This is not my cabbage.
(How's that for an intriguing first sentence? Not quite "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again," but not terrible.)
Yes, I did buy some similar cabbages for our front-porch flower pot and they are also looking quite colorful. But some slugs or snails have gotten into them so they're a bit nibbled. This one is in a garden down the street.
I've had a busy couple of days! I don't officially go back to work until this coming Monday, but this week I've gone in three days to get things organized. Wednesday was a wash-out because I walked to work only to find the entire building dark -- apparently the power was cut for some maintenance work. So I just walked home again.
But yesterday I got the re-shelving done, as well as some paperwork that required a printer, and I am glad to have all that off my back. Now I'm ready for a fresh start on Monday!
I took the ornaments off our Christmas avocado and put them all away. But I've left up the lights for now, because they give a nice glow in the dark early mornings when I'm sitting on the couch working on my blog.
I'm not sure about that avocado tree. It seems to be suffering indoors more than usual. It's lost quite a few leaves. Assuming it survives to be moved outdoors again, I think we may just leave it out next winter and let nature take its course. We can't move it to a bigger pot (it's already maxed out the space we have) and I'm sure it's root-bound and unhappy.
What does one do with houseplants when they get too big? This is a question we're facing with several of ours. We've pruned them, we've moved them to the most spacious areas we have, and they're still scraping the ceiling. (And our ceilings are high!) Maybe I should Freecycle them. Someone with a big greenhouse could probably keep them going.
I finished Naomi Klein's book "Doppelganger," which I enjoyed, but it was a bit of a challenge. It's very wide-ranging, talking about issues including climate change, autism, Covid vaccines, Israel and Palestine -- all subjects that are controversial and given alternative explanations and narratives in the "mirror world," as Klein calls the conspiracy sphere. She makes the point that conspiracists like her doppelganger, the "other Naomi" (Wolf), are right to question the state of the world, which really does erect barriers that cause suffering -- but Klein (rightly, I think) blames capitalistic exploitation as the primary culprit.
It's like I've said in the past -- Q-Anon believers and other right-wing conspiracists are not entirely incorrect. Their grievances about power and the flow of resources, and about economic oppression through debt and the actions of detached billionaires, are legitimate. Where they go wrong is who they blame -- immigrants, minorities, the LGBTQ community -- and in focusing on bogeymen like 5G, drag queen story hour and vaccines. They've allowed themselves to be distracted so they don't insist on better unions, better working and living conditions and a more equitable distribution of capital. And the powerful like it that way.
On my walk home, I encountered this woman standing outside Sainsbury's. I wonder why she felt the need to advertise her method of education? Very curious.
Large plants are very expensive. Realtor offices seem fond of them also nurseries like nunhead gardener might want them. Tricky to shift, a nursery may have a van.
ReplyDeleteSteiner grad , a bit of a cultish vibe?
We had a palm tree that was touching the ceiling, so I reduced the height by cutting the bottom off the root. It worked, but when I did it again 2 or 3 years later it killed it. Pity as I was hoping to make my fortune out of a global capitalist houseplant trimming franchise.
ReplyDeleteI have a lemon tree that I started from a seed over 50 yeaars ago and for years I would put it out every Summer and have to prune it back in the Fall when I brought it in. Two years ago it was so huge that I cut it off at about a foot of trunk. I now have a decent size plant which should stay that way for a few more years.
ReplyDeleteCheers Peter
I've rootpruned my ficus a couple of times to keep it healthy and in the same pot. But it's tall so in the spring it's going to a new home in the library. They'll arrange transport.
ReplyDeleteYes, freecycle the houseplants. We had great success this way and even made new friends.
ReplyDeleteDuring the covid lockdown period I lost an old friend who came up with various weird conspiracies, mainly the one about the vaccine stealing our DNA, which is probably the most bizarre one out there. Another friend who is a serious Steiner school advocate got herself baptised in the so-called Christian Community, a sect that follows some weird rules forked out by Rudolf Steiner incl some openly racist and sexist tenets. She then decided that I was somewhat unclean and has blocked me from her contacts.
You win some, you lose some.
Giving away plants always works well for me. Could your school library consider taking your large tree? One year I had to many plants in my flower border and I emailed several friends letting them know I had free plants. I was able to arrange for several people to come to my garden with their shovels and work with me to dig and pot plants for their taking. I was happy to thin out my garden space and friends were thrilled to take home free plants.
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose that the woman could be making an ironic statement? I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteI also have no idea what you should do with your avocado tree. But why not just start another one now in case you do decide to get rid of the one you have?
I'm not so great with plants so they don't often get that big! Can't you prune it shorter? I Googled that and here is what it says,
ReplyDelete"How do you keep an avocado tree short?
To reduce the height of a tree, cut out the tallest branch one year, the next tallest branch the following year, and so on until the tree is down to the height you want it to be. The process may take three to four years."
I'm having the same problem with two of my houseplants, both ficus, ficuses? Not sure. A fiddle leaf ficus and a rubber tree plant. Makes me sad to have to let them go though.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the woman in the last photo blames her Steiner education, or loves or Steiner education, or just wants to talk about it.
I found this yesterday on Wikipedia and thought you might enjoy it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secessio_plebis#:~:text=Secessio%20plebis%20(withdrawal%20of%20the,the%20patrician%20order%20to%20themselves.
I don't know if it works for every plant, but my MIL will prune large root bound plants, both above the soil line and below. By thinning out the roots, they will slow down growth and won't need so much water or nutrients. Thinning out the top will help that as well.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with people like Q-Anon who believe in all these conspiracy theories is that they can't be rationalized like you are trying to do. They are simply crazy and no amount of rationalization will ever make them understandable to the rest of us.
We had an Elephant Ear plant in Miami that we brought to South Carolina and pout in the sunroom. Before we knew it, it was over eight feet tall and probably just as wide rendering have the sunroom unusable.
ReplyDeleteI told Carlos that either we name it Audrey and start feeding it people, or move it outside.
It lasted a while out there until we had one very cold winter ...
curious ensemble on tht woman with her leopard print hat.
ReplyDeleteI'd plant the avocado in the ground rather than leaving it in the pot if you're going to leave it outside. it may survive, it may freeze back but it may also come back. not knowing what the other plants are, I can't help you there.
are you that bored that you go into work and work without getting paid?
Klein seems to be able to cut out all distractions and get to what is.
ReplyDeleteI'm the last person to give plant advice. I'll leave that to the others. I'm not sure what a Steiner school is so I can't comment on the woman other than: what is she doing outdoors in the winter with no coat on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that misplaced Blame and Misinformation have caused a lot of the divisiveness and projection of anger upon those who really haven't caused what the angry and disenfranchised are so irate about. The real culprits control the spin and are adept at manipulation, I always say follow the Money and you will find the Source. As for Plants, I used to have such a Green Thumb and now struggle to keep my Houseplants alive, so, can't be very Helpful.
ReplyDeleteI have never in my life gotten an avocado to grow. Actually, I don't think I've gotten anything to grow. Your thumb is amazingly green.
ReplyDeleteGoogled Steiner, turns out it is essentially what Waldorf schools are based on. We were friends with a young couple that sent their two kids to a Waldorf school until they determined that neither of them could read, so there's that.
ReplyDeleteYour "Steiner student" looks like what are known over here as Walmart shoppers. With her collection of various and sundry attire, one can't help wondering if she "needs help".
ReplyDeleteIf you're thinking of leaving the avocado outside next winter anyway, do you think it would be worth the effort to put it into the ground? Do you even have a space you'd want to do that? I had an aloe vera that got so big that I finally just left it outside one winter. (it died) I'd run out of folks I could share it with and I couldn't move it to any bigger pot and still bring it inside.
ReplyDeleteThe mixing of upper and lower cases on the tee shirt does not show Steiner Schools in a good way.
ReplyDeleteI don't do indoor plants although my cyclamen are thriving outside, as long as I pull them into the garage on cold nights. It's supposed to get super cold next week (teens and twenties) so we'll see what happens. Q Anon types get such validation and satisfaction out of their crazy theories that logic and rational thoughts don't seem to make any difference. Terrifying.
ReplyDeleteOh I like the idea of taking it to your school! Maybe even the library. Perhaps he has literar- tree aspirations!
ReplyDeleteFreecycling the avocado is a great idea or you coiuld offer it to a nearby community garden if there is such a thing in your area.
ReplyDeleteThe "cabbage" is an ornamental kale, my mum had a whole bed of them in her garden.
I might have to google Steiner School -- I have no idea what that means. Pity about the avocado. I'm glad you're leaving lights up. I need to figure how to leave up lights for a longer time because they are so cheery in our gloomy Michigan winters!
ReplyDelete