Friday, June 22, 2007

Farewell Bells

So it looks as though our bell peppers are suffering an unbearable heartbreak, scorned by the Riverside sun, shriveling up and dying.

Ryan and I have been trying to save them. We have been talking about them at dinner time the way parents talk about their children who are on drugs or in rehab: What we did wrong, Should we have spend more time with them, Was it too early to have them leave our kitchen sill? Should we have paid more attention to them? And then we had it. Perhaps it was the environment they were raised in.

Seriously. Their environment. Remember the box we had built? Ryan had made a bad crib for our babies. And we'd like to share this mistake so you don't make the same ones.

We bought our wood from Home Depot. We used fencing wood that was pre-treated. Now mind you, the squash is doing fine, the eggplant a little shakey. Then i noticed something. The bell peppers are in the north-east corner of the box. The sun never touches that side. The chemicals in this box had not yet been cured by the sun and the dampness of the soil had seeped into the poor little roots of our precious green bells. And there you have it.




Look to the far left side of the box. Here is the bell peppers as a young happy child. This is when Ryan and I dreamed up all the happy possibilities- salad, sandwich, green curry, etc. Note the healthy leaves and great posture.





Look at the young happy fruit. Ryan and I were on the edges of our chairs, ready to break out the champagne and cigars. Saliva was pumping all thoughout our mouths.






but look. Now the fruit is shriveling and pouchy. The bell is soft and mushy. :(

You can also see the worm holes the catapillars have made on the leaves. This is going to be a hard summer.


Meanwhile on the other side of our garden...





We are planning a cucumber party soon. More details TBA.

<3 <3 <3

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