Monday, August 13, 2007

odds & ends

This photo is for Marianna--she wanted to see my basil. I think her basil looks way more healthy than the ones I have.





Have you ever seen grapes this big? They are called Kyoho (which literally mean top giant) and about 2 inches in diameter, the skins are quite bitter, so we either peel them or pop the whole thing in our mouths and spit out the skins after eating the insides. Some have seeds and some do not. If you want grapes that actually taste like grape, these are something to try, but be careful, these are really expensive. We received these from Satoshi's staff yesterday. (Thank you!)

My lace lavender has started to flower again. They first flowered in the winter and now have started again.





The other day, I found a shriveled up cherry tomato in our refrig, so I squeezed out some seeds and threw them into this pot. ( I hope it will be able to give us some tomatoes without something eating it first.)

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, Kat!! Your basil looks quite beautiful!!
If you find that it's starting to look a bit wrinkly, just make sure it gets lots of water everyday, and a good dose of sunshine! That really seems to be the basil-approved therapy! ;)
But other than that, your basil does look gorgeous!

Ahh, I *love* those grapes! If there weren't so expensive, I would be eating them all the times. They're the sweetest and juiciest grapes I've ever had! Yumm!!

Kat, it's always a great pleasure to read your blog. :)

Marianna

Barbara said...

That lavender is so beautiful. I've never seen one like that.

K and S said...

I'm glad you approve, Marianna. I will follow your instructions for healthy basil. Like I said before, it is a shame I cannot read Italian, I could enjoy your blog so much more!

Barbara, the tag said lacy lavender, the leaves are quite frilly like lace and have a slight fragrance when you touch the leaves.

Take care you two.
Kat

Kathy YL Chan said...

Hi Kat!
I had no idea you grew so many things - the lavender is sooo beautiful! I think I've seen Kyoho grapes in Shirokiya once in a while, the prices were a real shock, lol! :)

OkiHwn said...

What else do you have growing?

K and S said...

Thanks Kathy, yes the Kyoho grapes are really expensive. Have you ever seen the apples from Aomori? Another shocker! ;)

I have rosemary growing too, Nate, other than that just regular plants like gajimaru (I think this is a banyan tree, mini sized), pine tree (which is dying), cyclamen (flower) and couple of ivy plants.

Take care you two.
Kat

OkiHwn said...

You want any seeds from home? Like Chinese parsley (cilantro) which is so difficult to buy here? I bring back and grow it here. The commissary brings it in but it gets snapped up fast. Once in a great while there's some local grown, but it's like three to four times the price of the stuff brought in from the U.S. Let me know.

K and S said...

Thanks Nate but I just remembered I have Italian parsley growing too. I thought it might die, but it revived!

Take care.
Kat

bourgogne said...

those are huge, gorgeous grapes! your basil looks great, too (mine are not happy because of the bad weather here. oh well. maybe next year.) -bourgogne

Anita said...

Those grapes are amazing Kat! You have such a green thumb - my boyfriend has to take care of all the plants we have because I can't grow anything!

K and S said...

Thanks Bourgogne, if you can bring your basil plants indoors, it might help.

Thanks Anita, it is okay if your boyfriend takes care of the plants because you take care of the kitchen :)

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

Kat

Pille said...

Your basil looks healthy enough to me, and that lavender is simply beautiful - mine never flowers!?! And I'd love to try those grapes - they're huge!!

K and S said...

Thank you Pille, my lavender took awhile to flower, maybe 2 years? Also, I've heard that when it does flower, you have to trim it at the "2nd joint" for it to flower again the next year, not at the first area of leaves.

Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Kat