Cactus prerogative

 I'm always fascinated by cactus because I never really know wtf it's going to grow up to be. One day it looks like a bunch of cactus roses.












Then the next thing you know there is a part of it that just shoots forth like a complete rebel.........

..... And then, as if that wasn't weird and unexpected enough, this new rebel part then sprouts actual little flowers. So really Forest Gump could have said life was like a box of chocolates or a cactus, cause you never know wtf you are going to get.

Tree stump or plant stand?

We were driving past a business one day that had recently had some of the trees cut down from in front of the business. I must admit, I don't know if you are allowed to take part of a tree stump from private property or not. Just in case it was an "or not" situation we went back at night and made off with this bad boy. I would have taken more but I couldn't lift it at all and my boyfriend wasn't equally enthused enough to lift more than one. Needless to say, it's now a part of your landscape and I like that it adds height to things that otherwise might get knocked over if left directly on the ground.

So we buried an onion

        Ever had part of an onion that maybe stayed in the fridge for a little too long? And then from this partial onion something started to grow. And it wasn't mold. And you found yourself wondering what would happen if you planted this. Would you have an onion plant? Well that's what we did, we buried an onion and for a while these long green onion looking stalks grew and they smelled and tasted like green onions. Recently, one of those stalks became thicker and taller than all of the others and what looked like a bulb started to form at the top with almost like an onion skin around it. The onion skin has now cracked and what we have is perhaps a flower????                                             

Oregano gone wild

A couple weeks ago while watering my oregano plant I noticed what at first I thought was new growth coming from beneath the pot. Alas, now that the actual plant w/ pot has been relocated it's become clear that this is what I now consider wild Oregano and is growing  directly from the ground.

Herbs and Herbs and Herbs

 CURRY up top, OREGANO in the middle and GARLIC CHIVES on the bottom. There is something really satisfying about cooking with stuff that you grew........ Actually, in all 3 cases, these are things I have managed to keep alive. They were all purchased as small starter plants and have since tripled in size. 

Elephant food (large)

Portulacaria afra, purchased for less than $2 approximately 4 years ago. This has been transplanted 3 times and currently lives in a large container.

Elephant food (small)

 This is a cactus purchased for less than $2.  Formally named Portulacaria afra , aka Elephant food.