Today was garden work catch-up day. Except for the new cucumber plant and my zucchini and melon seedlings, everything is planted, and all the trellises are up. Now the one thing that's missing is more ant bait and a table - I've decided I'll look for a tiny table that I can leave outside, instead of carrying my little dining table in and out.

Hm, nice, Ikea has a nice small and foldable table - pretty enough, too, and very cheap. I think I'll have to borrow the car some time soon. As soon as I work reasonable hours again, anyway.

Dutch peas! I actually tasted a Blauwschokker at the biological farm last year.

Spending every evening out here in the "garden" - it's a great way to ignore the dirt inside (I'm too tired to clean after work - today I felt as if I couldn't even walk any more, my legs are so tired).

My jasmine finally decided to bloom - only one flower is open, and the plant is standing on the floor behind me, but I can still smell it!

Yay to Jasmine blooming.

And yay to my plants surviving my absence over the weekend too. They weren't even wilted! Of course I had near drowned them before leaving, but still it has been extremely warm the last few days. I did take the precaution of taking them out of direct sunlight.

*plants some flowers in memory of Dieter*
Dieter was an acquaintance from a gardening forum, a seventy-something former horticulturist, a gardener and seed-saver, always happy to share his knowledge, his decades of experience, the seeds of his plants... I met him at the Arche Noah plant market a couple of years ago, and he gave me a ride back home. He hasn't been able to come to the market this year, and a couple of days ago we (at the gardening forum) heard he'd died. Those are the moments I'll remember, seeing him scour the market, dragging his trolley bag, even though he had trouble walking, and at night in the car with him, listening to the stories he told of the time when he was an apprentice horticulturist, as I was then.
There'll be many seeds shared and planted in his memory these days - I've got no space left to plant them, but I can plant virtual flowers, goat's beard and Siberian iris, and hold on to my memories of him.

I've often joked that I probably have more different kinds of plants in my balcony garden than some people who have a "real" garden that's many times as big. Yesterday, I was biking past a garden that was mostly lawn and arborvitae hedge, it occurred to me that that's probably not just a joke - it's quite likely that it's true.
I'm a little scared to count how many plant species I really have. But I will count - anyone want to guess in the meantime?

Hm, we'll see - I'll post this on my blogs as well and let people guess for a week. I might even offer a prize to the one who comes closest, although that's a little unfair, since I can't legally send seeds or cuttings to all countries.

Yesterday we bought the rest of the supplies for the wind screen. But I can't build it yet, as the wood has to dry. It was absolutely soaked! So hopefully I can start painting it next week, and then build it over the following weeks.

I'll have to get some pots later today, as my plants really need bigger pots. I'd postponed it, as I wanted to repot them in the planters and put them outside, but as that will take a bit longer than expected...

Sahi wrote:

142? (As I know you must have passed a hundred, and like the number 42.)

And yes it's definitely true. Most people only plant a few things in their garden.

Sorry, Sahi, there were only 75 (species, that is - if I'd count individual plants, or even just different varieties, you'd be right with over a hundred) ... you made the last place out of 20. :(

I'm trading plants again - like I need any more! But it's so much fun!

Well, if I need to go to the main post office anyway, I can finally go buy my train tickets for CF today (because the main post office is right next to the main station.)

I did mention that I'm still trying to use up last year's dried herbs, right? ;) And I should actually be getting more herbs soon (via that plant trade).