Flower Power

Attention ppl: please stop posting porn in the comments section -_-; I really did not need to see that.

Now, down to business. My brother, Philip the Magnificent, has begun gardening up in his New York apartment, and his success in rearing life in such an unforgiving land is inspiring. Do go visit him and send your accolades. Do not send him your porn.

Since spring starts right after autumn very early in the heart of San Antonio, I have something of a head start. I put seeds in the ground starting in February: beets, corn, spinach, carrots, green beans, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and probably a few that I'm forgetting. The strawberries were an utter disappointment; of the 10 bulbs only two came up, and neither is looking particularly berry-ful.

I have pictures from my camera phone, but let's face it, these beets might as well be swiss chard for all you can tell from the quality.


Most of my battles have been with weeds (especially those dreaded hackberry trees), but now the arthropods are coming into their prime. I've got some smashing rocks at the ready by the squash (aptly so) to take care of the Mexican bean beetles (or perhaps they're squash lady beetles. I can't really tell.) Dealing with the stink bugs of course is never pleasant, and the snails at one point were on the verge of wiping out all my black beans, though they seem to have retreated for now. On the plus side, there is a swarm of ladybugs (the regular, bug-eating kind) scouring the persimmon tree for prey.

Now it's a matter of maintaining and letting the plants do their thing. I'm eagerly awaiting the first harvest....