Kelly's 2016 Apartment Patio Garden

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by TexasTycoon

Dang, and here I thought my third carrot attempt would be the charm. The greens are lush and healthy, at least! Do you have any ideas about why they're so scrawny?

I think it is better to start carrots in the fall here.
Just keep taking care of them and they will reward you after awhile.
If memory serves me they are a biannual.


Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I think it is better to start carrots in the fall here.
Just keep taking care of them and they will reward you after awhile.
If memory serves me they are a biannual.


Worth

I just read through this, I think it gives good info on carrot-growing: http://thecountrybasket.com/how-to-g...tips-pictures/

I think what I'll do this weekend in the morning is thin them out a little bit more (there are a few that are still pretty close together), give them a little bit of liquid fish, and just let them keep growing as long as I can. I'm also gonna pull the pot back from the edge of the patio a bit to keep the temperature a little bit cooler. We'll see what happens!

[TexasTycoon]

Thinned some carrots today to hopefully give a little more room, these will be dog treats. Second picture was my first carrot attempt in 2011 (harvested in June, what was I thinking?)

[TexasTycoon]

Update: I'm afraid to say that the basil and lavender are aphid-free because I don't want to jinx anything, buuuuut I will say that I, personally, have not seen any on them in the past two days!

[TexasTycoon]

Some photos of the garden today!

In order of upload: first baby mater, lavender and basil hopeful spending their last day in quarantine, catnip and marjoram sprouts, pole beans and hollyhocks, bell pepper with lots and lots of buds, thyme and sage, marigold and cosmos seedlings around the base of the Satsuma tree

[TexasTycoon]

This has nothing to do with my garden, but it's my thread, so I can post what I want.

Some of you may know that at the end of March we got into a minor car accident which caused our only car to be towed to a collision center for repairs for two weeks while we drove a rental. Well, we got our car back last Wednesday (the 13th, lucky us) and it seemed to be all fixed - new bumper, new driver's side headlight assembly, new radiator, new grille, and 4 pages more worth of things that were repaired or replaced (and covered by our insurance luckily). Drove it home that night and to/from work Thursday with no issue.

Thursday evening, we went to see a movie (The Jungle Book, it was great and I recommend it), and on the way home the radio started shutting off. The check engine light and battery light turned off as we drove. We made it home with no other issues, but googled the battery light issue and results turned up pointing at a problem with the alternator not charging the battery properly. Because I was worried about getting stranded with a dead car, I didn't go to work Friday.

My husband took the car back to the collision center where the mechanic in charge of our repairs said he couldn't test the issue and advised him to go to AutoZone or O'Reilly's to have the codes checked. My husband reluctantly did so and received a printout which stated "Code P0102 indicates that the Mass or Volume Air Flow sensor electrical circuit input signal had low voltage". The mechanic at the collision center told him the sensor was defunct from typical "wear and tear" (our car has only 40k miles), should be replaces, and that it would not be covered by insurance (the on-site insurance agent said this as well). The mechanic stated that the car was still driveable and should not experience any issues aside from low gas mileage and possible sputtering when accelerating, typical issues for a malfunctioning MAF sensor.

The car made it home fine and stayed put until Saturday afternoon when we drove to downtown Austin for the UT Orange v. White Spring scrimmage. On the way back, the electrical components of the car began to shut off. The radio display completely turned off, the ABS light and airbag light turned on in the dashboard, the windshield wipers slowed (we had a rainy weekend), and the headlights dimmed. We were able to make it home okay. My husband decided to go ahead and by a new MAF sensor and replace it himself. After replacing it, the battery light and check engine light were still on so he decided to drive it to AutoZone as a test drive and to have them check the codes again. He only made it a few hundred yards before the electrical systems again began to flicker and the car completely turned off as it was in motion. He was going uphill on a major highway access road at the time and was nearly rear-ended as he was unabel to even turn on his hazard lights. The car would not turn back on and he ended up pushing it uphill into a nearby business driveway. Luckily a good samaritan noticed him and put his hazards on to clear the lane and help him. He helped jump start the battery and my husband was able to make it back home.

He then took the battery to AutoZone with a friend in their car and they determined the battery was fine with no issues (which makes sense since we just bought that battery in February). As a precaution, though, my husband decided to replace the battery. His friend drove him back home and they installed the new battery. The battery light and check engine light were still lit up on the dash upon startup. He drove the car back to AutoZone to have the codes read again, and it generated the same codes as originally. They also tested the brand new battery and found it was already at only 90%. They attempted to test the alternator but couldn't get a detailed enough summary while it was still attached to the car as it could only be tested through the battery. They just said simply that the battery was not getting a charge and that the battery itself could be ruled out as the issue as it was only purchased 20 minutes prior.

This morning, we took the car back to the collision center, provided copies of all receipts, they set us up with a rental car and said that our car would be taken to the nearest Honda dealership (it's a 2010 Honda Civic) because they would be better equipped to pinpoint the source of the electrical issues.

So I missed a day and a half of work due to a dishonest mechanic who appears to have messed up our electrical system or to not have repaired the car fully in the first place. Hopefully the additional repairs will be covered by our insurance and we will not have to pay another deductible as it is all related.

Just wanted to vent.

[TexasTycoon]

Okay now an actual picture update!

Harvested some lavender to dry today, the other leaves hanging are curry leaves from the Indian grocery from the last time we made curry:



First bloom on our California Wonder bell pepper opened up today:


Our baby tomato is getting bigger, and the plant has reached the top of the cage! Last year's plant towered over the cage, so I know it's gonna get even bigger.


Annnnd the rest:

[Worth1]

Kelly I cannot imagine what it must be like for a young couple these days to be dependent on a mechanic for transportation.
They have made vast improvements on cars but to what end.
It has almost killed the ability for the average person do anything with them anymore.

As for the MAP sensor many times it is just a loose connection or broke wire that causes this.
As for played out and buy a new one many of these expensive sensors can be taken out and cleaned.
I had an old biker friend that owned a car and machine shop and he was as honest as the day was long.
He also owned a gun shop and I was his gunsmith and part time counter guy after my regular job.
He taught me a lot.


Worth

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Kelly I cannot imagine what it must be like for a young couple these days to be dependent on a mechanic for transportation.
They have made vast improvements on cars but to what end.
It has almost killed the ability for the average person do anything with them anymore.

As for the MAP sensor many times it is just a loose connection or broke wire that causes this.
As for played out and buy a new one many of these expensive sensors can be taken out and cleaned.
I had an old biker friend that owned a car and machine shop and he was as honest as the day was long.
He also owned a gun shop and I was his gunsmith and part time counter guy after my regular job.
He taught me a lot.


Worth

What's funny is that the old MAF sensor looked better than the "new" (refurbished) one we bought! I don't think the car's problems have anything to do with that sensor though, it makes no sense for the battery to be draining so quickly because of a sensor. I think the important part of the code readout they got was the "low voltage" part, but the mechanic pointed at the sensor rather than having to admit that he didn't complete his work the day we paid our deductible. Hopefully they figure it out soon, I hate this Jeep Compass they put us in for our rental car lol. Main goal after getting our car back is purchasing a second car, which we've been needing for years since my husband's old '96 Escort wagon bit the dust.

Edited to add: we do have a regular mechanic we like and trust but this is the place the insurance company sent us to. My husband is pretty handy with most things but body work and electrical work in the car is a little beyond his capabilities.

[TexasTycoon]

A few pictures today showing the whole patio, how tall the tomato plant is getting, the baby mater growing fast, catnip putting out some true leaves, and how huge the hollyhock leaves are getting

[TexasTycoon]

L to R in that patio pic above: carrots, jalapeno, satsuma tree with marigolds and cosmos at the base, tomato, cilantro and pole beans in top two copper boxes with basil, catnip, marjoram, lavender, and bell pepper behind them in that order, sage in lamb planter on bottom shelf, hollyhocks in small pot and third copper box on bottom shelf

[TexasTycoon]

First picture is tonight's jalapeno harvest, second is me cracking open the teeny weenie jalapenos we harvested and pickled on January 4th. The pickled jalapenos were good, a good amount of heat but had a little bit of a grassy flavor? It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. Maybe because they were winter peppers? I dunno.

[Worth1]

You need to go to the grew store and get an airlock and ferment some.
Your husband will think you have lost your mind.
Worth

[Gerardo]

What great use of the space. Things looking awesome. Could a Whippersnapper or two hanging w some pretty orbs contribute?

That $ucks about the car. I went through that with an old Focus post collision. Chewed up a bunch of alternators, batteries, sensors, wiring, etc. As soon as I saw the light show I'd know it was time for it to climb onto the platform. I "fixed" it and got rid of it, with full disclosure. Some cars take collisions in stride, others not so much.

I hope they find something wrong that accounts for all of it, and for resolution.

keep the pics coming.

[TexasTycoon]

Originally Posted by Worth1

You need to go to the grew store and get an airlock and ferment some.
Your husband will think you have lost your mind.
Worth

Hahaha we'll see. He's not even a big fan of pickled, well anything, really.