A Bitter Beginning

My very first strawberry has ripened! I watched it very carefully, not wanting to wait too long to pick it, in case it rotted. My friend Chris gave me the very helpful tip of putting some burlap over the soil, so the strawberry didn't touch the dirt when it got so heavy that it touched the ground. I watched and waited, and poked and sniffed... and finally I decided the time was right for picking...

Just look at the color! So pretty! I couldn't wait to bite into it, thinking that this organic, homegrown strawberry MUST be better than that store-bought nonsense. I sunk my teeth in, and my first reaction was "hm, this is more bitter than I would have expected." As I chewed, the taste in my mouth got more and more unpleasant. Finally I started getting hints of sulphur, and had to spit it out! I threw the rest of the strawberry away, and had to rinse my mouth out! Pa-tooy!

What happened?? Yahoo Answers is not extremely helpful, but it's possible that it's been too hot, or perhaps the plant didn't get enough sun when it was still in the store (this strawberry was already in progress when I bought the plant).

I'm really hoping that the next couple of berries taste better. If not, I might tear the plant out and start over again with something less disappointing!

Veggie Garden!

Ever since my dad and I built our redwood planter, I have been itching to fill it up with something fun. This weekend, I finally had my chance!

I realize it's a little late in the season to plant a vegetable garden, but I am hoping our mild California weather will trick the plants into thinking it's still spring time.

I planted seeds for lettuce, scallions, bush beans, and zucchini, which were all part of an "easy to grow" farmer's seed kit. Not willing to trust my future salads to my notorious brown thumb, I also planted a few things that had already been started - basil, strawberries, beefsteak tomatoes, and dill.

All of these plants required "semi-moist" soil (how can you judge if something is "semi-moist"??), but the rosemary plant I had required "arid" soil, so I planted that in a separate pot. I am sincerely hoping that "arid" means I can forget to water it, and it'll grow anyway.