Plants for a roof garden: up and down

  
The spotted trout lettuce seedlings are beginning to look spotted, but they don't look like trout, yet. 

On the left is the latest sowing of spicy mesclun mix (Botanical Interests). The first batch went yellow. This was in the Organic Mechanics Soil, my first year using it. Coincidence, roofbug in soil, too much nitrogen (chicken manure) in soil mix? I don't know. But it's happened with a few seedlings, as well as my pansies, and all in that soil mix. The seedlings are now in a Fafard/Whitney Farms blend.

See my squash! I waited for warmer temperatures before planting them on the roof, and every single one came up, so I have to thin them to two plants. Guilt.

Pat Austin, now on the roof, is festooned with short-lived blooms.

The pots on the edge of the terrace are beginning to fluff out slowly. That is the new Abraham Darby, behind the catnip (Walker's Low). I bought two new sage plants, purple and variegated. And I need to pot up my basil seedlings. Oh! I ate my first strawberry yesterday, and the first Alpine strawberry (below - oops: picked a baby, too,  by accident) the day before...

Back down, round about the time I start to make dinner, a drink. This is crème de cassis with sparkling water, ice. Perfect for May.

And it reminds me that I must buy black currants from Wilklow Orchards at the farmers market this year to make jam. It is the best kind of jam, and I didn't make any, last year. Mistake. Reading Nigel Slater's Ripe (titled Tender II in the UK - why two titles?) made me long for black currants.

But that will be June...