Batard of white bread, prinstine apples, methley plums, a pain au chocolate, a framboisine (both from Praline Bakery), a thai chili plant (chili oil!) and a chenille plant to brighten my apartment.
Then I hit the street fair, and bought a bar of shampoo soap -- I figure at the least it will make a nice travel item. Then I found a jeweler who making jewelry out of old computer bits and pieces -- Motherbored -- since most of her stuff looked like things my dad brought home when I was a kid, I'm wondering if I've found a place to get interesting Christmas gifts for my male relatives. And I picked up another hibiscus tea blend from Teazan. There was a booth where a mother and daughter pair were selling ruffled scarves made out of those meshy novelty yarns; I may order one, since they have a colorway called "Jack'o'lantern" that matches the pair of fingerless mitts that I've have all but finished for over a year.
I also went to the hardware store and picked up a starter tray, some jiffy pellets (which are compressed sphagum moss in a mess netting -- soak and expand) , and a select of fall vegetable seeds. I've been reading up on what I can plant in a fall garden and reasonable expect to grow. I've found a nifty site that will give you all sorts of gardening information based on your zipcode or postal code -- I'm in USDA garden zone 6b, and in mild years can expect to raise zone 7 crops.
In fall, that's mostly leafy greens and legumes, and since I'm fairly sure that the available land I have is in pretty poor condition, I'm happy to plant legumes as a fall crop in the hopes of fixing some nitrogen into the soil. I picked up Broad Windsor fava beans, California #5 cowpeas, Little Marvel shelling peas, Georgia Southern collard greens, mache/corn salad, French Garden bush bean (all from Lake Valley Seed), and lingua di fuoco borlotto bean (mainly for the color).
I've already planted two of each seed, plus a few King Midas carrots, in the jiffy pellets. I'm going to be monitoring them for a while, and once my neighbor moves out, I hope to plant them outside. At the very worst, I should get fava beans -- they tolerate down to 10F -- and have the roots of the rest survive the winter given adequate mulching.
I also picked up some Neptune's Harvest seaweed fertilizer, since I've heard fantastic things about their products -- lots of micronutrients, apparently -- and a spray bottle. I figure I use the fertilizer to foliage feed; the bottle recommends alterating the seaweed fertilizers with their fish fertilizer, which I might do if I can find it locally.
Then I hit the street fair, and bought a bar of shampoo soap -- I figure at the least it will make a nice travel item. Then I found a jeweler who making jewelry out of old computer bits and pieces -- Motherbored -- since most of her stuff looked like things my dad brought home when I was a kid, I'm wondering if I've found a place to get interesting Christmas gifts for my male relatives. And I picked up another hibiscus tea blend from Teazan. There was a booth where a mother and daughter pair were selling ruffled scarves made out of those meshy novelty yarns; I may order one, since they have a colorway called "Jack'o'lantern" that matches the pair of fingerless mitts that I've have all but finished for over a year.
I also went to the hardware store and picked up a starter tray, some jiffy pellets (which are compressed sphagum moss in a mess netting -- soak and expand) , and a select of fall vegetable seeds. I've been reading up on what I can plant in a fall garden and reasonable expect to grow. I've found a nifty site that will give you all sorts of gardening information based on your zipcode or postal code -- I'm in USDA garden zone 6b, and in mild years can expect to raise zone 7 crops.
In fall, that's mostly leafy greens and legumes, and since I'm fairly sure that the available land I have is in pretty poor condition, I'm happy to plant legumes as a fall crop in the hopes of fixing some nitrogen into the soil. I picked up Broad Windsor fava beans, California #5 cowpeas, Little Marvel shelling peas, Georgia Southern collard greens, mache/corn salad, French Garden bush bean (all from Lake Valley Seed), and lingua di fuoco borlotto bean (mainly for the color).
I've already planted two of each seed, plus a few King Midas carrots, in the jiffy pellets. I'm going to be monitoring them for a while, and once my neighbor moves out, I hope to plant them outside. At the very worst, I should get fava beans -- they tolerate down to 10F -- and have the roots of the rest survive the winter given adequate mulching.
I also picked up some Neptune's Harvest seaweed fertilizer, since I've heard fantastic things about their products -- lots of micronutrients, apparently -- and a spray bottle. I figure I use the fertilizer to foliage feed; the bottle recommends alterating the seaweed fertilizers with their fish fertilizer, which I might do if I can find it locally.