Bedhold, a chilli pepper, still wearing its flower in a kind of tutu arrangement:

And its sweet pepper cousin as a baby (I’ve had to label [...]]]> Weeks of watering, talking, singing, tickling* and general encouragement have begun to pay off: my windowsill garden is beginning to bear fruit! (Or, indeed, vegetables…)

Bedhold, a chilli pepper, still wearing its flower in a kind of tutu arrangement:

And its sweet pepper cousin as a baby (I’ve had to label it, it’s not that obvious in the sea of green!):

Apologies for the blurry pictures, my old battered iPhone 3G doesn’t cope with macro shots very well (Reason #3598 for me to get an iPhone 4…)

The tomato plant and basil plant were both victims of some slightly over-enthusiatic pruning, sadly leading to the demise of the basil, but the tomato got itself back on track and there are a few promising looking tomatoes so fingers crossed for a windowsill salad soon!

There have been a few additions to the windowsill with a new basil plant to replace the overpruned one, some dill, and this fantastic mini orange tree, affectionately named Purple:

I’m enjoying my foray into gardening, and continue to be amazed by the fact that I’ve (mainly) kept everything alive. Next on the list is probably some kind of edible leaf so I can complete my homegrown salad.

* Seriously, Miss America told me to tickle the flowers to encourage them to grow the chillies. It seems to have worked, but it feels ridiculous doing it.

My windowsill garden is sprouting. I actually can’t believe it, my gardening history so peppered with disaster as it is.

Of course, one can’t start counting one’s chickens (vegetables?), so I shall reserve judgement until I start seeing teeny tiny sweet peppers and tomatoes. They are [...]]]> Leaves! Green ones! They’re alive!

My windowsill garden is sprouting. I actually can’t believe it, my gardening history so peppered with disaster as it is.

Of course, one can’t start counting one’s chickens (vegetables?), so I shall reserve judgement until I start seeing teeny tiny sweet peppers and tomatoes. They are due to have a friend join them soon, courtesy of the lovely Miss America who, while trying to grow a chilli plant, accidentally grew a chilli plant in another pot next to her Peace Lily, Allen (the name of which tickles me more than I should really admit.) I should really start preparing for his arrival — perhaps a wide, trough-like pot for all of them? I am truly clueless in the way of greenery, but I am finding it all rather exciting.

On a similarly grown-up note, I’ve started to think about what I would like to put on my walls. I am a huge fan of Adrian McMurchie’s illustrations, in particular this lovely one of Ashton Lane:

I far prefer illustrations to ‘proper’ paintings and especially pictures of Glasgow — the city really is a lovely place through the eyes of an artist! In reality, Ashton Lane is a far less serene location than the image above might suggest. It is still very charming though, even when filled with swathes of drunkards on a Friday night. And of course, the omission of the concrete monstrosity that is the Boyd Orr Building is a vast improvement on the true view from this vantage point.

I can tell it will be a long process for me to adequately adorn my walls, but it’ll all be worth it for the opportunity to make my mark on my home for the first time. Any recommendations for local artists, illustrators or photographers I should be checking out would be greatly appreciated!

You’ll see a few posts back (part of the ill-fated photo a day experiment… a theme?) that I had a lovely Bonsai tree which, in only a few weeks, I managed to reduce to some dry brown leaves and brittle sticks. [...]]]> I’ve never been particularly green-fingered. In fact, that’s understating it: I’m a plant killer.

You’ll see a few posts back (part of the ill-fated photo a day experiment… a theme?) that I had a lovely Bonsai tree which, in only a few weeks, I managed to reduce to some dry brown leaves and brittle sticks. I did everything right: gave it water when I was supposed to, fed it a special Bonsai food when it needed it, gave it the right amount of sun. Still, it died. It’s very possible that the cat had something to do with its untimely demise, but I’m pretty sure it was cursed as soon as it was picked up by me.

So maybe a Bonsai was too tricky a plant to start off with — even the lovely old folks on Gardener’s Question Time admit to killing the odd one, right? On to something a bit easier: err, vegetables.

Let’s see how long these guys last.