Well, we got our first freezeing rain in November and that was it for the outdoor plots at the apartments and Stover's Dam Park. We managed to salvage a couple of things, and have attempted to carry the sprouts through the winter, but most of them didn't make it. The lone Pinto Bean, the Alaska Peas, most of the Rainbow Swiss Chard, the Red Blush Onions, our original Basil, and the unidentified plants all succumbed to, well, honestly, neglect. I didn't water for a few weeks and that finished off most of the things that were limping along. Never the less some things seemed to survive, and even prosper.

The state of the Bio Factory as of February 1st, 2010. From left to right Italian Parsley, Basil, Eversweet Strawberry, Orange Pepper, Mr. Stripey Heirloom Tomato. Between the Parsley and Basil I replanted Chives, and Curly Parsley. The little bitty barely visible terra cotta thing also between the Parsley and Basil is Oregano. The replants haven't sprouted yet. The fast food cups on the far end are a homemade self draining planter which used to house the Mr. Stripey, but now contains Rouge D'Hiver Heirloom Lettuce which hasn't sprouted yet.

The Basil has it's own tragic story. After many many months of joyful Basil bushyness our original plant died. During the period where I wasn't watering. Bad pirate. Bad. So we replaced it, but in a different planter on the window sill in our living room. After the cats turned over the planter twice we thought it was going to die for sure, but I replanted it in the original Basil location in the spare bedroom. That's why it looks, well, depressed. Hopefully it will perk up, now that it's safe from the kitties. At least it hasn't died.

This Mr. Stripey was a rogue sprout among the seeds I was saving from last years crop. He was doing well until I moved him to this larger and much more stylish planter, but now his top 2/3 has died. The bottom 3rd still looks good so we'll see if he survives.

This strawberry was originally planted in our outside garden at the apartments. The bunnies came and ate all the strawberries, and then came back and ate all the leaves. Then the field sprouted a ton of clover and they forgot about everything else. So this guy limped along all last summer, but didn't produce anymore fruit. My wife really wanted it to so we dug it up and brought it in just before our first freezing rain in November. Since then it seems to be doing OK, and has produced about 3 strawberries.

Another hardship case, this orange pepper is also a refugee from our ourdoor plot at the apartments. He had the misfortune of being right in front of several tomato plants, and blending in too well with the weeds so we literally walked all over him. Never the less he refused to die so we dug up his mortal remains and brought them inside when we salvaged the strawberry. He also seems to be doing OK, but hasn't produced any peppers. He does have a couple of flowers though, so we are still hopeful.

I had high hopes for the swiss chard because last year it seemed to be doing so well. Over the winter all but two of them have died, and while those two are alive they haven't grown at all.

Well, I installed a wordpress blog, so I will continue to post pictures here but explanations and descriptions will be in the blog posts. It just makes it easier to add material, and to talk about it to do it through the blog. To visit my new wordpress blog click here.