Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Life, indoors


The current bedroom situation: trees. Small, but subtropical, and all looking forward to being outdoors, again. They will have to wait for May, and nights above 50'F.

The Thai limes (windowsills) are doing well - the smaller one on the right is packed with flowers and tiny fruit. The one on the left sheds most of its fruit. Don't know why. They each receive eight cups of water a week, at the moment. In midwinter it was every two weeks - things change. The curry leaf trees (table) have settled after feeling unhappy for a while and are no longer dropping leaves. The new Meyer lemon (bottom left) is hanging in there. The cardamon (floor below table) is fine and I cut its leaves often to perfume supper. Seeds under grow lights are thinking about it, hard. The lamps are cheap Ikea, the grow light bulbs are Amazon-ordered.

Above the disco-pink lights? My friend Willemien de Villier's amazing work (prints of her embroidery) at last framed and hung. You can find her on Instagram.

I am waiting for a finger lime to arrive in the mail (isn't Internet tree shopping incredible?), and must check on its progress. The shippers were waiting for temperatures to climb above freezing before sending it.

Soon, it will be April, and spring will shift into a serious working gear.  If I am not here (mostly, I am not, just because of time - I'd like more!), I am @66squarefeet on Instagram. A tiny daily post shows what is happening in this neck of the botanical-edible-foraging woods...

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15 comments:

  1. Oh no! You've gone over to Instagram! Guess i will soon be forced to make that move, too. Have avoided it for so long ... sigh. How many time eaters can i really manage? Love your light and bright indoor "cold frame".

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    1. Yes, I've been Instagramming for a couple of years, now. I prefer it to FB - less noise, lots of inspiration, and it's really part of my work.

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    2. Hi Webb and Marie,
      I'm a writer and I just can't stand Insta gram -- hardly any words! Ugh. But many of your old Blogging friends are there, Webb --Jennifer and Shelley, Flw Jane, Amelia, et al. To have to look at Jen's IG page -- such a magnificent fluid writer - and be deprived of her words, is just a crime.
      But, that IS where most everybody is now. Cheers to both and TY Marie for keeping up your Blog, even with fewer entries.
      Words Do Matter!

      Diane in rain-snowy today Denver

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    3. Hi Diane! - I get it. But I love Instagram. And I have just no spare time, so blogging has become a real treat and luxury. Because I am also very visual the pictures work for me and I have learned a TON from other people. Also, words can be good, even if not many are used (generally speaking, I mean).

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  2. So lovely. I just bought a dwarf Meyer lemon tree from the flower district and I am working so hard to do all the right things... but all my baby lemons are falling off! I am holding out hope and saying prayers to the indoor lemon tree gods.

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    1. Are a few of your baby lemons staying on the tree? It is normal for most to drop from a cluster - but for some reason my one tree sheds ALL of them, gr.

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    2. There are a still a few and now there are a bunch of delicious smelling new blooms. I am misting them like my life depends on it!

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  3. Hi! What site do you recommend for internet tree shopping?

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    1. Depends what kind of trees you are looking for, Steve. For the citrus I can recommend lemoncitrustree.com highly.

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  4. I think I'm going to branch into dwarf citrus trees at some point....wouldn't it be fabulous to have a greenhouse? Sigh, dream....

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  5. I laughed when I saw the picture of your bedroom because it looks like mine in winter and early spring. I have grapefruit, lime, and olive trees overwintering in front of the big windows, along with a dwarf lilac and bougainvillea. The rest of my house is providing shelter for all sorts of other plants, and I'm certain most of my guests think I'm crazy! Oh what we do for our gardening addictions!

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  6. Hello Marie. Couldn't you please drop the same pictures from Instagram into your blog? The quality is so much better and they're not square.
    Thank you as always.
    Marta

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    1. Hello Marta - this is actually the same picture. Instagram crops all images to be square. Sorry you don't like the quality. I don't want to repeat exactly what I post on Instagram on my blog. They are different creatures.

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  7. I join the "oh noes" re Instagram - but understand.
    Love the photos, I have 3 juicy meyer lemons dragging on the branches- 30 baby fruit buds fell off when I left the plant to a so-called plant sitter months ago...oi vey
    peony tips coming up in Northern New Jersy- buds on rose canes...Spring!

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  8. P.S. I've read that fruit will drop if plant is over watered!
    Four Winds Growers has info on container citrus plant care.

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