Garden Update
sb158 | June 8, 2010
I haven’t posted any pics in a while, so I guess it’s time for an update. Things are definitely going better than they did last year. We had a nice t-storm last night, and I think everything grew a foot overnight! More storms possibly tonight, too. Amazing what a little thunder, lightening, and rain can do for a garden.
Click for the really big pic.
Here are a couple overview pictures.
This is the “Arbor Garden.” The near SWC is a watermelon. One is a bit bigger than a softball now, and a couple more small ones are coming along. On the left edge is one of the cucumber SWCs, from which I picked my first cuke last night. Made a tomato & cucumber salad that was very good; it disappeared fast enough! Past the yellow flowers on the right edge, you can see a cherry tomato identified only as “Heirloom Cherry.” It has some baby fruits; won’t be long before we’re eating those. You can see the volunteer tomato jungle in the background, and the Laura Bush pink petunias. Despite being beaten about by wind, they just keep pumping out tons of pretty, fragrant flowers.
Raised bed garden, from both ends.
Raised bed from one end
And from the other
That monster plant in the left picture is a melon called “Gold Bar” that I got on clearance from Park Seeds last year. It’s supposed to be a cross between a cantaloupe and a cucumber, I think. Last year, it was eaten alive by cucumber beetles, but the Gold Bond Powder remedy saved it this year.
Mixed in there, I’ve got bush beans of several varieties and stages of growth, some of which are blooming. The jalapeno peppers are blossoming now, too.
In the right-hand pic, you can see zucchini in the forefront, with cantaloupe behind, and “Monster Melon” behind that. If you compare these pics with this post you can see how much these things have grown in about 3 weeks.
Can’t wait to eat this!
And some cukes
More tomato & cuke salad in the very near future.
The laundry hamper volunteer tomatoes keep chugging along. I’ve gotten more than 7 lbs. of tomatoes from these guys so far. Picked all of the almost ripe ones yesterday, as I knew it might rain and didn’t want the tomatoes to split.
And the tomatoes to go with the cukes…
This is a chile pequin (wild bird pepper) bush. These are really hot little buggers; you can see a ripe one if you look hard enough.
Hot stuff
This bush has quite a story. DH’s dad had a bush in front of his house that he babied for years. He used the peppers to make some wicked salsa, among other things. When he died, we dug up his bush and put it in a 5 gal bucket that we hauled around for years! I knew the bush would die when we moved back up north, so we gave it to hubby’s brother. He’s not what you’d call a gardener; he killed the poor thing!
Hubby’s been looking for a replacement ever since we moved back down here. A few months ago, we went to a family birthday in Hebbronville, and hubby found a bush in the yard. He says “We’re taking this home” as he grabs it and just yanks the poor thing out of the ground. He hands it to me and says “You can plant this, right?” I’m like “WTH am I supposed to do now?” So I wrapped it up in damp paper towels, put it in a baggie, and took it home. I cut it way back, put it in a gritty soil mix in a gallon pot, and covered the pot with a plastic bag. Kept it under my florescent lights and babied that sucker along. Much to my surprise, it didn’t die, and eventually started growing. Uncovered it gradually, and put it outside when it got warm. This spring I put it in the container, and it has done quite well, so far. It’s going to need a bigger container come fall, I think. Fascinating, right? LOL!
Had enough yet, or should I go on? Okay, you asked for it. This is my pitiful-looking Side-of-the-Stairs container garden. Looking pretty sad, aren’t they? The annual blanketflowers have just about had it, as have the bachelor’s buttons. I’m letting both go to seed so I can save some for next year. The jasmine is dropping leaves in self-defense (normal, I’m told), but there are still things growing.
Getting too hot for the Side-of the-Stairs flowers, I think.
These are cinnamon basil and a Mini-Rose morning glory I think I got from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It’s supposed to trail to about 3′; I like the variegated leaves, too. Very pretty little plant.
This has gotten long enough. I’ll leave the butterfly garden and hanging baskets for another time. TTYL…
