Caring For Green Babies Ain't Easy

Caring for any babies, for that matter.

I can't even take care of myself and hubby, let alone plants. This is the stress I don't need.

Thankfully, most are surviving in my clumsy non-green hands, except for 3 coriander seedlings.

Taking care of our handful of potted plants are pretty time consuming for me. It takes practice to talk to them as nicely as possible, treating them like human beings, in hope that they'll give you plenty of flowers and fruits. It feels awkward at first but once you get the hang of it, talking happy gibberish to them will get easy.

This green post is to avoid having back to back running posts, before I share with you my Razorback Run race recap. :) My poor non-running friends are already bored to tears with my Facebook pictures and updates about running, that some of them even gave up liking my Facebook page. 

Bet you didn't think I'd notice!!

You've met Lemmie, our dwarf Meyer Lemon tree. He's having babies! 

Which is a relief, because I have been worrying about whether I have been caring for him properly and sufficiently. Wish I could do more about his leaves being chewed by pesky insects!

Lemmie is still a midget in a dwarf plant's world - he has only grown an inch or so since we bought him in October. 

I really hope he's healthy! *motherly worry*

At the same time, we also bought a chilli firecracker plant. I couldn't decide between Senorita HotStuff Firecracker or just HotStuff Firecracker, so YB calls her Senorita while I call her HotStuff.

And she is having babies, too!

Despite only growing about an inch or so, too. *worries*

Should I be worried her babies aren't growing upwards?

Do I sound mad? 

Why do I need to name my plants, you ask? 

I don't know!

I'm very excited for the day I get to eat HotStuff's babies. Muahaha!

 

This is Basil, a sweet basil plant that YB bought when he first moved into our flat. He's growing very well and sits on the kitchen window with my garlic shoots (in the background).

He's very pungent, a tad bit too strong to my liking - I haven't found a recipe to make use of him.

(I must not tell him that I don't really fancy him, in case he feels hurt and decides to die on me. Then his death will be in my hands and YB may kill me. *shrug*)

This is Cory, the coriander plant who was pretty happy in his milk carton tub which I first planted him in. I've considered moving him into a better pot, where his siblings first inhibited (and then died. I must have tore their roots when I tried separating them when I took them out of the punnet) but YB says to leave him here.

Poor dude has no dignity, living out of a milk carton tub. Sigh.

Anyway, Cory was happy but lately I realised he has been drooping in depression.

And I just realised the cause of it this morning.

Disgusting tiny white insects that look like moving sesame seeds. Ack!
(They are known as mealy bugs.)

I think I've killed most of it and hope Cory feels better now.

Unfortunately Cory is bolting in the hot weather (growing longer instead of in thick bunches) so I daren't use much of him to garnish of food.

Sigh.

Never mind he cost me $3.00 for a punnet from Bunnings. It's cheaper to buy bunches of coriander from the Asian grocery store as cheap as 4 for $2!

Right!

That's my housewife tale for today.