Lets see, I've been a busy bee lately. I now have two tomato plants, but for the sake of full disclosure that is two out of three plants. My very first tomato plant fell victim to the gusty wind with a mortal wound right at the base of the stem. but I have since gained two new plants, the first is growing quite well excluding some fungus issues that have since been addressed thanks to my friendly Horticulturalist at the home improvement store. We are now all set with a child and pet friendly omni safe fungicide. I cannot undo the damage but I can keep it from spreading. That survivor of a tomato plant is already popping out little green tomatoes and more pretty little yellow flowers that, ideally, will give way to more little green tomatoes.
My second, and younger, tomato plant is growing very well, though it looks a bit silly. Both tomato plants are in grow bags hanging upside down. The smaller plant is trying to grow back up, and the stem has formed a U shape! It is the strangest thing to see. this one has been giving a preventative treatment of fungicide.
My flowers in the wine barrel plants are doing very well, overflowing their containers. I had to cut some down today and put them into a vase to cheer up the house. My raspberry plants and the flowers they were potted with have since been transplanted to the front yard, hopefully they will thrive a bit better out there. I have never known any raspberry plants that did not thrive to the point of taking over, but these darn things are barely hanging on. If only I could figure out what they are unhappy about I could bottle and sell it to all the people who can't get rid of the raspberry plants. I remember my Grandmother had raspberries in her backyard when I was growing up. When they got to the point of overtaking the garden my grandmother would go out there and cut them all down only to have them suddenly reappear growing bigger and faster than ever. There were times she tried to remove them all together but somehow they always managed to grow back. I loved going outside to play and eating fresh raspberries straight off the bush. The rabbits loved them too. My Grandmother, however, did not love the rabbits! I used to get very indignant about her shooing the rabbits away from her yard, because I loved all the wild creatures and didn't see the harm in a few rabbits playing in the yard, eating some low hanging raspberries and being relatively safe from the neighborhood predators. Now that I am grown and have a yard and garden of my own I have a much better understanding of the destructive path a rabbit can leave. Last year they demolished my entire stock of flowering bushes before they even had a chance to leaf. And don't get me started on what can happen to a plot of strawberry plants if a rabbit sneaks into your yard! We have been very lucky at our new home that the rabbits and squirrels have so far seen fit to steer clear of our yard. I hear constantly about how everyone's yards are covered in holes and nothing seems to keep them out.
Oh, I also planted some pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, cantaloupe seeds, and summer squash seeds! I am super excited because I want to try growing them from hanging baskets and using supports. By no means do I have the sheer square footage to grow them on the ground in a traditional manner. But after touring The World exhibit at Disney World and reading about innovative growing methods I learned that it is completely possible to grow vine plants up, or down, and they are strong enough to support their fruit until it reaches the size of a volleyball. I also discovered that we apparently have a fruit or vegetable plant growing in the little fenced in area for our television dish. At first I thought it was cantaloupe, but now I think it might actually be a squash. Time will tell.
I do have some exciting news. One of the women that organized the Bake-off that my cupcakes won asked if I would consider making the cupcakes for their Spouse Appreciation Dinner this week. At first I was thinking that I would say no, but Prince Charming talked me into it, which wasn't hard since I wanted to do it anyway. I am going to be spending a lot of time baking in the next few days. They need approximately one hundred cupcakes. They wanted multiple flavors so I think I have pretty much settled on Spiced Chai & Honey, Coconut, Red Velvet, and a traditional Vanilla possibly with a Vanilla Rum frosting. What do you think? Would vanilla and rum partner well for a cupcake? I use rum in my Tiramisu cupcakes and it complements the marscapone cheese nicely. I thought about making the Tiramisu cupcakes but they are expensive to make and very time consuming, especially considering that the frosting needs to set in the fridge for 4 to 12 hours before serving. I make everything from scratch and my recipes, excluding the coconut, only make twelve cupcakes which means I am going to be spending a lot of time mixing and whipping. I decided to bake over two days, then frost them all the last day so the frosting is nice and fresh.
Any thoughts?
Thanks for hanging around,
K
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