While it is true I am a girl of a great many attributes, I'm the first to admit that having a greenthumb is not one of them. I have a talent for killing most living things, large and small. I do not discriminate. I'm pretty much a fascist of the plant kingdom. It's a marvel any of the plants we've shared our home with have lasted this long. Lila, Leonard, The Gamork, even the Spartaguys have weathered my abuse and neglect for years and miraculously perservered. Thrived even. You can imagine their relief to have Janie B-Starr around. For years, JBS has entertained the harebrained idea of transforming our dining room into a Garden of Earthly delights. Last year, she planted a variety of species in egg cartons, coaxing the seedlings out of their tiny shells and nurturing them since birth. Unfortunately, it was only the lettuce that made it past infancy, mostly due to my rampant herbacious bigotry, and now that spring is here, she will try again.
Her second attempt is a clever terracotta penthouse designed to house a variety of kitchen herbs. The largest problem with apartment gardening is lack of sunlight, since no matter what side of apartment your place your fledgling crops, its damned to sit in darkness for at least half the day. Due to inclement weather, Janie B's keeping the seedlings indoors for now, but plans to move them to the firescape as its gets warmer. Tomorrow, she begins construction of her fire escape planter, made from the slats of an old bed. We'll keep you posted on the progress.
The forgotten stepchildren. Clockwise: The Gomork, the Spartaguys, Lila and Leonard.
