notes from spending the day in Wilmington
Jul. 21st, 2004 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiWhere do those of us who still consider "garden" a verb go to shop? I looked under "Garden" in the yellow pages, and found what sounded like a serious gardening center (just from the name, no display ad-- only the florists had display ads) in Woburn, just one town away. It took much longer than expected to drive there, and they didn't have a bunch of stuff I need to do gardening. I bought a trowel, but I still need clippers, seeds, gloves, a wide-brimmed straw hat, a new hose, and netting to keep birds off the berries. OK, so finding a hat would have been unusual, but no seeds? I asked if they ever had seeds, if I was just looking too late in the season, but no, they don't ever carry seeds. Not much demand, they said. Of course, in future years I plan to plan ahead and mail-order seeds, but I think it's too late to mail-order and get any carrots this year, and a gardening center should cater to last-minute needs like that. What they did have was a lot of adult plants, in pots, and chemicals. Ranting to Marmota about this later, he suggested that the difference was that this was a garden center not a gardening center. I.e., not an outlet for people who garden, but for people who have a garden: they want to pick out some fully-grown plants, hire someone to install them, and viola, a garden. Noun, not verb.
I did buy (impulse purchase) what appears to be a very small lemon tree. It's labeled "Meyer Lemon" and is growing very small lemons. I hope they are usable, I fancy the idea of edible houseplants. Interest in food should help me remember to water.
Sorry, drbitch, there are still no restaurants in Wilmington. I undertook this investigation today. Listed in the Wilmington telephone book: a bunch of fast food-ish places, about 4 Chinese restaurants, and one Italian joint. No more exotic ethnicities than that. I generally am adverse to Chinese unless it's of Mary Chung or Sechuan Gorment level quality. I doubt any in Wilmington are of that class. Someone braver than I am can try them out to rule out whether I'm just being prejudiced.
Did find lunch that didn't suck, though. Porchside... Sandwich? Diner? Something. Near where 129 and 38 meet up. They had a salad bar and small buffet that was OK. Not a food event, but OK for when the fridge hasn't yet arrived.
But the fridge has now arrived.
I did buy (impulse purchase) what appears to be a very small lemon tree. It's labeled "Meyer Lemon" and is growing very small lemons. I hope they are usable, I fancy the idea of edible houseplants. Interest in food should help me remember to water.
Sorry, drbitch, there are still no restaurants in Wilmington. I undertook this investigation today. Listed in the Wilmington telephone book: a bunch of fast food-ish places, about 4 Chinese restaurants, and one Italian joint. No more exotic ethnicities than that. I generally am adverse to Chinese unless it's of Mary Chung or Sechuan Gorment level quality. I doubt any in Wilmington are of that class. Someone braver than I am can try them out to rule out whether I'm just being prejudiced.
Did find lunch that didn't suck, though. Porchside... Sandwich? Diner? Something. Near where 129 and 38 meet up. They had a salad bar and small buffet that was OK. Not a food event, but OK for when the fridge hasn't yet arrived.
But the fridge has now arrived.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 04:17 pm (UTC)places
Date: 2004-07-21 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 04:40 pm (UTC)Meyer Lemons are a hybrid, a cross between a lemon and a mandarin. They are less tart than regular lemons and you can taste the orange/tangerine in it. The skin and flesh is not as yellow as a standard lemon, It has a tint of orange to it.
If you want it to keep fruiting,you have to artificially pollinate it when it blossoms, or it will drop fruit that results from unpollinated blossoms. It's easy, just use a q-tip and spread the pollen between blossoms.
We grow several indoor citrus trees ourselves, currently two lime trees and a overly fruit laden Calamondin orange that has been fruiting since January and are just now starting to turn orange. We have just eradicated an infestation of scale, (using a toothbrush and Dr. Bronner's we scrubbed every stem and leave on this three foot tall tree, luckily we caught it before the fruit got infested.) and our citrus are strictly indoor plants. Once we are sure we have gotten rid on the scale, our next acquisition will be a Meyer.
If you have any specific questions, please ask, we currently have every book available on growing citrus in containers.
O'Connors is where it's at!
Date: 2004-07-21 05:50 pm (UTC)There's also a very downscale gardening place right around the corner from you, on whatever street Butters Row is after it crosses 38. Dunno if they've have what you're after, but it's so close you may as well have a look.
Wilmington is terrible for food, but I keep being surprised at the number of cool things that it does have. (Just the other week, I found out that Pedro's (http://www.pedros.com/) is in Wilmington!)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-22 06:32 am (UTC)As of 3 weeks ago, our Stop&Shop had packets of seeds for vegetables and annuals. I bought some. Not that I've gotten around to planting the silly things.
PS
Date: 2004-07-22 07:36 am (UTC)Re: places
Date: 2004-07-22 09:59 am (UTC)Must check out O'Connor too soon.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-22 10:02 am (UTC)Re: PS
Date: 2004-07-22 10:08 am (UTC)Re: PS
Date: 2004-07-22 12:52 pm (UTC)Re: PS
Date: 2004-07-22 04:01 pm (UTC)