If you stumbled among this site, "Evelyn’s Twigs, Thyme and Stranger Things Gardens" is a collection of journal entries that I have kept on my computer for years, and have now decided to post. The journal contains my successes and failures with my favorite selections of plants. I'm talking about more than 50 years of caring for and living with green things. Not everything is here. More of it is learned and store in my head. However, here I will share facts about each plants, my research, as well as my personal and gathered tips on their care.
I was not planning to post my houseplant and backyard journals online, so editing them for errors was not a priority to me. This being the case, perhaps, one day I will correct all the spelling and grammar errors in both of them. We would not want people to think I did not know better, when I was only being lazy. Again, no apologizes. It is what it is for now.
This evening I am posting some photos of the growth of the lettuce,
chives and scallions growing in the three repurposed countertop pod boxes since
I added the 1.4” T8 light tubes and the cardboard to panels to separate them. Added
to the fact that I also gave the plants fresh water and more nutrients, I believe
that I have perfected my countertop grow light center. Although still young,
each of the vegetables has grown well in less than a week.
Parris Island Romaine Lettuce
Front: Broadleaf Chive . Rear: “Lillia” Red Bunching
Onion
As the above title states this is an update off the progress of the plants growing under my DIY Grow light center and using repurposed countertop pod boxes.
The remains of old previous lettuce plants have all been cleaned and are ready to be eaten, and theses new plants are growing well.
These scallions and broad-leaf chives have yet to reach their maturity, but I have chipped them a couple times to make egg omelets for breakfast. Added them into the egg mixture with a little salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne pepper with a side of bacon, toast and fruit side, and you have a great yummy meal.
These are the older tomatoes that moved from a countertop hydroponic in the house, because I wanted to seed some new ones. I didn't think they survive the transplant but they are well.
Before the transplant
The above Roma tomato plant is the one I stated in a hydroponic system; it had growing so fast and tall that I transplants in this pot. I did,n't think it would live, but it did, so I might repeat the process with several more seeds and then after they germinates plant them all in a larger pot.
The long view of the pods. I put cardboard between them because the larger plants, the lettuce and the tomatoes plants were crowding out the scallions and chives. In addition to the card board, I added a couple of 1.4ft T8 led grow lights; because I discovered that when I raised the 4ft T8 center lights, the seedlings below had less light to grow. By adding the 1.4ft lights on to the pipe at its original 7inch height, the seedlings have enough light to continue to grow healthy. In addition, you can see that the blackout curtains are closed. This is due to the fact that one afternoon this Florida heatwave had the sunroom's temperature at 97 degrees. I am now keeping the the curtains closed with the portable ac running at 75 degrees and two oscillating fans running at opposites ends of the run. The sunroom door also kept open. Doing all this stabilizes the sunroom's temperature at 80 to 82 degrees by 4PM each day. So farm the plants love it.
This Polka Dot plant was one of many gifts given to workers where my husband works. It happened to be a special event day a month ago. This Polka Dot plant started out 3 to 4 inches tall in a 4 inch pot, but I re-potted two days ago, because it has grown so fast just sitting beside DIY Grow light center.
One finally photo. I brought in my Rose Of Sharon plant and placed behind the fountain of Malawi and
Kamuzu.
I spent plenty of time early this
morning, and most of the afternoon, picking, cleaning and packing up greens for
the remainder of this year. The five 2.5 gallon zip lock bags pictured below
are four Glaze Gen Collard Greens, and one of mustard greens. Add these to the
half dozen or so bags already in the freezer, and we are covered with greens
from now and throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Since
there is only my husband and me here, the greens should last because I only
cook about a three-quart size sauce pan worth, or what would equal a 27 ounce can
of store bought greens.
Now that the two hydroponic tower
systems are free and clean, they are ready for a whole new variety of
vegetables. However, I will include some turnip greens as well, because we like
them mixed with mustard greens and sliced turnip bulbs.
50-pod hydroponic tower system
30-pod hydroponic tower system
I also picked the last of the Parris Island Romaine
Lettuce and after cleaning the three countertop pod-boxes, I seeded more of
them in one box. The broad leaf chive and scallions in the middle box are
coming along slowly and will probably be months before they mature, and at this
point I am undecided on what to grow in the third box. They are limp because I removed them from the pod box so that it could be cleaned. However, they straighten up in time time.
I am completely done with cucumbers and Roma
tomatoes. I have no luck with them at all, so I will not waste any more
resources on trying to grow them.
That's right, the names Malawi and
Kamuzu are now the official names for the mother and daughter statue in my
sunroom. I love them so much that l had a special nameplate made for them, so
when anyone sees them, they would know who they are to me.
While I was looking through my seed container for another seed pack, I came
across a pack of Roma VF American seeds nearly two years old. I bought these seeds
when my gardening interested centered on growing outdoor container plants.
Whether it was my planting skills, or a third hand at work, the plants
did not thrive. However, now that I have become an indoor gardener, growing and caring for soil based potted houseplants and water based ones in my hydroponic systems, I am also learning that there is possibility of more choices in what I can grow as well, so when I found these Roma seeds, I decided to experiment and give them a
try in one of my countertop hydroponic system, regardless of the seeds age.
Roma VF Tomatoes are semi-determinate in their growth habit - In beans, this is commonly
referred to a "half-runner" type beans. Plants with this growth habit
are usually short, compact bushes and meet the main definition of beingdeterminate, but along with producing a
primary main crop, they will usually produce short runners and depending on the
location, additional fruit.
That was on April 04, 2026 and today I am happy to share the fact that the seeds are still good and like
their smaller cousins, the cherry tomatoes, they have germinated into
healthy sprouts. See photos below.
This is a good start for these tomato sprouts, and I will be charting and posting their progress out their growth cycle.
So, stay tuned.
P.S. I have also seeded a
couple more California Wonder Pepper seeds, and in the strainer are K2 Tomatoes that were picked for tonight's salad. In addition, the Parris Romaine Lettuce plants have doubled in size since I raised the middle light bars.
This may have happened to you, but for those just starting out with
hydroponic tower systems, this is an article you should read.
In the photo below is a bundle of two-foot long roots from from the collard and mustard greens I have been growing for half a year.
Why is this article focus on them? They are just roots, right?
Yes,
they are very long and healthy roots, but herein is the problem. These roots are
so large and aggressive that they can kill the entire plant by wrapping
themselves around the water pump, which supplies the upward flow of water
to all the plants in the tower, and the aerator pump, which oxygenates the water.
Twice I have had to cut these aggressive roots away, and you should too before they kill the plants. Cutting them will not kill the plants. However, what cutting the roots does do is encourage the plants to produce more greens.
So, don't freak out when you find large roots that are mummy wrapping the water and air pumps (essentially shutting off everything vital to the plants continual growth) for themselves.
Just nip, nip, and you will prolong the life of your plants
Because the lettuce plants have grown so tall that they grew up and around the 7 inch height area of the light tubes, I raised the center light tubes on the homemade hydroponic light center that I created last month. While the plants has already grown enough to supply us with two salads and topping for
sandwiches, they are still quite young and will grow fuller and taller in
time. At the same time though, some of the onions and chives plants are growing; however, they
look weak and thin. Even so, they are said to mature in 85 to 90 days.
Perhaps by then they will look like the effort of planing and nurturing the seeds.
This bottom photo is of a small planter of grass for cats. It is super easy to grow and Sam (our cat) loves it. I am happy with it too because this Cat Grss Plus stops Sam from chewing on my other plants and then voniting. The sense of the grass draws him to it like magnet, and he eats some each morning without vomiting. He has already learned that he can eat without being shouted at.
Cat Grss Plus controls hairballs, has wheat that acts an anti-inflammatory, and improves cats digestion and metabsm systems.
Some of you might be wondering why I chose the African
city of Malawi as the name for the mother on the statue of the “Global Mother
and Child Fountain” in my sunroom, (Sunroom
Complete … Maybe). Some years ago, while attending mass, I was given a
missionary card of the statue that was used as a dedication for the consecration
of Malawi to the Mother of God by Catholic Missionaries in 1901, Pope John Paul
II in 1989 and again by the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2024.
I have always liked the name Malawi as well as the
sound of it, and I thought back then that if I were still of the childbearing
age, I would have named a daughter (a second daughter) after the city; but,
alas, that never came to pass.
Below is a scanned of that missionary card and its
inscription, it is quite old and a little hard to see from being in my wallet
for so many years. However, I found another image of it online as well as the
website of its historical origins.
FRONT OF CARD
BACK OF CARD
The scription: Question: "Who consecrated Malawi to The Mother of God?" Andswer: Catholic Missionaries and Pope John Paul II?
Spring is here, so my attention to the plants on the sunroom
must increase. Because with the sunroom surrounded by windows on three sides
the sun floods it at least 10 hours a day. While the artificial lights used to
supplement the natural sunlight are cool lights, it might be 85O F
outside on any given summer day, the temperature in the sunroom can easily be
95o F plus. This direct sunlight for so long makes the room, blazing
hot, so an air conditioner, frequent watering, adequate ventilation with fresh
air, as well as a humidifier for moisture is necessary to maintain the room
between 70o F and 75o F.
However, more than this, constant attention must be paid to
the plants health, whether their leaves feel dry, the feeder bottles are full
(wholesale wine bottles held in by terracotta clay cones) or preventing insect
infection, the spring and the summer months are the most care giving months for
any sunroom
I found that my decades of knowledge in caring for houseplants
very helpful when I transition my plants from the living room to the sunroom
last summer, so I only needed to learn all there was to know about sunrooms,
like how to adjust the artificial lights so to compliment the natural sunlight,
when to ventilate the room with fresh air and maintain the right temperature
and humidity, and what other plants I could grow in the sunroom, like using my
hydroponic systems to grow vegetables to supplement those Ibuy at the store, and the results so far has
been rewarding.
My sunroom is not only a place that allows me to be
creative, it is a working space for growing and caring for plants, and its cool
pastel colors are pleasing to look upon while I sit sipping from a nice cup of
tea.
In closing this article I have attached a new video of how
the sunroom looks today. In it is my new fountain of a mother and her daughter filling
water jugs. There is quite a beautiful representation of the motherland, Africa,
from centuries ago.
I chose to name the mother
and daughter filling water jugs. I named the mother, Malawi, for the Malawian African
Catholic city of the same name, and meaning, “The Lake", and her daughter, Kamuzu
meaning "Little Root".
Last night, I upgraded my DIY T8 LED light center by added
two additional light tubes as pictured below. These additional lights are
illuminating the shadow areas on the three grow planters. However, even without
them the seeds are spouting.
These additional light tubes can also be raised as needed.
Although from this photo the additional lights looks a couple inches apart in height from the center lights. they are really ten inches higher.
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