The ever-present aloe and other green stuff

So we live in an 800-square-foot apartment with too much furniture, only 2 windows, a sliding glass door covered by seriously ugly and beat-to-death vertical blinds, and a cat with zero self-control. Not the most conducive climate for growing anything. This being Spring, I still think about starting some seeds of something, ANYTHING, but I'm just not sure how feasible it is. Our windows face east and west, so there's that, but I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to keep Figaro out of anything that sprouted, so I'm exercising patience for this planting period, while I brainstorm some more. Besides, Husby still does the majority of his sleeping in the living room, where we keep it darker; so any plant set-up really would need to occur in the bedroom. I really just need to 86 some of the furniture in that house; it's a little silly there...and whatever I tossed or gave away would probably just be replaced by something else (like shelves for our DVDs/CDs/etc., which have been sitting in boxes since I packed them for last year's move...). Yeah, definitely requires a little more brain time...

Then there's the ever-present aloe...I brought 3 plants over to Mom's this past weekend, which I'll put in the ground the weekend after next. That leaves 2 good-sized plants and the big boys. I'm thinking I need to play in the dirt this week...I want to bring one plant up to Mom J. and maybe smaller ones for Kara and Jade (LilSisinLaws), so I'm thinking of breaking up some plants in the evenings this week. Thing is, I can't afford topsoil right now...wonder if I can pilfer some earth from the complex without them noticing? I'm definitely going to play a bit this evening...the plants out on the front landing just aren't getting enough sun, they're getting droopy and losing their succulence...so I need to a) bring them into the front window where they'll get decent light, and b) give them better homes. Also, there's a neat weed growing with one of the aloes, that I want to give its own pot, see if I can nurture it further and figure out what the heck it is...

So, giving the apartment a cursory mental glance, I'm thinking I'll move the green end table back into the bedroom, rearrange all the crap near the knitting chair, and cover the table well so I can put the aloes on it below the front window. I'll pull out my tools and lay down newspaper and see what I can break down. I neglected the aloes for so long out on the porch, thinking I didn't care about them...now that the neglect appears to be doing some harm, I'm determined to turn my brown thumb a little greener.

Lightbulb! Those shallow containers that I set aside for planting (old litter boxes mainly)...aloe thrives in shallow containers; since I'm fearful of planting greens and herbs without a catproof structure in place, I'll use those containers for aloe for now. It'll seem to multiply my plants right when I was trying to decrease them, but it'll be healthier for them and allow me to give some away in the smaller containers.

Pictures soon, I promise!