Big plans - small plants

These are soon ex-plants.

Big things are comming up in my indoor garden. I'm about to replant seedlings for the first time. Yepp, that's right; I've been growing stuff ever since I was a kid, and I've never replanted seedlings before. I have vague recollections of trying it out and failing misserably, and ever since the attitude of 'this is to complicated and troublesome' has stuck in my mind.

That attitude drives me crazy in others, so why should I save it for my self? I've decided to replant the purslanes when they are big enough. And they start to reach that stage now. I'm nervous...

Another thing I've realised is that I need to (*gasp*) throw away some plants. That christmas group that I've managed to keep alive, as well as the ponytail palm my grandmother gave me when I was ten has to go. They occupy valuable space, and are not eatable.

Adding to that is my behaviour ever since I read the instructions on how to grow potatoes in buckets. I'm walking around, eyeing empty floor spots trying to establish if I can squeeze in 14 potato buckets in this flat. Potatoes takes about 14 weeks to mature, see, and with 14 buckets I can sow and harvest a bucket a week. Sometimes I really don't know if I'm crazy or a genius....

What's in a name...

In my dreams...
This image is called "magical enchanted indoor forest", and the photografer is Russel Bernice
You find more of his photos here.

In Swedish this blog is called ”Parquet flooring gardener” an allusion to an old swedish urban legend. Perhaps it's international too? You may have heard it. A friend to a friend of yours have told you that some immigrants break the parquet flooring to grow potatos beneath. She or he have seen it for herself when she worked as a locksmith, changing looks in the appartement, or when she picked up her kid who was playing with the kids in the family.

You haven't? In one way I would be glad if this old misconception was forgotten. It's older than the first big swedish influxes of immigrants (from Greece and Turkey in the sixties and seventies). I'm not really sure when this rumour started, but I know it was first told about peasant families who moved into town to work in the factories. Judging from this and the evolution of different building techniques I would say it's from the beginning of the twentieth century.

It is actually possible to grow potatos beneath the parquet flooring in some buildings. I used to live in one. The floor was supported by a network of bolders, and to get a completely smooth surface, the spaces between the bolders was filled with sand. Sand is an excellent growing media for potatos, just add some water and fertilizer and the bulbs will grow like crazy.

Nowadays I guess that most swedish condominiums are built like the one I live in now. The parquet flooring is placed directly on a concrete suface and that's that. In other words: I can't even try... or, wait a minute! We bought a drill hammer not long ago... Hm....