Laura Occasionally Blogs

Teeny weeny sprouts! Man, that heating pad works it magic fast.



The largest is in a weird, off-to-the-side place, making me think it was an accidentally dropped seed, but whatever. I'll take it.

Apparently, you're not supposed to allow seeds to soak more than 24 hours or they could drown. So, like a true farmer, I got up early to tend to my crop before I had to turn on Outlook and sign onto Yahoo Messenger for work. It turns out that I LOVE waking up at 8:30. Like, it's easier than waking up at 9:45. It's possible this has something to do with sleep cycles.

What the instructions don't tell you is how to fish all your tiny seeds out of the water they were soaking in. They just slid off my handy Miniature Seedling Trowel(TM). Little ones got strained through paper towels, others just got dumped unceremoniously into pods, again, depending on my patience level.

This is going to work out great.


Miniature Seedling Trowel(TM) (Patent Pending)

Mmm, dirt sushi. Things I have no thought about: supposing they all germinate, what on earth will I do with 36 plants?

Note my innovation of marking the rows so I actually know where I put what. Because it's not like I did it in any logical way.

1-5 Parsley
7-10 Thyme
11, 13-16 Cilantro
17, 18-22 Oregano
25-29 Chive
31-35 Basil
6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36: Tomato

Oh yeah, I didn't use all the pods on herbs, so I added some cherry tomato seeds, also a present!

You're supposed to place the pods in a warm place out of direct sunlight to germinate. Darkness I got, but there are no particularly warm places in my house. I ended up creating a little womblike cave under my coffee table, draping a towel over it. It's next to a radiator, but I think I need to up the warmth. I ordered a seedling heating pad (my first actual money spent on this project), which hopefully will also serve as a human heating pad at times of the year when I am not germinating but just being cold.

Within the last six months (all of them winter), I've gone from 0 to "hobbyist gardener." Probably this is because I moved from a basement studio apartment into a first-floor condo with windows and a patio. Also, I moved to the crunchy granola-est neighborhood around, so I inevitably became obsessed with my carbon footprint. This spring, for the first time in my LIFE, I will attempt to grow some edible food.

My assets:

* An approximately 3 foot by 3 foot partially shaded raised garden bed in my yard

* Reading comprehension skills

* The proven ability to keep alive house plants rated "easiest house plant to grow" "no really you can just ignore it" "it doesn't care" over upwards of 3 months

My liabilities:

* Reading comprehension skills

* Easily distra

My friend Anna gave me an herb garden starter kit, so I'm starting with that! The first directions are to soak the seeds overnight in clear water. I don't know if that means tap water is insufficient. Luckily, someone in my household accidentally bought or stole a bottle of water months ago, so I'm using that. It turns out that seeds are really tiny! I am soaking them in these shot glasses, most of which were left behind by the previous owners of the house.



From left: parsley (misspelled), thyme, cilantro, oregano, garlic chives, basil. I don't know what garlic chives are but they sounded good. In the background, you can see four of the aforementioned house plants: an angel-wing begonia rescued from abandonment in an arboretum by a friend (I didn't quite follow the story, it may be "hot"), a wilted haworthia from Ikea, a keeps-on-truckin' problem-free jade plant from the flower stand at the subway station, a baby snake plant from Amazon.com.

I am open to suggestions for what to plant in my tiny raised bed, or in indoor/outdoor containers (indoor in winter). Here is the short list at the moment, based largely on what produce I enjoy.

* The herbs, obvs. (in pots)
* Strawberries (in a tiered planter)
* Assorted stir fry vegetables given to me in the same gift, including spinach, bok choi, and snow peas (need a trellis)
* Cherry tomatoes (probably in pots?)
* Onions (in bed or planter)
* Garlic (in bed or planter)
* Hot peppers (not sure)
* Lemons (in pot, need a dwarf lemon tree)

Notes: I'm signed up for a CSA this summer, so I don't want to repeat a lot of vegetables I'll already be swimming in. I don't think there will be a lot of fruits, though. I love raspberries, blueberries, peaches, and cherries, but I think those need more space.

Forget the previous entry about DVDs. Clear it from your mind.

Instead, here is a post about books! These are DIFFERENT books from the books listed previously. These are ones I've held onto for a reason, even if that reason is not that I ever, ever read them. Many are SORTA HARD TO FIND! Others make great LEND-OUTS! Comment or email me if you want any of these.

THE CUCKOO'S EGG: Once our most prized thrift store find, this charmingly 1970s account of catching a hacker on the u.c. berkeley arpanet is now on kindle!

FRENCH DICTIONARY/FRENCH GRAMMAR BOOK: It's amazing how long I've kept this considering I never read or speak French and Google translate exists. The grammar book is sorta nice to have anyway, lists verb conjugations and grammar rules.

GOOD OMENS: Ditto, it's on kindle but I kept it to lend out. Anyone need a paperback? (Also, I think this was originally Paul's!)

HARRIET THE SPY: Is on kindle. Anyone want a super old paperback??

HOW TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY by Orson Scott Card: Huge inspiration to me when I was younger, and includes some great general writing advice mixed in, but I just never write science fiction and fantasy.

IS HEATHCLIFF A MURDERER? by John Sutherland - Puzzles in classic literature, i.e. essays about lingering questions in books by Jane Austen, George Eliot, Trollope and more. Really good but I've only read a fraction of the books it's about. Hard to find.

LUCK IN THE SHADOWS: This is the only pulp fantasy book I like on account of the gay elves, but it's on kindle so I'll almost certainly reread it there if I ever want to. I kept the physical copy for lending out, but I think I've lent it to everyone now. Please message if you would like to borrow it--forever!

JANE EYRE illustrated by DAME DARCY: The illustrations are cool, but I am certain to reread this on kindle, I know because I have already done so!

MAURICE by E.M. Forster: Fun explicitly gay romance written in 1910s, not on Kindle, but I probably won't read it again unless and until it is.

THE MOST OF S.J. PERELMAN: I never read this anymore but it was a great inspiration when I was writing Lance and Eskimo articles. It's also impossible to find.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: For some reason I thought it was important to keep a physical copy of this, but I have it on kindle.

THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION: Ditto on hard to find, sort of a published Sherlock Holmes and Freud fan fiction thing, fun but I probably won't read it again.

STELLA DALLAS: 90s trade paperback. I probably won't read this again, but it's sorta hard to find.

THREE MUSKETEERS: There are versions of this on Gutenberg etc, but the Modern Library hardback has a better translation, I think. I probably won't re-read it (I don't re-read books nearly as much as I think I do), so you're welcome to it!

I'm expanding my DVDs on offer because I really only watch Netflix now. You may say it's foolish to rely on an Internet service, but it seems silly to keep around DVDs when I PREFERENTIALLY watch them on Netflix.

( The list is now )

Claim any you like! I also have various geeky action figures on offer! State your fandom!

Internet minimalism enthusiasts, of which I am apparently becoming one, like to come up with numeric goals for themselves, like "only 200 possessions!" or "only 100 possessions!" I'm not sure these are especially helpful for everyone. For example, Joe Techgoblin whose favorite activity is playing video games (on his steam account, natch) might be happy with 100 things in his apartment (computer; bed; fridge; replica Buster sword; 96 cans Mr. Pibb), but what about Jane Hobbyhorse whose main passions are cooking, art, and lifting various weights in her home gym? She has 200 items in her mosasic tile box alone.

But a goal like that DOES undeniably help you prioritize. Your priorities suddenly change when you're told to pick your 10 favorites from your bookshelf instead of being asked to remove the books you don't need.

( Applied to clothing )

I appear to have gotten on another one of my minimizing/decluttering kicks (see Stuff Giveaway, previous post). Here is tried and true advice on simplifying that I know is sound because I routinely ignore it and suffer the consequences.

( Minimizing Tips from Me to Me )

ROUGHLY ANNUAL CHARITY STUFF GIVEAWAY!

If you want anything in this list, leave a comment to claim it! PM or email me (laura at laurahughes) your mailing address. I will mail your item(s). I'll pay for shipping. All I ask in return is that you donate a small amount - say $5 per item - to one of my charities:

charity:water
Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders)
Oxfam
Organization for Transformative Works

Feel free to claim as many items as you want, and feel free to send your friends this link! Act soon, because I will start donating things to Goodwill around the end of February.

( DVDs )

( Books )

( Action Figures )

I finally saw Les Miserables. Considering how obsessively I listened the International Recording in the days of my youth (approx. daily from the ages of 12 to 16, inclusive), how I went to Portland, OR to catch the touring company (not precisely true, but we did plan the timing of that trip to coincide), and how I loved it so much at age 7 that I drew the cast as horses, and how much I talked about the movie from the first time I saw the preview before Rock of Ages, you'd think I would not have waited a month to see the movie, but the other thing to know about me is that I lose track of time easily.

( spoilers )

I am happy to announce (to anyone who hasn't already heard me squee) that my first novel is going to be published by Prizm Books on April 17! I can't wait.