Science experiment: The Magic Continues!

Before I say anything else, Happy (belated) birthday to my beloved sister Andrea whose birthday was this past Monday (I know, I know... I'm still getting used to these scheduled posts) and also my awesome brother-in-law Cal who celebrated Friday!  Apparently January is the month for middle children :)  Hope it was lovely!

"Smiley Riley"

So you may or may not remember the succulent experiment.  Well, it is ongoing.  To refresh your memory, here is where we started out:

Pretty cute.  Approximately 7.5 months later (those pictures were taken from a post on May 28, 2013), here is where we're at today:

I have to be honest, I thought they would grow a bit faster.... but all in all, success!  The most prolific plant has been the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi (that tall one at the end):

But some of the Echeveria have been doing pretty well too, particularly these ones in a separate pot:

Have I mentioned I love my new camera?  Oh, I did?  I love my new camera

There are a few others with varying degrees of growth.  Interestingly, the leaf from which they sprouted is still plump on the separate pot Echeveria which has less drainage and more moisture, which makes me think that watering the plants more may be the way to stimulate better growth on the others.

Echeveria with a Kalanchoe sprout

Two Echeveria

As a side observation, my Crassula perforata in my kitchen window have doing something interesting.  Here's a view of the kitchen window situation (it's a bit of a situation... I have some cleaning up to do):

Here's a view of the succulent pot I planted on my own:

Bit of a mess.  And the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi grew a karate-kicking side root for some reason

And the Crassula perforata grew up under a pot on the second rack, causing them to bend sideways...  And sprout roots?

How weird!  I wonder what made them think they had ground underneath.  Was it the fact they were sideways?  The fact that there was a rack below them that they could somehow feel?  The fact that because they were under something else there was less light from above? 

And how interesting that it could sprout roots while still continuous with the rest of a long piece of plant.  Peppermint and strawberries too can put down roots distant from the original plant base (runners or "stolons") to the degree that they can be very invasive (here is even a whole how-to on destroying invasive strawberries) ... something similar?  Well, I couldn't find too much information on my plant, but I did find at least one source stating that when certain types of Crassulae grow a bit, they can sprout roots from the stem which one should "consider putting in soil" (reference the Crassula "baby necklace").

Pretty fascinating.  That pot is getting a bit unruly anyway.  I definitely will be trimming down some of the stalks and making attempts at repropagation. 

If this experiment has taught me anything, it's that anyone can repropagate succulents!  It's easy!

While we're on the topic of discovery, I would like to share something I discovered this week with you:  Pickle of the month club with "indie" small producers by Mouth

Coming up with this as a Christmas present was one of my finer moments.  But even better is the fact that these pickles are really awesomely delicious (coming from the non-pickle fanatic in the relationship)!

3-4 jars per month. This month: dill spears, sweet pickles, spicy pickles, and pickled green beans. Perfect mix!

So I share this with you because it is a tried and tested gift idea.  You're welcome.  This is how you make pickles:

And here is the happy result:

Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome week!  To get a headstart, I invite you to play this song and bad-dance around your kitchen.  I will now too, so we can do it together.  Ciao!

And when I am sad, I eat cake...

So this past week, we found out that our landlord is selling our townhouse that we have been living in for the last two years.  Kindly, he offered to let us have first bid on the place, but given that we anticipate wanting a bigger place pretty soon, we declined.  

So we gotta move!  

This is sad for a few reasons:
1. We have to move.  I hate moving.  More accurately, I hate packing and unpacking.  It's the worst.
2.  We have to move out of this place, which I so treacherously scoured the internet 2 years ago to find, with such glory when we did find this place, in Santa Monica with the biggest, nicest patio I had seen in a rental property.  I now consider anything less in outdoor space unlivable.
3.  Because we are moving soon and may or may not have a place to put all my plants, I can't buy any plants or plant any plants in good conscience, until we're settled.  

And of course, it's hard to uproot what's growing...

So while I've been handicapped in the gardening front, I have been baking.  3 cakes/loafs/breads in the last week, in fact.  Here's a couple:

Cranberry-orange-hazelnut loaf

As a side note, this is what cranberries look like on the inside:

Fascinating

Mocha bread

This actually collapsed 10 minutes after taking this picture because it apparently was not fully cooked, but I will not post a picture of that sadness.

Anyway, obviously, this is not the end of the world and I'm trying to see all of this business from the positive angle, because you know, happiness and optimism and all that:
1. We could save money
2. Ending up in a not as nice place might actually motivate us to become grown-ups and buy a place
3. Who knows, we could end up with a nicer place (oh la la)

Plus, how can I really complain?  Santa Monica is so lovely.  Here's some photos from my grocery trip detour today:

I love you Santa Monica

As an aside, to continue on the note of happiness in 2014, I’ve noticed I do a lot of whining.  This apartment business is a good example.  And while I am in no way comparing my mini-inconveniences to the back-story of these inspiring people (I mean this as a total aside), this week, there are two pretty awesome people that I learned about.  

The first is Jiro Ono, subject of Jiro Dreams of Sushi and now 86 or 87 year old chef at the 3-star Michelin sushi restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo.  Here's a link to the trailer of the documentary which was quite excellent (I just watched it again and I am so hungry now).

Here is a quote that gives at the beginning of the movie:

"Once you decide on your occupation... you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of success... and is the key to being regarded honorably."

As a side note, Jiro's beginnings are humble -- he was kicked out of the house at age 9.  In his youth, he started making sushi, and never looked back, still aspiring to be better (even though he is considered by many to be the best).

And the second is Aimee Mullins, athlete, model, actress, speaker of this TED talk and this TED talk and... bilateral amputee.  She has transformed her disability into, for her, potential ("I don't feel disabled").  She's amazing.

I read about this and wonder about my own potential if I just change my way of thinking.  What could I achieve in my field?  What expertise could I build outside of work if I just put my mind to it?  What if I just spent a little less time on the internet and in front of the TV!

It's just a thought :)

I know the last two weeks have been a little hodge-podgy.  Less gardening.  More feelings.  (Yes, I am made of "billions of cells and millions of feelings", thank you Mindy).  Not enough plants.  In the upcoming months, there might be more general gardening and plants, more food (after all, gardening is so intricately linked with cooking!), and the like because I won't be getting as much dirt under my fingernails.  But for next week at least, I plan to talk straight plants again.  Here's a preview...

Baby succulents!

Until then, Let the Sunshine In!  (Unless you're somewhere cold, then maybe turn on a heat lamp... or come visit me!)

On Happiness...

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

I do.

And why do we?  Isn't it because want to be happier and better, and by being better, happier?  I've been thinking about happiness recently, for whatever reason...  maybe because I am 30 and when you're 30, all of a sudden, it seems like maybe life isn't as long as you thought it was and you better get a move on things if you're going to make anything of it all.  Or maybe it's because I am thinking about the changes on the horizon at work and at home.  Or maybe because everywhere I look, there are resolutions promising a better me:  "New Year, New Butt!" was my favorite (and I will admit, with that advertisement, I almost bought a class package to Pop Physique despite already having a gym membership).

So how do we go about obtaining happiness? 

Well, I haven't found the answer, but like I said I have thought about this quite a bit recently, so here's what's out there:

There is a good chance that you've seen one of the various articles about the top 5 regrets of the dying:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Or maybe you've seen the TED talk about how getting what we want is not what makes us happier.  (Instead, as this TED talk explains, we are capable of and do synthesize happiness based on what we end up with in life, some better than others).

They've even made a whole documentary about the topic of happiness.  (Here is the link.  It is available on Netflix and it was quite good).

All of these things have the same conclusion:  that extrinsic things such as money, prestige, and image are not ultimately what make us happy.  Instead, things we can do to specifically "grow happiness" include new experiences, "flow" via play or even in work, physical exercise, gratitude, acts of kindness, and meditating on love and compassion.

Despite the fact that we all know this deep inside, it seems like most of us still spend most of our time chasing and working to build that extrinsic stack, myself included.  That's the first part of why I am sharing these thoughts with you...  it's a New Year and we all want to be happy.

So here's my New Year's Resolutions for this year:
1. Exercise at least 3x per week on average:  I think given that I am a doctor, I can at least follow the medical advice we give others on exercise.
2. Cook at least 3x per month:  health and personal education, what more can I say?

Product of my resolution last week.  Given that I rarely cook, I am quite proud.

3. Most importantly, learn to rest:  This was inspired by a sermon by my pastor on "honoring the Sabbath".  It was excellent and you can download it here ("The Fourth Word").  The thing that stuck with me was that the reason to have a "Sabbath" day of rest is so that we learn that our self-worth is not in what we achieve (but instead in God).

I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GARDENING BLOG!!

Yes, yes it is.  Which brings me to the second reason I share these thoughts...

A short argument for gardening:

A recent poll in the UK discovered that 80% of gardeners felt satisfied with their lives, compared to 67% of non-gardeners (and 55% of people who did not have any hobby).  Also, gardeners were less likely to have symptoms of depression compared to others.  

I will admit that polls are not terribly scientific.  So how's this for science: a published study shows that contact with a bacteria in soil Mycobacterium vaccae through the skin or respiratory system causes a release of serotonin (which is responsible for mood and learning).  Also, feeding this bacteria to mice made them more capable at learning mazes.  Sound gross?  Take from that what you will.

My personal argument is that gardening constantly exposes you to new experiences, provides a chance to stop paying attention to the noise from the rest of the world (some call it meditative), brings you outside into the sunlight (also associated with happiness), and the work you put in is directly related to the reward -- you reap what you sow, in the best way.  In essence, it is a chance to rest, which we all need.

So in summary, let's let ourselves be happier.  Even if we're busy, even if gardening is not your thing, I encourage you to find your flower somewhere... whether's it's cooking, writing, exercise, rock-climbing, surfing, or just stopping to smell the roses every once in awhile.

Happy 2014 to us!

Click for source

Poor Poinsettia

These poor plants get no love.  Everyone loves them for a brief few week period during the holidays and then they get dumped thanklessly into the trash along with their red and green foiled plastic pots.

Well, poinsettias, I think you're beautiful...  here's your moment on O Garden, My Garden!

I love the rich color of red poinsettias

6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Poinsettias

1.  They're from Mexico, introduced to the US in 1825 by Mr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US Minister to Mexico.
2.  They can grow upwards of 10 feet tall.
3.  The red/pink/white "flowers" are actually groups of specialized leaves, called "bracts."
4.  Poinsettias are not really poisonous.  The sap can be irritating and, if you eat the leaves, may cause some gastrointestinal upset, but it won't kill you.  (That belief came from an urban legend).
5.  If you plant a poinsettia outside in LA, it might not turn red...  Poinsettias need 12 hours of pure darkness per night starting in the fall to get that beautiful red color.  Even street lights may inhibit the color!
6.  Poinsettias come from a big diverse family, or more exactly, genus, called Euphorbia.  Here are some it's cousins:

Euphorbia tirucalli

Euphorbia amygdaloides

Euphorbia heterophylla

(These are the sources for the Euphorbia pictures, here, here, and here, and poinsettia info gleaned largely from wikipedia, thank you sir).  The last cousin was most surprising to me because those plants are all over the succulent type sidewalk gardens in Santa Monica.  Do you see the resemblance to our little Poinsettia, otherwise known as Euphorbia pulcherrima?  (Hint, it appears that they all have bracts...)

Those tiny things in the middle are the actual flowers, past their peak in this photo

So how does one go about keeping it alive and reblooming?  A few tips:

• Only water when the top two inches of soil are dry
• Despite it being a "Christmas flower", they like the sun and do not like the cold -- if you live somewhere frosty, you may be out of luck!
• Starting in September or October, they need 12 hours minimum of darkness per night.
• Once the colorful bracts appear, fertilize every 2 weeks with high nitrogen fertilizer

Good luck!

Like blood vessels.  Beautiful and it appeals to the doctor in me...

That said, I have a confession to make.  Why all the close-ups again this week?  Well first, as aforementioned when I got my camera, I have a soft spot for macro shots of flowers.  There is just so much to see.  But the other reason is that my own poinsettia, after two weeks of Christmas-time party, looks like this:

yikes

While I sympathize with their one-hit-wonder plight, my poinsettia will also be going in the trash.  (I'm sorry!  So many plants, so little space!  You don't match!).  Until next year, friend.

Today, I leave with you a beautiful and slightly sad song.  Here it is.  I love guitars.  Happy New Year, friends!