You may be pleased to note, @relysh, that I will be continuing your tradition of sharing tomato plants at work. I maded too many maters.
Lunch With Friends
Harper and her parents invited us to join them for Cuban lunch at The Displaced Chef today. Great to reconnect with friends and try a new cuisine!
Strawberry Blossoms
I brought my strawberry bucket into my unheated sunroom last fall to overwinter. These beauties must be enjoying the greenhouse effect of the windows, as they’re already in bloom, just as the daffodils and hyacinths and cherry blossoms are doing their thing outside.
I did a little research to learn whether strawberry plants need pollinators, and the answer is — not really? The dark yellow bits need to come into contact with the light yellow center, whether by wind or other means. One gardener wrote that he usually rubs two blooms together, but that some people use a paintbrush to get the pollen where it needs to go.
After I took this photo, I pollinated the blossom by kind of pushing the pollen into place with my fingers. The next day, the petals were dropping and the center part was getting ready to strawberry itself.
Might be an extra bit of work on my part, but if I keep the strawberry bucket in the sunroom, I won’t have to worry about birds eating my damn berries.
Twitter Update: April 12, 2017 at 11:14PM
Normal routine upended by son’s viral infection. Dad and I taking turns being the at-home parent during this week’s fever. Discombobulated.
Rusty Rail
[Taken 19 Jan 2017]
From the Rollei 35 test roll, taken in downtown Toledo this past January. More to come… including an unusual interaction with a stranger, and proof that the Rollei 35 is not a “selfie” camera.