Filed under: What's Growing
An overcast sky all day has resulted in the use of an old picture. New pictures tomorrow.
“Have you heard about the flooding?” she asked me over IMs earlier today as I was enjoying my leisurely morning in bed. I have a laptop, you see.
“No. What flooding?” I inquired, fearing that my second story apartment was now surrounded by a moat and being glad I was on the second story.
“The flooding in Raleigh. The creek overflowed its boundaries. They have shut down the following streets …” which she then proceeded to list, and despite the sixteen good years I spent living in Raleigh, NC, I still have no clue what location in the city she was making a reference to.
“Why is there flooding in Raleigh?” I asked, wrapped in my coccoon of being thirty miles away where, at least as far as I could tell from a quick glance out of my window, there wasn’t even a cloud in the sky. “There are no rain clouds.”
I got a one word answer: Alberto.
This prompted me to ask who, exactly, Alberto was. Whether this was a first or last name. And if it was possible that they were flushing the water delivery grid.
It turns out that Alberto is the remnants of the first hurricane of the season and it had dumped its full fury on Raleigh. Oh, Chapel Hill, my beloved town, had gotten its fair share of rain earlier in the day (a full 1.19″ according to weatherbug), but somehow I’d missed the sounds of rain pattering against my bedroom window. I’d been up since 7 am, lounging in bed, and playing Animal Crossing: Wild World on my new DS Lite, so I should have heard the storm.
Still, at 11 am, when I looked out the window, I saw nothing but blue skies. However, a half an hour later, when I decided that I’d been awake long enough to be active, the sky was dark gray and the rain was pattering down again.
The good news is that this is now the fourth day in a row that nature’s own sprinkler system has saved me from actually having to water the plants. The bad news, however, is that my greens box which was holding the newly transplanted swiss chard, might not make it. It got too flooded for its poor drainage system to handle. Also, my kidney beans (there is one flower on it) were dislodged from the stake that they’d would themselves about and were hanging over. I tried to rewind them onto the stake, but the plant wouldn’t hold. So I resorted to using lab labeling tape. Hopefully that will hold without damaging the plant.
Also, the borage that I broke and then used the pinch/poke method of replanting in hopes that the stem would put out some more roots, was practically pummled. I had to pull it up and rebury it. On the plus side, it was putting out more roots.
The purple ruffles basil that I’d given up on decided to sprout. It survived the rainstorm without being the least bit phased.
But, since I live on a covered balcony, and time is of the essence, I had to do some gardening. So I potted up two starter pots of pumpkin seeds that were saved from last year’s jack-o-lantern pumpkin. We shall see how they do. According to the viability test (float vs sink), these are viable seeds. I didn’t saran wrap the top of these cups, but I might tomorrow.
Finally, as I was turning in to go inside, gardening done, I noticed a worm casually regarding me from the top of the black cast-iron shepherd’s hook. Apparently, one of the worm “egg capsules” had survived my not-so-rigorous sifting process when I potted the hyacinth beans up in full castings, had hatched, and the worm had grown to juvenile status in that pot. Then, finding itself in a downpour of rain thanks to Alberto, it did as it is programmed to do and went to the “surface” to mate. However, that surface involved a climb up the hanging basket sling, and then up the shepherd’s hook, until it was at the tallest height possible.
I went over, scooped the poor fella up, and placed it in the gray pot (with the beans and carrot) because it is a decomposer worm, and there is a large amount of shreaded paper mixed in to that pot, and I could use some help to remove it. I hope it finds a mate.
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