Spring Shop Deal: Spider Plants

Looking for a new indoor plant for spring?  Help me rehome my spider plant pups...

4/18 UPDATE: Thanks for the spider plant love!  I have only a few left.

As you can see in the above image, this spring my spider plant has an overabundance of pups (aka baby plants), so if you are a US resident in the market for a new semi-easy-care houseplant, these recently discounted little pups could be an ideal fit for you.  A perennial, the parent spider plant from which these pups sprung is three+ years old.  Spider plants are a perfect springtime addition your home, as they naturally provide ample color and texture to your living space.  Gift them, too!  They are visually appealing and inexpensive when gifted in a small planter with soil.

See this listing to purchase.  For a free plant-related gift, mention that you are a blog reader at checkout (type this in the "Note to EmeraldCut")!

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Starting from seed more your thing?  

My organically grown shiso seeds can be purchased here.

Spring Greens

Indoor Lavender in Winter

Last summer, I miraculously sprouted a handful of lavender seeds into seedlings indoors.  I'm happy to say that they're all still thriving, even in half-hearted, temperamental winter light.  Gimme sun, these plants shout, as they hang onto dear life halfway between seedling and full-sized plant, losing a multitude of leaves along the way.

Here is a photo of one of them a few weeks ago, the largest one, actually.  With the Earth's nearing-spring tilt in its axis, we've finally received a splurge of sunlight that lasts for an impermanent hour each day--my plants are reaping the benefits of this, perhaps more than I.  And for that, I'm glad for I never knew that lavender could grow indoors.  

I'm crossing my fingers that this year these particular lavender plants will grow and prosper.

Harvesting for Fall

Oh autumn, how I am so happy that you are now here.  In the time between writing for clients and for myself too, I've been harvesting for fall, anticipating and hopeful for a drizzly and wet next few seasons.  I've felt my creativity swell under the gentle crispness of fall in the air, more detectable now than it was last week during our autumn heatwave; felt fall stir up excitement-filled emotions in me--mostly in hopes of working while donning a cozy sweater over my normal clothes, sipping milk-tinged chai tea or taking in the smoky scent of freshly brewed, comforting coffee that will permeate the room.  Reaching for the great outdoors to instill bountiful autumn colors into my expanding, pulsating field of vision, I hope for a consistent rhythm--a creative drumming of beat amid the white-noise of rain and the visual of fall leaves--to carry me through the next few months as I plan for the busy holiday season.

Finally, Asparagus Fern!

I think my newest batch of asparagus fern seeds have been sprinkled with some good luck because I now have at least five different asparagus fern seedlings in various stages of growth.  I anticipate that they will make glorious autumn plants once they're more established.  Crazy to think that I've been attempting to grow this plant since spring--and now, with fall in our midst, I now finally have some!

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Have you submitted an entry for my September giveaway?  See here for details on how to enter.

What a Difference a Year Makes: Indoor Gardening

Indoor gardening can be as delicate and complex a process as growing plants outside--soil choice, natural lighting, water level, and other factors affect whether or not seeds sprout and later on, thrive.  This being said, I much prefer indoor gardening for its obvious verdure aesthetics, as well as for the convenient ease of obtaining plant trimmings.

What perhaps is most interesting to me about my indoor gardening experience, besides whether or not seeds sprout and plants grow and thrive, is my strong personal preference for growing specific plants from seed rather than from already established seedlings. 

For instance...

Spring and summer 2013:

Arugula roquette (rocket) seedlings, grown from seed and transplanted--unfortunately, these guys didn't make it through winter.  Also grew lemon balm, oregano, and chives from seed, all of which continue to thrive.

Spring and summer 2014:

New plants grown from seed this year are shiso (pictured), chervil, and miscellaneous lavender--still crossing my fingers for the asparagus fern.


Of course, it's much easier to nurture an already established plant, so why do I have such a strong preference, year after year, for growing only a few choice plant varieties from seed?  I guess it's the nurturing aspect of this delicate growth process that I really enjoy, the chance to track on a daily basis tiny spurts of growth from seed to sprout to seedling, and--if I'm lucky--to full-grown plant.  Calling this a true bonding experience is an accurate description of the situation at hand (have you read Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire?), for I never tire of these select plants, and continue to ensure their lush indoor growth as best I can--just short of whispering to them.  Soon I'll surely have an indoor jungle, but that's fine with me.  Maybe I should have called my new main website The Indoor Gardener?  However, that doesn't have the same ring to it as The Introverted Writer, I think!

Finally, Lavender Seedlings!

Hope you all had a fun and safe Fourth of July!  Decided to my hand at try growing lavender from seed again.  Last year's lavender seeds didn't sprout, so I didn't have much hope for this year's selection.  Lavender, as you may know, can be difficult to start from seed.  In fact, I recently read in an online plant forum that the 30% or so success rate of starting lavender from seed can be rather daunting for most people, especially the novice gardener.

However, a few weeks back, what appeared to be a tiny shiso sprout (I grow shiso from my own plant's seeds), had begun to look and smell rather lavender-like--actually, a little like mold to me, but with a minute hint of lavender.  (Above is a recent photo of this almost-seedling in all its glory.)  Since then, a few more of these same sprouts have popped up, but none have grown as heartily as this one.  If only I could remember which lavender variety these seeds are!

Hopefully the summer sun will do my new asparagus fern seeds some good...

Summer Days Ahead

Shiso 

All I want to do is cultivate my indoor garden and read classic literature this summer.  However, I've got a lot more to do in the next few months, such as:

1. Work on my new domain : www.theintrovertedwriter.com--I'm very excited about this very recent development.  (It is my hope that this particular site, if it comes to manageable fruition, will constitute an easier-to-remember link.  Yes, it is from my experience that people tend to not remember the name, EmeraldCut!  My blog and Etsy shop urls will remain the same.)

2. Figure out some important EmeraldCut logistics, in relation to the new (hopefully) easier-to-remember site.  (Define, define, define.)

3. Cultivate my indoor garden.  (Enough said.  Something as simple as caring for an indoor, windowsill garden = sanity.)

 4. Read.  (Mainly, finish reading the two books that I have on my desk by the end of summer, and if this is done, start a few more; I'm a very slow and compulsive reader.)

Reading

5. Drink coffee on a regular basis. (A girl can have her coffee, can't she?  For me, a morning coffee is part of the contemplative process of easing into the day, of helping to generate new ideas, perspectives, and thoughts.  It is often that these wildly erratic, caffeine-high thoughts provide the fundamental blueprint for EmeraldCut items for sale in my shop, in addition to inspiration for blog topics.)

6. Psyche myself up for this bridesmaid business.  (Terrifying, indeed, for me!)

7. Learn how to embrace changes.  (I think that this a statement that rings true for many introverts who tend to dance to the beat of their own drum rather than follow the crowd.  If you're like me, changes can sometimes throw you off-kilter.  But instead of viewing change as disorienting, look at it as a learning experience.  A disorienting learning experience is more like it!  This adjustment in mindset is far easier said than done, but I'm working on it.)

How will you spend your summer?  I hope it's both relaxing and productive!

April: Ode to / Week in Photos

April, oh April, so glad you came my way.  Sun reaching like faint heartbeats into my workspace is like honey dripping against the soul, warm and decadent, soothing my harried mind.

April, oh April, I need to once again relearn what time of (Spring) day is best for photography, so that my listing photo sessions can be done in one afternoon instead of three--

a yearly recurrence this particular learning is; one that keeps me on my toes as I delete photographs with too much saturation (orange and yellow tints), as well as ones with too little color (blue tint).  Wise note to self: Finding the right lighting will keep you from taking 50+ over saturated and under saturated photos of a single item to be listed.

Seriously, what is going on with the lighting here?

And lastly, April, oh April, I think I may the be only one who keeps chives as a houseplant--in a used pill bottle container.  It's amazing how the changing of seasons from Winter to Spring allowed this here chive plant to rebound.

Hope you all have a lovely upcoming week!

Plant Variety: Arugula Roquette

Remember my arugula roquette seedlings from this post a month ago?  Well, I've found out why coco coir is a versatile seed-starting medium rather than a good long-term soil substitute.  Due to the porosity of coir, the arugula seedlings sprung forth so many roots that they were literally choking one another out, like a painful survival of the fittest competition.  The end-result battle wounds were wilted, soggy leaves above coir, and inseparable, multilayered roots below.  Action needed to be taken to salvage these once-hardy plants, so I replanted them in three upcycled containers.

Prior to replanting, the resemblance between all three arugula roquette plants (middle planter) was indisputable, as shown in the following image:

So, it was to my surprise that once in their own designated planters, each plant recuperated differently.  As seen below, the one in the milk carton planter (covered with book pages for aesthetic purposes) grew tall and lanky; the arugula in the oatmeal container flourished all stout and wide with warm, forest-green growth; and lastly, the arugula in the can went to seed, both flowering and flower-like. 

And yes, I did use good old organic soil for these planters, for I have learned my lesson.  I've actually converted all my indoor plants to organic soil or a coco coir-organic soil mixture--except for my oregano plants, which currently reside in pure coir.  The oregano may be replanted soon...

A hard-to-grow (for me, at least) shiso seedling is making its new home in the dark green planter that once housed the arugula.  I am looking forward to sharing some photos soon. 

Summer Herb Planters

Left to right: Oregano, Arugula ("Rocket" or "Roquette"), Lemon Balm in mid-June
Planters from: Crabtree Ceramics

My windowsill plants have been growing like billowing masses since early June.  Even my once-fickle lemon balm plant.  Each tiny seed that I planted in frustration (in less summery May) has seemed to sprout--as a result, there are now lemon balm seedlings everywhere.  I'm not complaining, though.

Lemon Balm

I've been most amazed by the arugula rocket seeds.  Out of the five seeds that I planted, four sprouted, and three have grown into full-on arugula plants.  Rock on, I say!

Arugula

Do you have success with growing indoor herbs?