I live in San Francisco. This summer, I wanted a garden very badly. So I picked up my copy of “You Grow Girl” by Gayla Trail, and read the sections on urban and container gardening obsessively.
On my fire escape, I had baby popping corn, strawberries, bell peppers, and tomatoes. They were all doing marvelously, until they all died.
The corn grew and grew until it came down with some kind of nasty fungi.
The strawberries never flowered, and thus never bore fruit, and eventually just kind of gave up and dried out.
The bell peppers were infected with aphids, and NOTHING I did cured them of this affliction. I eventually just threw them away.
But the tomatoes, oh the tomatoes.
They survived, somehow, and even managed to bear some fruit. One fruit, to be exact. This fruit.
Close up.
It’s looking much more red now, but you get the idea. I am very protective of my little tomato. I put him on the balcony during the day so he can get some sun, and I bring the whole pot in at night when it is cold.
It’s a little ridiculous, actually, but I refuse to let the damn thing die. I’m becoming a little attached, actually. I’m not sure I’ll be able to bring myself to eat it!
In other news, I bought a christmas tree this year. It’s not a real christmas tree, it’s a rosemary bush trimmed to look like one.
See the tag?
I made the cranberry and popcorn garland myself. My boyfriend and I are having a foodie-themed christmas.
The rosemary has already come in quite handy (rosemary potatoes, anyone? Yum!) and I figure if I can keep it alive, I can just trim it back into a tree shape and use it again next year.
The problem with that logic is that I’ve never managed to keep rosemary alive for longer than a few weeks, so wish me luck!
Dinner Love. 