I added a serendipitous flower to the pot of wildflowers yesterday...the Shirley Poppy. I picked them up because Shirley is my maiden name and they were on sale at the drug store. They were first discovered by an English reverend in the late 1800's growing at the edge of his garden and he named them after his parish of Shirley. Through genetic ( Read more... )

Greetings again ( Read more... )

As the summer has worn on and my free time has worn away, I have been spending less and less time in the garden as it finishes out.  From the beginning I wanted to go back and admire what I had grown, as well as make notes for the future.  Below are the do-agains, the thanks-for-visitings, and the not-quite-as-expecteds with my reasons why.

Do- ( Read more... )

Status Update: I worked for an hour in the garden this evening for the first time in weeks, pulling out weeds and dead melon plants to give the survivors a better life, while finding another hiding melon.  I also harvested my one batch of Yukon Gold potatoes, shown below.  I was overall happy with them but they took up a ton of space for not a ( Read more... )

Status Update: Things are trucking along, and my the home remedy treatment for powdery mildew (milk, baking soda, canola oil, water) actually worked very well and quelled the tide.  I have two good sized melons, but no idea when I should pick them.  My first bell pepper is the size of a cherry.  My corn, however, continues to be systematically ( Read more... )

Status Update: Though I have not posted in a while, the garden has been slowly but steadily giving me food and flowers to enjoy, as well as supported the local squirrel population with nearly all of my corn.  Today I had the most beautiful bright pink zinnia.   I have been giving away lots of Ichiban and Ghostbuster eggplants and cucumbers and ( Read more... )

Status Update: I was able to show Matmaw, my 90 year old grandmother, the garden today with my mom.  I got into gardening because of my grandfather Paul (actually named Herb but Paul came out of my sister and I not saying "Paw" correctly as kids).  He would grow things for the family, which Matmaw would then prepare, freeze, or can for later.  He ( Read more... )

It seems I have a garden guardian...a full grown toad has made a cozy home for himself under my cucumbers.  I'm not sure how he got through the fence, but hopefully it will keep the predators away.  At best guess he's either an American Toad or a Fowler's Toad (the most common ones we have, anyway).  If he'd eat some of the insects I'd be most ( Read more... )

Status Update: It was a beautiful day outside and I wanted to post some pictures, especially since some things are actually coming in!  I was also really impressed with the different kinds of flowers, since most of this year's varieties are new to me.


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Status Update: Harvested my first herbs today, and spent an hour supporting more of the plants with twine as they are still getting huge.  Soon I won't be able to walk in the melon playpen.  My first tomatoes are coming in on one of the plants, which look kinda Roma-ish, and my fingers are crossed for what I think is coming next (pics to follow).