Freeze . . . FBI!

Wouldn't you garden too if you had a pal like this to cheer
you on?

Box #2 Update

The tuscan kale is bigger, and the lettuce is still there, albeit not that big. The eggplant (see previous post) looks half dead, but it's producing . . . I guess that's what counts in the end, isn't it? Maybe my pepper plants will rebound and grow beyond their current height of 3 - 4 inches. We haven't been having extremely hot weather here, which is great for the psyche but not necessarily great for summer vegetables.

Non-Square Foot Garden Update

Things are growing pretty well on this side. My Japanese Black Trifele tomato plant is producing the most, but they are producing the most in both types (square foot and non-square-foot). The swiss chard is coming up nicely, and the dwarf dahlias are getting ready to blossom. Waaaayyy in the back of this picture you can see a black beauty zucchini that has been sent to the corner. That's because if you've ever planted a summer squash plant of any kind, you know that they get a little aggressive and need a place of their own. There are also some bush beans, a brandywine tomato plant, and a thai pink egg plant that are hopefully going to be producing soon.

Herb Garden Update

So . . . the snap peas are torn out, so there's a back row empty now,
waiting to be planted. The cilantro also went to seed, so I pulled it out,
and laid down an inch or so of compost on everything. The tarragon,
thyme, and lemon verbena are looking great!

More Pics

Japanese Black Trifele Tomatoes . . .
almost ripe!


Hillbilly Flame Heirloom Tomatoes . . .
about an inch long, even though they
should be much bigger . . . but they're
pretty nonetheless


Flowering Opal Basil . . .
they say you can eat the flowers, so
maybe I'll try a recipe this week


Flowering Dill

Wait . . . I think I see something growing

It's only a centimeter or two long, but it's an eggplant! Isn't it cute?

So Maybe It's Not So Bad

On Friday, I went over to my garden again to face the withering vines and to weed. As I walked around tying up heavy tomato branches laden with ripening fruit and pulled out sugar snap pea stalks that, still bearing some plump juicy pods, had reached their fruition, my spirit relaxed. Despite the challenges that a summer can bring, life still moves forward, and things still continue to grow. Some of the death that I perceived in my earlier post was actually just plants reaching their full cycle and dying off or putting out seed. Perhaps I just expected to much in a culture where death is never considered a good thing.

Lesson Learned

Maybe I was hoping for too much when I left for 3 weeks on vacation and tried to make sure the watering was taken care of, but nonetheless it's amazing what can go awry in three weeks. I returned to see my basil, dill, and cilantro gone to seed, and half my tomatoes producing cherry-like tomatoes. That would be a great thing if they were actually cherry tomato plants and not regular tomatoes that I had nurtured from seed. Most of the new eggplant and specialty bell pepper plants are dead, as are a couple of my sweet cream marigolds.

The good news: dahlias, most of the marigolds, swiss chard, and a couple of my japanese trifeles, zucchini, bush beans, kale, thyme, tarragon, armenian cucumber and lemon verbena look like they might make it. But it still feels tragic.