It was actually clear and sunny today! Clear, sunny, and FREEZING. So typical February weather for this neck of the woods. It looks like that’s the last of the rain for a bit, until maybe April.
Which for me meant it was time to take the bus to my local garden center! Well buses plural as you have to take two. Point is- it’s doable to hoof myself from my neck of the woods to their neck of the woods and pick up a chervil plant sans car.
I can’t get all the soil I need for the new beds yet- that’ll take the car. But it’s just a chervil plant! That’s not heavy!
Pictured: chervil. Chervil is a French herb, part of the group of herbs traditionally called “fines herbs” along with parsley, tarragon and chives. It’s ever so slightly anise-y and it’s a good time to plant it.
Of course the problem is… it’s never one plant.
It’s three plants! And three seed packets and… not pictured… one small pot.
It turns out I had a bunch of coupons from Sloat and it was a good time to use them. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!
Yes I know I know I’m taking two buses home what was I thinking?
Well. Now that the mint thunderdome is over (Roman mint won) I wanted two good dedicated mint pots for my tea and for mint’s bug repelling qualities. So I got a lovely strawberry mint and a delightful pineapple mint.
So I managed to fit the seed packets inside the pot- and I balanced the plants in a cardboard box they gave me on top of the pot, all in my bag.
This was a fun ride home.
Eh exercise is good for you! Today was just an unexpected arm day.
Also there was a train dog.
Here he is- judging my life choices.
Don’t worry my fine canine friend- I’m doing that too.
Final haul which is living on my dryer until I can put things in the ground and in pots- it’s a really nice pot and it was really well priced and I needed something with a lip like that for sunflowers so I’m not apologizing at all.
The seeds were a surprise but a welcome one.
I’ve been thinking of putting in sunflowers for a while, mom tends to not be allergic to those and I’d like some color in the garden. What’s really nice about the packet I chose is they’re a pollen-less hybrid meant for florists. I don’t care too much about the need of florists, but no pollen means no sick mother! And while there’s no pollen there is nectar so the pollinators will be happy.
I also got a packet of that funny romanesco broccoli. It looks like a fractal and it tastes delicious and cabbages grow well here so eh why not.
And finally I got a packet of purple snap peas because I am a sucker for a purple vegetable.
I have absolutely no excuse for that one.
I apologize for nothing.
Now if you excuse me I have to put ice packs on my arms.
Ow.
The Neanderthal Gardens 
Wow, Sloat is still around?! I sold them citrus trees back in the early 1990s, and then truckloads of rhododendrons. Their store in Los Gatos did not last long at all.
Oh goodness! I got the name wrong. I meant ‘Smith and Hawken’ did not last long. Sloat never came to town.
Ha! That makes much more sense as Sloat has 3 stores in SF alone and quite a few more around the bay so I was a little confused! Sloat garden center is my lifeline when it comes to supplies and information.
I liked to sell to Smith and Hawken, but had not interest in buying from them. The store in Los Gatos was quite snooty. When it opened, a manager asked me to write an article about it in the Los Gatos Weekly Times. When I arrived, I was asked to park somewhere else because they were expecting the garden columnist out for an interview, and they did not want my old pickup out front when he arrived. I moved it and never went back.
I’m in San Francisco and their flagship store near the zoo is still going strong. They have a few others scattered around SF and Northern California.
Yes, I remember that store. It took deliveries directly, and may have taken deliveries for some of their other stores. It was right near where the Doggie Diner was. I do not remember where they were exactly.