the 33L

is slowly emptying out. I have been selling the plants. After that rough, quick full tank shot, I tried to get a better one by making a composite of three separate photos (click for larger view):

and then things started to go out the door. It looks quite empty now, mostly just vals and small crypts left. I've been sad to see some of the plants go- the little pieces of wood with subwassertang and buce clinging to them

- this one had a bolbitis fern.

The beautiful little pearly leaves- here was one of my few clumps of Buce 'brownie'.

Didn't realize I still had bits of anubias pangolino in here until I started taking the scape apart- some were hidden behind or under other plants- so small but it's a rare one so I've gotten good prices for them.

In contrast this was my large, thriving anubias barteri- 

I was sad to see that one go too

My favorites were always the Buce 'Selena' and I was glad several people were very happy to get some from me- one person even came back for more after seeing how blue they looked in his tank.

I had so many more bucephalandra but I'd forgotten many of the names since I added them to my tank (or rather, the betta tank I used to have) more than a decade ago- and trying to go back here and find their identities was rather futile.

I will miss them. Ironically, I've been putting more care into this tank (and various containers where I've put plants for people to look at) now for the sale, than I did for my poor fish in the past few weeks of his life. I feed badly for that. Sorry to Tucker.

Should have worked harder for him. 

the beans

are coming on quickly, more and more. I have to pick every few days to stay ahead of them!

I do have one cherry tomato plant- I thought both had died but this one was just smaller for a while and then it grew up winding among the others so I forgot it was there. It's not very productive. However the sweet 100's and the cherokee purples, are my only tomatoes that are doing well at all.

All the big ones seem afflicted. The skin feels thicker or coarse and grainy, and some have dark cracks and when I slice them hoping to just cut away the bad half, too much inside is rotted black to save any. There are small dark stink bugs about, I am not sure if they are the culprit.

And something has done away with nearly all my swiss chard! I swear I had six plants on that side, and then one day it was down to three- I assumed the others had got rotted or eaten by the insects, rabbits. Today I went out there and there's only one. Not even a root stump remainder of the others.

Odd thing is- the leaf beet chard in the other bed is untouched- well, except for a few bug holes. I cut a whole bunch today for a dinner recipe, and half the bed is still green.

Collards are also doing poorly, between whatever is turning the blue leaves purple (a deficiency I think), whitefly and cabbage moth caterpillars riddling the leaves. I cut a bunch to eat the other day anyway, just wash it well and cut out the worst of the insect damage.

Cut a lot of the small young leaves as well, just to get them ahead of the bugs!

We are finally putting up the garden fence. Got the posts in today, before it was too hot, and then thunderstorms came through. Will have to finish setting the wire on another day. I've been laying cardboard and mulch over more of the grass paths, after cutting it short as possible. It's starting to look purposeful.

purple green beans

I guess I was just not patient enough with my purple-podded green beans. Started picking some last night and found plenty! Well enough for a good side dish. I've grown these in years past but still get a kick out of watching them turn green when cooking. It's like a little magic trick. (Doesn't impress anyone else here anymore though).

an end

I have sad news. It was actually so upsetting I never sat down to write about this until now. About a month ago, my paradise fish Tucker died. He had been unwell for several weeks already- hanging listless at the water surface, eating a bit and nothing else. Poor color, no interest in anything. Sometimes he didn't even want to eat. Honestly I made no attempt to cure him. I did not know what ailed him, I simply don't have the mental energy now to deal with trying to diagnose, medicate and extra-upkeep a sick fish. He was probably close to six years old, I'd had him for over five. That's a good long life for a fish! and now he rests under a stump in my backyard, on the edge of the flower bed near Miss Beautiful.

I had not taken any photos of the aquarium in some time, but here is a quick full tank shot. I am in the process of dismantling it, re-homing the snails, and selling all the plants, equipment, etc. It's feels kind of dismal that the year when my tank finally feels well-established, and looks like what I had first envisioned so long ago, is when I feel done with it.

Surprise- there was one Amano shrimp still alive in there! After all these years! He hid very well from Tucker. A real survivor. No idea how old this shrimp is, probably six to eight years. He went to live in somebody else's tank of shrimps last night. That was something, to see the little critter scurrying around again.

Bye, little shrimp.

Have a good end of life elsewhere.

cleavers coffee

So I found this plant growing in my sideyard this spring, which I learned is Galium aparine, also knows as cleavers or bedstraw or a ton of other common names. I also learned that not only is it edible, but highly nutritious. The first few articles I found talked about pulping it into smoothies or making tinctures, neither of which interested me. But then I discovered you can make a coffee-like drink out of it, and that intrigued me. As an experiment, I let it continue to grow- you have to harvest the seeds when they are matured and dried out.

Perhaps a mistake. I have not been out to the sideyard much this summer, and when I finally did check on things, it was all an overgrown mess. A lot of my joe pye weed had flopped over, black-and-blue salvia smothering the gladiolas again, lamb's ears seem to have died out. Not only that, but the cleavers was winding up and through other plants, tangling along with some bindweed or morning glory, and what looks like a weedy grape? I spent a few hours out there pulling the vines out, trimming things, propping up some of the pye stems, pulling weeds. While doing that I noticed that the dried cleavers stems had seeds hanging on them. So I stuffed all those in a bucket.

A few days later I went out and plucked a bunch of cleavers seed off the ground with tweezers. Yes, I do senseless things sometimes. Rubbing them around against each other and between my fingers knocks off most of the dirt. Then I methodically went through all the matter in the bucket. Holding little clumps of stem up against the light made it easy to see the seeds, which have fine hairs that give them a sort of halo. No problem if I dropped any, as they readily stuck to my clothes!

But it was super tedious. When I got to the bottom of the bucket I found far more seeds, however mixed in with broken chaff and fine dirt. I found it easiest to separate the seeds by putting little piles on the table, sifting and spreading it out, and then feeling for the seeds with my fingers, rolling them off to the side, rubbing them together to loosen off any remaining dirt. 

Hours. I would not recommend doing it this way. If I ever do this again, would make more conscious effort to go out there sooner and pluck the seeds straight off the plant before they fall. They are very small.

Next step was to roast them, I used a dry cast iron skillet. A nice coffee-like smell. (Unlike the roasting dandelion roots which smell more nutty).

Then pulverized them in a grinder. (A mortar and pestle would also work, but mine is full of eggshells right now).

Then steeped in hot water. I did a pour-over method, as they ground up so fine I was afraid it might clog the sieve part of my french press. 

How was the drink? Underwhelming. Mild coffee taste, very similar to the dandelion concoction actually. Not nearly so strong as I expected. I used one tablespoon and one teaspoon per the single mug-worth of water (about 8oz I think)- because that's all I had! After all that work. I think it would be stronger if I used a bit more roasted cleavers, or if I used the french press and steeped it longer. As is, it felt not worth all the effort.

short and divided

Most of my carrots have had nice straight roots. This one must've hit a rock!

herbs and tomatoes

Finally have a few large tomatoes to pick- I get them early and let finish ripening on the windowsill (otherwise the squirrels eat holes out of them). Some are oddly shaped this year! 

There is also an oddity in one of my basil pots. A seed came up looking the same as all the rest, but grew tiny leaves. They have the same flavor (maybe a little sharper) just small for some reason.

As for the other herbs, well some have failed me. Dill is pretty much done- gone to flower and now dying off. That's usual. But my pot of summer savory on the deck, only has two surviving plants out of the six or eight I stuck in there. The pot of dill never did well either, and the parsley is only a few small leaves, really struggling. These did so much better when in planters on the deck railing.

Chives, thyme, basil and mint are doing well. Tarragon is sprawling in the herb bed (this French type doesn't seem to grow upright like the Russian one did I had before), sculpit is putting out its balloon flowers, and green onions continue growing. I hope to eat more of those soon.