It's food!

I picked some raspberries and as I ate them, I felt like Survivor Man. :D Lots happened last week. I already harvested handfuls of peas 3 times last week, 3 summer squashes, and lots of herbs and arugula.



More Summer Squash


Genovese Basil and carrots in my "test garden" container. I can't believe that early this month, these looked like this.


Do you remember the herb garden that I started in May?


Here it is now!


Here's a close up of the Sage (left) and Lemon Basil (right) I'm surprised at how well the basil did since I thought I was going to lose them when I planted them initially during the cold, rainy spring.


I need to start making some pesto very soon!

Garden Views

It's been raining for quite some time, so I haven't been in the garden snapping photos. Here are a few from today.


The Delphinium (blue flowers) is 5 times as big as last year and very hearty. Everything is doing so well in this area. I'm running out of room here for them. The orange Star Gazer Lily has also bloomed and is about .75" thick.


I tied some black netting to the deck here. Below is a vine (left behind yellow lily) which is my spaghetti squash. It's already starting to climb vigorously onto the netting. It's potted and I put a sprinkler into the pot to keep it evenly watered. I thinned this garden bed out already and transplanted some thing. This fall, I'm going to move the Irises because they are blocking my Peony. Also, I have too much growing around the base of my Dogwood tree, so I'm moving all that stuff.


Left is my purple garden which is doing really well now. To the right is my island. I have my potted squashes there because it's easier to water and gets more sun than the deck. To the back you'll see my Winter melon making it's way up the fence. I'm undecided if I should leave it there though.


Here's my test garden. Carrot tops, basil (which I've already been harvesting) and 1 radish. I think it's time to take it out.

First Harvest

Rain Rain

We've had (and will have) some severe thunderstorms this week. It's great for my plants now that they are all in the ground. Even my hanging basket survived the storm. Isn't she purty?



Cilantro - Making some salsa and fish with this soon.


Here's my "test garden" - I potted a few things to see just how well they would do in pots and shielded from the elements. In particular, I'm curious to see the potential of the bell pepper plant which haven't been doing well in the ground.


Over the last two evenings, I have been working on this side of the house which we deemed the "ugly side". It has really come a long way. I transplanted a lot of things to camouflage the condensing unit. From left to right: Sedum, Cactus, Lavender, Mum, St. John's Wort, Mint, Irises (which I'm transplanting around the yard), lyschmia, and Spiderwort. It's still a work in progress. I feel like this side of the house needs a maple tree.


Red Nasturtiums - I'm training these to grow up the railing.


I thinned the carrot seedlings so they have room to develop and they beginning to show their little fuzzy carrot tops - how cute! The basil is starting to get crowded too, so I will have to move those soon, but where?!? I have no more room!


Radishes - It's so red that it looks like candy.


In other news, the peas are ready soon. They are up to my shoulder in height with blooms all over. Some of my eggplant seedlings are doing better, so I'll give them some more time and pot them. I'm wondering when it will be okay to plant my Sunflower seedlings.

Our Cactus Bloomed!

There's lots of buds on it too, so in a few days we should have a fully bloomed cactus! This is neat. I have never had a cactus that bloomed.



My neighbor gave me a raspberry bush in exchange for the decorative rocks that I removed from the front of the house. I potted it because berry bushes get a little out of hand. I added a mini wave petunia plant for a little decoration.



Here's the other garden bed I was working on a few weeks ago. Most of the flowers here are purple in color. Things are filling in nicely now. There are lots of hollyhock seedlings too from last year's plant.

Google Reader

Yes, I have finally joined Google Reader! I've been really bad at keeping up with my bloggy pals because there are so many blogs and so many different formats making it difficult to comment easily. I promise I'll be around to visit more often.

Is it food yet?

They're alive! The carrot seedlings are appearing and the basil plants are growing.



The summer squash is showing blooms already! I hope that means we will get squash soon. They came sooner than the green zucchini did last year. These are male flowers so I hope the other one is a female 'cause ummm...well I hate to break it to you, but it takes a male and female plant to make baby squashes.


Radishes are growing fast now and peeping out of the soil.


Pumpkin plants with rows of Corn in the background.


Sugar snap peas and Snow peas are also flowering, so we'll have peas soon.

I Like Naps

I over did it on Saturday by gardening from 7am to 9:30pm! I should never do that again because I couldn't even sleep due to the physical pain and tension. This evening I took a long nap (which I never do) after work and I feel so refreshed. I was still able to get a few things done:

• Planted the Ghostbuster eggplant into the ground.
• Planted the pink Wave Petunias under the cherry blossom tree.
• Fixed up the landscaping material and spread some peat moss over top.
  
• Weeded/pulled out more Vinca groundcover that is just engulfing everything.
• Planted the Watermelon into the ground.

Next:

• Thinking about where to locate my potted Bottle neck gourd, Wax Wintermelon, Spaghetti Squash, and English Cucumber. I potted them for a few reasons - The vines get "messy" between the growth, watering, and weeds. Also, they are tender and a few times I've snipped some by accident. This year, I mulched the flower beds which are also up against the fence that I would normally allow my vines to ramble. I'm thinking of elevating the pots in the garden bed against the fence so they can still use the fence and be watered regularly by my sprinkler system. Now I'm deciding where exactly I should place each particular vine based on when they fruit.