#In the shade of the growing tree

[da-janela-lateral]

Reigen critically hit by ripe jackfruit. Post.

#I blacked out while drawing and when I woke up this shitpost was fully shaded for some reason #reigen arataka #reigen mp100 #mp100 #mob psycho 100 #mp100 fanart #did you know jackfruit can weigh up to 42 kg. while growing in trees. pretty strange #lalarts

[minecraftbookshelf]

Apparently my most controversial Minecraft Opinion is that there are no ugly blocks and that any block can be pretty in the right context and environment.

#rain rambles #minecraft #minecrafting #acacia is gorgeous on mountainsides #the orange looks so pretty next to the shade of the grass there #as long as you don't overdo it #and the leaves are such a nice shade too #i have several acacia trees growing in my front yart #that i originally grew for wood for sticks #and then they were too pretty to cut down

[anipgarden]

Cheaply Starting Seeds

This is my fourth post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Having a high-quality seed-starting setup can feel like an ultimate but distant dream. An entire shelf--an entire room, even, filled with grow lights and plant trays in the optimal setup to make tons of plants? Tons of garden tools, each with a diverse and dedicated purpose? That’s just not an option for some of us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get started at a low cost!

Seed Starting Set-Ups

Speaking from a somewhat biased Floridian perspective, I’ve had great success starting seeds outside! My usual set-up is on a rarely-used outdoor patio table that’s moved to a sunny spot in the yard, but I’ve even grown seeds in solo cups on sidewalks, or directly in the ground, with great results! 

Some seeds grow best when they go through a cold period before germinating, while other seeds aren’t affected much by it and just wait for warm weather. As such, a viable option is to sow your seeds in late fall, let winter roll by, and wait until the seeds sprout on their own come spring! I would try and mark off where you planted said seeds, so you don’t lose track of them and accidentally dig them up.

Alternatively, if you want to get started while it's cold outside, a popular option I've seen is to grow in milk jugs! There's a lot of different ways to do it--everyone has their preference--but if you're already drinking things like milk or juice or sweet tea, and you're going to get jugs at some point in time--why not use them for gardening?

An easy way to clear up a section of lawn to create open gardening space is by using a sheet mulching or lasagna gardening method (though I like to call it the Cardboard Snuff-Out). Place cardboard or newspaper down in fall/winter to mark out where you want to garden. Layer compostable materials like grass clippings and wood chips on top of it, or potting soil/bagged compost. It’ll decompose over Winter into an organically rich bed that’ll have killed the grass and weeds underneath it. You don’t have to break out any tools and sweat over it come spring, and the cardboard itself will slowly decompose as well!

Though it's often recommended to plant things directly into the ground to decrease watering needs and increase nutritional independence, there’s plenty of reasons you may not be able to. Whether you’re renting, living in a place without a yard, or even just can’t or don’t want to break ground in a yard, you can still help biodiversity by growing in pots. Some plants have rather extensive root systems and aren’t well suited for pots, but there are still plenty of options available for plants that’ll boost biodiversity, be beautiful to look at, and grow just fine in pots! A recommendation is to get a larger pot, if you’re able, as it’ll hold onto more water and need watering less often. Not only are potted plants great for providing food for insects, but they can be shelter for other creatures too--there’s been a good few times I’ve moved a pot and found a frog or toad living underneath it.

If you don’t have room for pots on the ground, you could consider using hanging pots or window boxes! These can be great and easily-maintained options to provide food and habitat for insects and birds in an urban living situation like apartments or townhouses, but they can also be a fun way to add even more habitat to an already-robust home garden. You can even make an entire mini habitat in a window box or pot! I can personally say I’ve seen tons of pollinators visit my yearly hanging basket garden that consists of about five to seven plants, and I’ve always loved the idea of having a window box for blooms right out my window. Just make sure that it’s safe--make sure they’re securely fixed, and that whatever they’re hanging from can handle their weight when they’re freshly watered and loaded with plants. 

If you want to start indoors, you don’t necessarily need grow lights or heat mats (though it will make things a bit easier.) I’ve successfully grown milkweed, peppers, tomatoes, zucchinis, and even sprouted lemon seeds in college dorm rooms, and kept tomato and pepper plants in a dorm room on a sunny windowsill. For the most part, you need a nice and sunny window, some kind of container, and a source of heat (in my case, I used anything from a space heater to the warmth of my laptop running nearby. If you don’t have any sunny windows, or enough windowsill space to start plants on, its possible to obtain cheaper grow lights. One year, my mom bought me some gooseneck grow lights that could clip onto things for cheap off of Amazon. (Fair warning, though, they did light up my entire room in purple. I lived alone that year (covid year, my roomies bailed), so it was fine, but it was kind of trippy,)

Another year, when I was in an apartment on my own, I bought a grow light modeled like a normal light bulb from the lightbulb aisle in Lowe’s and put it in my desk lamp. Growing seeds indoors can make them grow fast and leggy, so it’ll help if you can keep a desk fan on them so they focus on growing strong instead of tall and fast.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a friend with a nice set up, you could see if they’re willing to let you borrow some of their space to start your own plants as well! My set-up in college was by no means High Class, but I was still more than willing to start seeds for my friends who asked!

Containers for Seed Starting

So now that we’ve talked starting seeds indoors and out, we need to address what to start them in. It’s important that whatever you’re using has drainage holes, and be large enough to support your plant (starting something like milkweed or a squash in a tiny little pot won’t yield great results). Fortunately, there are options here!

If you’re looking to buy pots, Dollar Tree will sell some small plastic pots for cheap in the spring! They’re kind of thin, and won’t last forever, but they’re great for a few uses and don’t cost a lot of money. Something that’s a bit more pricey but are longer-lasting, in my experience, are the Burpee SuperSeed trays. They come in different sizes, but I’m fond of the 16-cell trays--they have silicone bottoms and are made of a nice solid plastic with a tray to hold water, so they hold up for a long time and are easy to clean and reuse!

Burpee seed tray, my beloved.

What’s better than a cheap pot? Free ones, and there’s plenty of options there! I’ve seen people use toilet paper or paper towel rolls as pots by folding the bottoms in and have it work well for them! I think this method would work best if you had some kind of tray to keep them moist, because mine dried out fast last time I tried this method. I’ve also seen people make pots out of newspaper with a few different methods, and the people who use this method love it--apparently, the roots pass through the paper easier and it decomposes faster when buried, so you can just transplant the whole pot and avoid any kind of transplanting shock. If you don’t have any newspaper on hand, you can likely ask your friends or neighbors! 

I’ve gotten lots of mileage from reusing old containers by poking a few holes in the bottom with knives or scissors--just be careful while you’re doing it! I, personally, am more likely to use an already-used solo cup for it--they’re a nice size, so they hold a good amount of soil and moisture and give the seedling a good amount of root space. I tend to write the plant information on the side of the cup in sharpie marker, or on an index card in pen. I’ve also heard of people making use of egg cartons, fruit containers, yogurt cups, milk cartons, soda bottles--the more you start thinking about what you could easily poke a hole in, the more options start coming around!

This photo may be from 2018, but I'll still regularly reuse cups like this! They're also great for cuttings!

As you start planning to move your seedlings into the ground and preparing planting sites, you’ll likely need a few tools to do it! How do you get these? You may be able to borrow some tools from a neighbor! As long as you make sure to return them in good condition, depending on how friendly your neighbors are, they might be totally fine with you borrowing their tools for awhile. If you don’t want to take that route, there may be a tool library you can borrow from, or a mutual aid group that can loan you tools for awhile. Either way, borrowing tools is cheaper than buying them--though, if you do have to buy tools, cheap hand-tools from Walmart or the dollar store work just fine. They’ll even last a good while if they’re taken care of when not in use! I've even seen places like Ross sell some tools and pots in spring!

Spotted in a Walmart gardening section by the registers, 2023.

Of course, your mileage may vary with these. I genuinely cannot think of the last time my house got a newspaper, and as I've mentioned I don't have to worry about snow. Similarly, maybe you don't use plastic cups when you can help it, or don't have a particular affinity for eggs and yogurt. Maybe there isn't a tool library in your area--I sure don't know if there is in mine--but it could still be worth poking around and asking a neighbor!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to support your plants for cheap--we're gonna be talking compost, mulch, and trellises. Until then, I hope this advice was helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, your success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

#biodiversity #solarpunk #gardening #outdoor gardening #growing from seed #budget gardening #cheap gardening #indoor gardening #ani rambles #out of queue #the biodiversity saga #I can make a post later about how I prepare solo cups for being used as pots if yall want #I've found its safest to just use a nice pair of scissors and keep the cup upside-down on the table while I cut into the bottom #and when i say 'take care of the tools when not in use' i mean 'dont be me and leave a cheap shovel from dollar tree out in the rain' #it had a wooden handle and it basically just like. rotted. fell apart in my hand when I picked it up #generally keeping tools in the garage will also help them not rust as fast too #but if you're gonna leave them outside at least put them in shade #the number of times i have lost feeling in my hands because i picked up a hoe that was laying in the sun and fuckin SCALED my palms #its not fun. dont do it. maybe its a Floridian problem but still #if you read all these tags. uh. shovel emoji. idk. sorry dude.

[janaknandini-singh999]

me, explaining krishnji's teaching to the marvel obsessed little brother:

"why worry about fruit when you are groot?"

#karm kartejaa phal ki chinta na kar #underlying logic here is that groot is a tree that'll grow fruits naturally if he does his dharm aka service to others of providing shade #and oxygen etc #k my brother said that if he's a tree he can't consume his own fruit 😃 help how do i postulate this now guys- #desi tag #desi #desi aesthetic #desi dark academia #desiblr #desi culture #desi academia #desi stuff #desi girl #just desi things #desi shit posting #desi memes #marvel #the avengers #miss marvel #desi tumblr #desi shitposting #desi post #being desi #desi relatable #desi teen

[lemonofthevalley]

lily of the valleys are growing !!!!

#i was scared that they weren't going to thid year because the tree that gave them shade was cut down #and all the mulch was dumped right on top #but theyre growing !!!! :D #they should bloom around my birthday i think

[bun-haired-nutjob]

reaching out to new followers and mutuals who are also female and/or trans and domming for them because it's fun, and also it's giving back to the community for when i first joined <3

#society grows great when women plant trees whose shade they know they shall never fuck under #if you're interested... dms are open <3 (may not get to everyone but i'll try my best!) #vivi's social skills

[maybeophe]

Why am I living in a Silent Hill render?

#it's so foggy outside the sky is literally pink #proper british weather 👌 #ignore the dead trees plants don't grow in england. they only wither. #there's not a filter on this image btw the whole sky is just a lilac-y shade of grey.

[robinsnest2111]

just saw a recipe video for a cake that looks just like a cake my late grandma used to make and now I got tears streaming down my face oops

#like. she died so suddenly and with the whole inheritance and oops my uncle is an evil bastard actually fiasco #and my parents never having the time to visit more than twice a year i never got to ask her for her recipes #ever since her death i thought i'd never get to taste or see that cake again #BUT HERE IT IS RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES. WITH A RECIPE DETAILING HOW TO DO IT. WHAT #i think i never really worked through her passing away. i'm still crying... #screw difficult family dynamics and situations that made it almost impossible to bond with relatives fr #all i have is that idealised image of her during the holidays. cooking up a storm in the kitchen #making delicious food. organising the easter egg hunt around the garden for us kids #decorating the christmas tree and preparing little treat platters with chocolate and clementines for us kids... #man i miss her.... wish i could've spent more time with her... talked about knitting and sewing and cooking #and growing plants and veggies. she used to have a greenhouse in the back garden. her tomatoes were the best #all the different shades of red orange and yellow. some even green! #i can almost taste them... #damn... i miss her so much... i also miss my early childhood. when it was just me and my cousin and her and grandpa #when they'd babysit us over the weekend. the walk to the little village bakery down the main road. the handmade sweet raisin bread... #the chocolates my grandma used to have around the house with the adorable kittens on the box... #really missing my grandma tonight...

[backyardbats]

also now that my little plants grew into TREES, I have enough shade in the backyard to have more delicate plants!!!

#the avocado tree grows so fast!!! #now I just need some shade in the balcony so I can have plants there too #in three years me and my mom transformed a dead ass ugly warzone backyard into this and I'm so happy

[thedisablednaturalist]

Literally having an animal moment Im taking shelter from the heat in the shade of some autumn olive and im surrounded by grasses like a baby deer. I also poured water all over my head so I'm just sitting here all moist and cool.

#from the field #there isnt a lot of shade bc our trees are really young still at this site #so the only way to find shade is to sit near the fast growing autumn olive but you have to literally be on the ground #i highly recfomend wearing a bandana and just soaking it with cold water #and a light long sleeved shirt that you can pour water on as well #really great cooling even when the wind is also hot

[grimxark]

It’s so upsetting how much they’re destroying my city’s beautiful untouched forests to make way for gigantic living spaces that won’t ever be filled because nobody wants to live that far away… they destroyed a giant patch of forest near my home that is an empty space where so many birds and sloths lived. I can barely explain how much hatred I feel towards these people.

It seems engineers in my town don’t know where we live. They destroy and tear down centuries old trees that provide shade and homes and then they plant… palm trees. Because they’re convenient, I guess. Then there’s no shade. It’s now hotter outside because of it. Making parks without trees, killing rivers and endangered plants. It’s like they don’t know we live in a hot place. They think we’re europe or some cold place that doesn’t require much shade. It’s shameful, to be at the heart of the Amazon and be the city with the least urban trees in Brazil. It genuinely makes me hate enough that I think about murder

#they speak #it’s a whole thing. it just makes me angrier they destroy everything and want to make a paradise out of what #palm trees? coconut trees? because they grow fast? #go fuck yourself. you had a perfectly fine castanheira that could provide shade for generations and home for so many animals #but you chose to be fucking stupid. you’re not even using all that space. #idiot #fucking piece of shit

[rinrinlovee]

victorian girl autumn

#We could listen to studio ghibli soundtracks and pick flowers from the garden #I could make you german chamomile tea with honey and bake you apple pies with the Granny Smiths from my fruit trees #Fun fact! My backyard is absolutely enormous #With multiple apple and fig trees #blackberry brambles #a persimmon loquat and cherry tree #in my front I have a lemon bush #and I think a grape vine and pecan tree? Though I haven’t seen either of them produce yet #Most if the yard gets sun too #So it’s optimal for growing gardens #There’s a good few yards of brush between the fence and usable yard #So that’s great for shade gardens and little tunnel havens #Oh! And I have a yellow grapefruit bush #Still trying to convince my mum for chickens #Though we live next to a river and attract enough predator animals as is #I’ll be working on tilling up some ground beds for a couple flower/vegetable gardens this winter #And currently drafting out some plans for a small propagation greenhouse #Trying so hard to make my studio ghibli film dream come true

[rogerrcoyle]

rain drops

View On WordPress

#raindrops wash grow feeds trees shade color fall roots earth soul lifejourney poetry poet poem quietthoughts reflections l

[space-mouse]

i forgot how intensely christian boston can be. got off the subway and walked in a random direction and found

1. a fancy men's clothing store with FEAR OF GOD printed in elegant minimal font across the window

2. a catholic church inside a mall, tucked in next to a dunkin' donuts (mom says there was a donut shop across from her church when she was little where they'd all go bc they fasted the night before mass, so like, fair strategic placement)

3. the first church of christ scientist, founded and discovered by mary baker eddy, which looks like someone took at least 3 different buildings and stitched them together à la dr frankenstein

4. the buildings around the first church of christ scientist (founded and discovered by mary baker eddy) which look like 70s modern concrete or faux-greek column concrete depending on the angle, and all have bible verses engraved in the walls

4. a van emblazoned with bible verses on all sides

5. a lovely bagel shop which saved me from collapse in the heat, in which i ate my bagel while the people in the next booth discussed how you can't trust the eggs in the united states and also how god has a plan for them

6. another van emblazoned with bible verses

#gonna turn reblogs off on this one it's just. hm. it's been a day #suz yells #the christian science plaza has signs entreating us to ''respect the natural landscape'' #there is no natural landscape. there are lawns. and trees hemmed in with stone so nothing can grow around them. #they're nice trees! i appreciated the shade! but a natural landscape they are not. #also (animal death cw) found the severed head of a red-bellied woodpecker just. on the ground. #tw christianity

[elainemorisi]

due to Circumstances, I now have a persimmon seedling and a quince tree, and I am pretty enthused about this

#those are the two fruits I most want to grow #I chose persimmon but the variety I bought in the fall apparently didn't make it #so they offered a baby of another variety + the quince to make up the price difference and YES #now #do I realistically have room for two trees in my front yard period? #let alone a fucking persimmon? #hard maybe!! #but lawns as we know are overrated #and sunny barren DRY as FUCK lawns like this one are definitely a waste of space #so. oops it's a mini orchard now #(the objectively correct answer here is to get rid of the giant invasive maple in the front lawn #which I will do if and when the persimmon gets uh persimmon-sized #but that'll be quite a while) #(I have a back yard also. it is Very Shaded. I love trees!!) #(I am also very glad my neighbors who own 2/3 of the giant pines shading the back #realized it'd be a truly stupid expense to take them down for no reason #look if one of them miraculously falls SIDEWAYS onto my house I will be sad for sure but my dudes that ain't the prevailing wind direction #also they seem perfectly healthy (though I would like to somehow find an arborist whose job isn't primarily Cut Down) #and while I will also be very sad if one even more miraculously drops itself or a huge branch on a person in the yard... #rational risk/benefit analysis folks let's get us some)

[link-is-aro]

Little Apple Trees, Growing in the Shade: Sneak Peak

  aka, my 'Link rebuilds Lon Lon Ranch' au

The sky above them rumbled sleepily, like it was complaining over being awoken. The distance flash of lightning cast shadows in their little shelter. When Zelda and he had been standing there, still in shock over it finally being over, the clear sky had started to darken. His sheikah slate had beeped at him in warning, and they’d been forced to sheek the nearest shelter. That ended up being the ruins of the ranch. 

And that’s how they now found themselves sitting on the dirt floor of what must have been a shack at one point. It had been the only building that had anything even approaching what one might call a roof. Link had thought about lighting a fire, for warmth more than anything, but the ground was simply too wet and the space too small for him to risk it. He had insisted that Zelda take his warm doublet to try and stave off the light chill that the storm had brought with it. 

The princess was leaning against one of the sturdier looking walls, hugging her knees to her chest. The doublet over her dress should have been a strange sight, but Link wasn’t really one to point fingers when it came to unique fashion. And, he must admit, she mostly just looked…young. 

She had an apple dangling from one hand, Link’s attempt to get her to eat something, but she’d taken one bite out of it to appease him and then hadn’t so much as looked at it since. Link was almost finished with his own apple, reduced to nibbling to the bits around the core. 

Her eyes were staring through the open doorway across from her. The door had long since been lost to decay and time, and as such gave her a clear view of the field beyond. Or as clear a view as one could get through the downpour outside. 

It was unsurprisingly Zelda that finally broke the silence between them. Her voice was heavy with something like grief and a bone deep exhaustion that spoke of every one of those hundred years. “It’s all gone.” 

For some reason Link had a feeling that she wasn’t just talking about the ranch. 

Link looked back down at his fruit, staring intently at the apple core. After a moment of silence, he dug his fingers into the core. His fingers left dirt behind, and the stickiness of the fruit might have bothered him if he’d been anyone else. It took a couple tries, his short nails having a hard time getting a grip, but eventually he managed to pull free a seed. Turning back to Zelda, he held up the seed for her to see and then used his free hand to dig a small hole into the soil between them. The floor was slightly damp, making it a fairly easy task. Once he was satisfied with the depth, he dropped the seed lightly into the hole and swept the small pile of dirt over it. 

“It’ll grow.” Link nodded down at the disterbed soil. He gave it one last pat. “It won’t be the same, but it’ll still be good.”

Zelda is silent for a moment, before a small smile curled at the edges of her lips. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the small patch of disturbed earth. “Still good.”

It sounded a bit like a promise.

#ammowrites #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #loz botw #Link #zelda #little apple tree growing in the shade #Beginning of my 'Link rebuilds Lon Lon Ranch' au #this has not been edited at all