The garden state

Well, a week being gone and some if not most of the veggies were just destroyed by pests and insects!! The butter lettuce, gone. Absolutely obliterated. Basil, non-existent. Kale, goodbye. Cilantro is doing okay, but needed some TLC. The peas were half eaten, some are surviving but it's not looking too good! So sad!! The only thriving plants are basically the tomatoes. Lesson learned about this......there is no such thing as organic planting. One cannot grow veggies without using some form of pesticides or pest control :(

(At least my tomatoes are thriving, if nothing else)

In other news, of course I've been enjoying my grandma's company while she is here in the States, as well as her home cooking. She's the best cook ever! I love everything she makes, including her world famous (just kidding) Potato Salad, which the Man loves as well, her Kinpira Gobo (burdock roots and carrots) and Shirae (tofu mixed with spinach and sweet miso). All my favorites!

(Chikuwa brought from Japan!)

The Man also finally finished (well almost) his work table project, which we started in February. It came together quite nicely but it's heavy and sturdy as heck. It took both of us to flip this table over.

My grandma loves organizing and one of her things is cleaning up the unwanted weeds and growing plants. She basically took off all the fern on the shared fence so the tomato plants could get better sunlight.

We also planted more basil since the original ones got all eaten up. I also brought back some Shiso seeds from Japan which we also planted. Hope they come out well this time!

Green thumbing it,
The Lady

The Man in Germany, Lady in LA

So the Man's been gone on a business trip to Germany all week, but comes home today! Yay! A week long trip for work in Frankfurt, Germany. I admit, I am a little jealous. I love travelling and any excuse to do so, I'm game! Wish I could've joined him but he was mostly working the whole time.

As for the Lady back in LA, it was pretty uneventful. My veggie garden has been growing tremendously, making great strides! So lame but this is super exciting for me. Who knew gardening could be such joy! This must be how people feel playing Farmville, except with real life Farmville, you get to eat your veggies once they grow!!

(Peas!)

(Peas!)

(Butter lettuce)

(Cilantro, was worried about these guys because they were late boomers, but
they've finally sprouted!)

(Kale)

(Can't wait... Basil! Pesto all summer!)

(First bud on the tomato plant!)

(The Lady's humble garden)

(This little guy's been keeping me company all week. Little P actually let me pet him this week).

Excited the Man is back,
The Lady