Dorian brought a maus into the haus!

My first reaction was, "Ohdearohdearohdear."

I had some delay saving it. It was wee, smaller than my little finger. It was totally alive, if terrified out of its mind. I had to chase Dorian and the mouse all over the house, while finding appropriate implements. When I carried it out, I went, "Hopefully, you are not dead. If you are dead, I will have to give you a funeral."

I have given many rodents funerals. Virtually all died of human-related causes, not cats.

The mouse was let go along the back fence. It had to catch its breath, then tried to make it for a crevice. There were two prominent tooth marks on its back, where Dorian carried it around like a cat plush toy. I think those will heal though. Now, hopefully, I haven't caused some kind of mouse infestation. But it is fruit and flower season. Mice have a right to seek out yummy foods.

Dorian was so happy. He caught a maus! It moved itself! I had massive conflicts of interest. I like my cat, but it's a mouse! A small, cute mouse! I gave Dorian lots of tuna. I think he's mollified, though he keeps returning to the study to check, just in case the mouse ran off again.

I may also need to periodically check the yard, just in case the mouse was more injured than I thought, and Dorian is smarter than I usually think.

Slow sprouts

The weather has just gotten warmer, which in the sense of this being San Francisco, meant we were warmer than other wintry locales to begin with, yet trapped in what felt like a permanent autumn. Sprouting seeds in this environment, I have found, is difficult and prone to tragedy. It doesn't help how little backyard sun we get. It keeps my unit snug and chill in summer, and not too badly off in winter. But it also means my hardworking sprouts grow to little dwarf vegetables, not liable to seed unless they bolt. The tomatoes I grew last year went up to at least 6 ft., but didn't get enough sun to turn flowers into fruits.

I'm not giving up -- yet. Leek cuttings from my kitchen scraps are turning into real leeks. Leeks are pricey but delicious. I'm going to dig out a particularly splayed leek tonight for chicken. I want it to grow more, but the splayed leaves are hiding way too many slugs. Some mysterious sprouts have shown up in both boxes. They are mysterious and strong. Since my EarthBoxes double up compost bins, the most likely candidate for these sprouts are bell peppers. I don't harbour any illusions that bell peppers will fruit on my porch, but I am collecting ideas on delicious stir fries and poaches for pepper shoots.

The Parisien carrot seeds I got free from a seed supplier last year have produced nothing. The shoots come up, look pretty for about 4 months, then they die, with no rooty goodness underneath. I might sow the remaining seeds in a shallow dish and harvest them for salad or something. They're tasty greens. Kind of bummed about the roots. Maybe the next time I get a bunch of organic carrots with tops, I'll save the tops to try and root.

The mizuna, of which only one plant survived, is starting to bolt. I'm waiting for the flower head to mature a bit more before I pull it out, because flower heads on mustard greens are the tastiest bits. This will probably also be the fate of the snow vegetables in the other box. They've not grown beyond 4-inch by 2-inch clusters since December. That seems like enough time to determine they're stunted. Or maybe they're just slow. I know that last year, I had the same issue with these inexplicable dwarves.

I was perusing Nichols Garden Nursery's website the other day, and they have all these cool exotic things I want to grow. Wolfberries! Pepper leaf bushes! Amaranth! Quinoa! TEA! I'm guessing I have way not enough sun for quinoa (but...but...high yield Andes grain plant...), and I'm all wobbly about the amaranth, though there are spinaches that can grow under semi-cover. Anything bush-like requires more pottery than I have, as they will be somewhat permanent. Tea is plausible, given our cool, permanently shady weather (see pottery issues), but tempting (see pottery issues). Tea takes a while to grow though, unless I'm using fresh shoots as a salad dressing. I did get chicory (Madgeburg), which yields both an edible green and roots that add chocolatey-malt flavours to coffee. The roots may also be cooked like similar root veggies. I know my luck with carrots have been dismal, but I'm hoping chicory will provide some kind of tasty root bulb. I also got a purple mustard (you're probably noticing a theme in my desperation to grow interesting mustards - it is all about how much I like them pickled and saladed), and cat mint, for my cats, obviously, but it's still a mint, and will still be dishable to humans.

The real improvement to my gardening will be EarthBox struts, to lift the boxes 2 ft. off the ground. I'm hoping this will not only give the boxes more sun, but aerate the soil more thoroughly for composting purposes (though things do disintegrate really fast in there already), and keep away slugs. I'm summarily executing slugs with a good crush and toss, but there seems to be more than last year. Frequent cinnamon and diatomaceous earth dustings only help so much when it's rainy.

Finally, in a burst of self-sufficiency (hah!), I planted the last of my leftover shiso seeds from last year, shiso seeds the ever-wonderful countlibras sent me at Christmas, and random basil seeds both leftover and found in the basement (from some long-ago resident who lived in my unit). The leftover shiso were the first to sprout, tiny, helpless looking sprouts in my window box in the airwell. We shall see. Rubbing my paws while staring at shoots to grow faster doesn't actually work.