Sweet Pepper Grow Kit, 071711

On such a roll that Saturday in July, with the transplanted squash from the poop bin and starting the cat grass, I figured I might as well get going on the plant kits I'd purchased from Big Lots, the only store I like to hit for neato, cheap finds, months previous. That it's right next door to Costco where I am forced to go regularly to support my soft pack Camel Filters habit is really convenient.

Does anyone know

where to buy Camel Filters in a soft pack 

outside of Fountain Valley Costco?

Please email or comment.

Thanks. 

Opening the container, there's a hockey-puck sized circle of coir and two packages of pepper seeds.


The overall directions say to place the puck of coir in a separate container, add water, wait for the coir to absorb the water (preferably overnight), transfer the majority of damp coir to supplied yellow pot, sprinkle in a packet of seeds, and top with remaining coir.

Being the absolute rebel I can be, I plopped the coir into the plastic yellow pot and added the 2.5 cups of water specified on the little coir insert, and let the puck suck up water over just 15 minutes.
 
Upper left: dry coir; upper middle: 20 seconds after water introduction; upper right: after 15 minutes.

I stirred the coir around, breaking up what looked like brown cranberry jelly from a can at Thanksgiving, and scooped out a portion into a Ziploc container to use as covering.

I might've gone heavy on the quantity to use as covering.

The seed packets were opened; each packet contained 4 seeds each, though they said they'd have only 3. I felt like I won the lottery -- twice in a row. 


The seeds from both packets were evenly distributed over the coir in the yellow pot and then covered with the coir I'd reserved specifically for covering.


Then it was just a waiting game.

Vita Greens Kitty Grass, Expires April 2011

I bought this package of kitty grass quite a few months ago. So long ago, in fact, that it's now expired. But as green-thumbed as I determined myself to be, this was destined to work.


Here's the kit. It's a container of soil and bagged pile of seeds.

Holes were poked in the bottom of the soil container with a push-pin.

All of the seeds were stirred into the soil and watered with 2 oz of water.

The lid was placed on the seedy soil; the entire container was placed in a shallow water bath.

Once the soil was completely wet, the excess water was drained from the bath; the seedy soil container and dry bath was placed in a cabinet to allow seeds to germinate for three days.

I call this progress bitchin'! This confirms my green-thumbedness, don't you think?

Poop Plants, 071711

Plants grow out of the poop regularly. And, no, they aren't "weeds" like Chuck might let you think.

This is the batch of poop that I sifted Cang's little quantity out of. See that strainer? It was pilfered from my kitchen. Note the seedlings in the poop.

Normally, I pull the plants and continue in sorting the poop. Due to Cang's recent bottle plant excitement, I decided to transplant these two. Judging by the leaves, I think they are squash plants.

I went to Home Depot and bought these two pots and platter-reservoir-water-catcher-thingies. Oh yeah, and a bag of potting soil. I planned on going large with my planting and growing.

And look! Those two plants in their individual pots! Aren't they just adorably dreamy? I loved them immediately as they made me feel so green-thumbish.

Originally, the plan was to do one plant in primarily poop, the other in primarily potting soil. I forget now which is which -- I suck. The experiment was sort of botched from the get-go anyhow. I'd accidentally messed up the roots of one plant during transplant and was much more conscious of how extensive the root-lings were on the second plant. Again, I don't know which was which. I need a lab notebook at home.

The rest of the poop? That was delivered to Luis. Now that I think of it, he needs to return my poop container, the butthead.  

More of those Weird Bugs

Those weird bugs I mentioned a couple posts ago? Here's a couple more photos of them. I was surprised by how many there were when I popped the lid off this bin.

They're fast!

Any clue what they are? Or better yet, what they eat? I'd like to know what they are attracted to in a worm bin.

Do you see what I mean about them being hooked together by their behinds? It's pure freakery!!

Worm Food, 071711

There wasn't too much to feed the crew, but enough to spread around:

• 5 limes
• 1 orange
• 1 plantain
• leftover half of a twice-baked potato with butter
• leftover calabacitas
• 2.5 nasty onions
• old cherries, stems, and pits
• husks and cobs of 3-5 ears of corn
• tomato ends
• basil stems and grody leaves
• red onion skins and ends
• Honey-Nut Cheerios

Somewhere around here a bag of hair is, as Nate put it, "crawling around."

Can Anyone Identify These?

Do you know what that weird, long bug (or two) is just below the worm bin hole? (Click the image for a better view).

All I know is that I used to think they were a single bug as they travel with their butts stuck together. But when trying to kill them, they'd suddenly separate and be two bugs, each with wings and flight capability.

Any and all suggestions on what these bugs are and how to get rid of them will be executed.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Yes, if you're dying to know, I'll post more images of these freakshows later. Stay tuned.

Worm Food, Corn Growth, and OC Registers 070911

I didn't have much food for the worms the weekend of July 9th. Turns out, they didn't need much so it worked out ok.

Most of the bins had food leftover. Like this bin with the germinating kernels of corn. There were three in the bin, each of them sprouting like mad.

The pile of OC Registers is getting out of control. How long had I been receiving them by the 9th? I'm not sure, but I need to cancel this shit as the pile is even bigger now.

Deciding to chop of some of the papers, I came across an article in an edition about how OC Food Banks' shelves are sparse. It was a good reminder that food banks usually get the most donations in winter months and are sparse in summer.

Here's a list of kitchens if you have anything to donate: OC Food Banks/Kitchens.