Urban Gardening Update

So my second attempt at growing vegetables indoors is not going so well.  One of my cucumber plants died, the second one is sick, my squash plant is near dead--also sick.  Both the cucumber and squash are being killed by mildew.  I've been having an infestation of soil knats (they sure do love the organic soil I'm using) and I've been spraying often with a neem oil/dish soap/water mixture to keep them under control. In the meantime, unbeknownst to me, mildew is forming on the leaves of the squash plants from being sprayed with the mixture.  I can't help it.  I see one or a few of those buggers on the stem, and I spray to kill it.

Even though the cucumbers and squash have all but died, the cherry tomatoes are doing decent.  I have a few bunches between the two plants although one of the plants' health is questionable.  It seems wilt every other day and I can't tell if it's from a lack of watering (seems like I'm watering every other day) or something else that is causing it wilt.  When I do water, it perks back up within a few hours. 

Surprisingly (or maybe not), the sunflowers and the cosmos are doing awesome!  Can't say the daisies are doing too well but that is from a lack of watering.  I tucked the container of daisies into a corner and forget they are there most of the time since the vegetables plants tend to obscure that corner. 

Minature sunflower.

 Orange cosmo.  This is my new favorite flower. 

Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad

I'm normally a "safe" food eater. Not a foodie at all. I like what I like and tend to order the same things over and over. Not to mention, I can't cook and I am tongue deaf (the equivalent of being tone deaf. Yeah. I just made that up.) So, when I saw that I had avocados and strawberries ripening quicker than I can blink, something clicked. What if I made a strawberry and avocado salad? And also added spinach? So I looked up different recipes and got basic ideas for the dressing since I'm a ranch kinda girl. I'm not brave enough to venture in making my own dressing yet so I improvised and bought ready made olive oil and vinegar dressing. When I got home, I added in a touch or two of honey to sweeten it up. Boy, am I glad I ventured out of my food comfort zone.

The salad consists of spinach (bagged or bunch, your preference. I chose bunched), sliced strawberries, 1 avocado and garlic and herb feta cheese (they didn't have plain). For the dressing, just store bought already made olive oil and vinegar dressing. I poured about a cup of dressing and I stirred in two small dollops of honey to sweeten. Tasty.

I didn't include any specific measurements since everyone's appetite and portion size is different do let me know if something is not clear :)