Pricking out
2 August 2025 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI pricked out some of my rocket -- which has just about recovered from the caterpillar, though I found another caterpillar this morning on one of my newly-pricked-out pots of kale -- and coriander, which was getting very crowded even though I have been thinning it for culinary use. I have to say there wasn't a lot of root on the seedlings that I did remove...
I saw a ladybird this afternoon, and hope that it might show some interest in the blackfly, but even if it does produce larvae that will be far too little, too late. I strongly suspect the ants of 'farming' the blackfly on purpose :-(
The various seed-grown rudbeckias are pretty much all in flower now, and showing an interesting variation in colour between the various specimens -- unless that simply reflects the age of the blooms! Some of them are plain yellow and black, and some have differing degrees of red colouring in addition around the black centre. The 'original' overwintered rudbeckia is still in flower, and more to the point the original flower is still on there, although finally starting to look a little tatty after a month and a half! As I remarked back in 2023, possibly the reason why they give such a good display is that they don't set seed very readily...
Rudbeckia from 2022, ancestor of the current batch :-)
I have three sturdy little red-legged beetroot seedlings from that entire seed-spike that I saved; all and more than I actually need. Although the old plant that I had allowed to flower has had its flower-spike snapped off and/or wilted (I am not sure in what order, as the pot dried out in the heatwave and was also knocked over due to being dry), probably before any of the seed had actually managed to ripen, so these will be the last plants unless I get some fresh seed from one of these as an adult. I have one of the old beetroots left now, but it is on its last legs and only producing a few tiny leaves.
I am currently on strong antibiotics again due to another infected wound, which means adhering to a six-hour pill schedule -- and, as previously, does wonders for the regularity of my eating habits, since the pills have to be taken "on an empty stomach" at least one hour before food or two hours after. Which means, in effect, no eating between meals, and the meals have to take place at fairly evenly-spaced intervals.
All it takes is the knowledge that I *can't*, for good and rational reasons, eat outside those fixed hours, to suppress the random urges to overeat out of boredom when I'm not actually hungry; I get them and instantly have the willpower to dismiss them, just as I did when I was seriously restricted in my available food during lockdown. The concerning thing is that it takes an outside imperative for me to do so...
(Looking back, I note that fifteen years ago my weight had dipped beneath eight stone again; it is currently something a little under eight and a half, although the scales are a bit inaccurate due to the plastic over the dial having cracked and sometimes catching on it :-p)
I saw a ladybird this afternoon, and hope that it might show some interest in the blackfly, but even if it does produce larvae that will be far too little, too late. I strongly suspect the ants of 'farming' the blackfly on purpose :-(
The various seed-grown rudbeckias are pretty much all in flower now, and showing an interesting variation in colour between the various specimens -- unless that simply reflects the age of the blooms! Some of them are plain yellow and black, and some have differing degrees of red colouring in addition around the black centre. The 'original' overwintered rudbeckia is still in flower, and more to the point the original flower is still on there, although finally starting to look a little tatty after a month and a half! As I remarked back in 2023, possibly the reason why they give such a good display is that they don't set seed very readily...
Rudbeckia from 2022, ancestor of the current batch :-)I have three sturdy little red-legged beetroot seedlings from that entire seed-spike that I saved; all and more than I actually need. Although the old plant that I had allowed to flower has had its flower-spike snapped off and/or wilted (I am not sure in what order, as the pot dried out in the heatwave and was also knocked over due to being dry), probably before any of the seed had actually managed to ripen, so these will be the last plants unless I get some fresh seed from one of these as an adult. I have one of the old beetroots left now, but it is on its last legs and only producing a few tiny leaves.
I am currently on strong antibiotics again due to another infected wound, which means adhering to a six-hour pill schedule -- and, as previously, does wonders for the regularity of my eating habits, since the pills have to be taken "on an empty stomach" at least one hour before food or two hours after. Which means, in effect, no eating between meals, and the meals have to take place at fairly evenly-spaced intervals.
All it takes is the knowledge that I *can't*, for good and rational reasons, eat outside those fixed hours, to suppress the random urges to overeat out of boredom when I'm not actually hungry; I get them and instantly have the willpower to dismiss them, just as I did when I was seriously restricted in my available food during lockdown. The concerning thing is that it takes an outside imperative for me to do so...
(Looking back, I note that fifteen years ago my weight had dipped beneath eight stone again; it is currently something a little under eight and a half, although the scales are a bit inaccurate due to the plastic over the dial having cracked and sometimes catching on it :-p)