your local garden center (mine didn't even know what microgreens were!), don't despair - you can just make it yourself! Toss equal amounts of various vegetable seeds over your pot or plot of soil and cover with a light dusting of dirt. Don't be afraid to fill the surface more than you would with normal seedlings since you won't have to thin them out - they'll be harvested small. Or just try a single variety and enjoy the flavors individually first.

Have fun experimenting and eat up those phytonutrients!

top view of a patch of my microgreens - planted too thinly though, it was my first time!

Summer break (literally) and garden update!

Dear Readers,

If you are reading this then you have survived my summer hiatus-type-break! Welcome back and enjoy the regular upcoming posts again!

Here's an update on what's been going on and what the break was about:

First off, pretty much on the day that I was going to post here again, I got into a bicycle accident here downtown (heavy bike traffic) and ended up falling full-speed onto my arm, breaking my elbow and wrist!! Yes, my "summer break" was meant literally! That required surgery on my elbow and a hospital stay of 11 days, after which I was not really in a position to be typing and editing pictures and the like here between my physical therapy and doctor visits and social calendar. A big thanks to all my friends who came to visit me and meet up!

Things are looking up though, my arm brace is off now after 6 weeks and I can type with 2 hands again as well as use a mouse - hurray! My latest x-rays show that the bones are healed, so I just need to work on gaining the strength back in my arm (biceps and lower arm muscles are shot!) as well as more range-of-motion such as twisting my wrist and bending my elbow shut, mostly. I will hopefully be able to go back to work soon and continue life as usual - albeit riding my bike a bit more slowly.

In addition, a few weeks after the accident I was still able to fly to the States for my yearly visit! It was unfortunately postponed a bit and shortened this year because of my arm, but I was still very happy to see family and friends again as I always am! It's great to catch up and see everyone in person. On the visit I did a bit of traveling, so I was barely at the computer at all - had to make the most of the time I had!

Garden Update:

My balcony garden has not had the best circumstances under which to thrive this summer - upon my release from the hospital, I came home to find my building completely surrounded by scaffolding! It turns out they are (still!!!) doing renovations on the roof to make it more energy efficient, which means not only lots of loud banging and drilling right above me since I have an upper unit, but also dust/scraps falling on my plants and a lack of sun since the scaffolding is almost completely covering my balcony! Dislike!!

Here's photo proof of what I'm dealing with:

lots of dirt out there

poor, sad microgreens! at least I harvested some before I left!

lack of sun and shrapnel killed these herbs

...and my flowers...gross!

yes, those are supposed to be radishes, but got leggy and not bulbous at all!

these survived the best, just a bit dusty.

Some vegetables are a total loss, but it looks like some will pull through, like my beans, tomatoes and chili peppers, hurray for that! Some herbs have survived so far as well, and the onions have shown how tough they are as well.

I anticipate that the construction should be done fairly soon...I hope! I think I saw them putting on rain gutters this morning - it is VERY weird to wake up and see legs outside of your 4th floor apartment!

Stay posted for more!