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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Something I accomplished

Between the weather and my less-than-stellar gardening habits lately, weeds had started taking over my ornamental gardens.

The worst was probably the mailbox area. It's low on the priority list of areas to revamp, so I haven't put much effort into it at all. After the monster morning glories last year, I decided to go with something more demure this year and planted sweet peas. Needless to say, there's a lot of empty area, and it was all full of weeds.


The perennial bed along the driveway wasn't much better.


I had several perennials not come back this spring, so there are more bare areas in this bed than I expected, and the weeds moved in.


Last but not least was the herb garden. The dill went crazy this year...


and the sage and thyme have been blooming for weeks...


but the weeds were doing just as well.


Last weekend I couldn't take it any longer, and I finally cleaned them all up. With daytime highs in the upper 90's, I had to get started early. I worked 4 hours Saturday morning and another couple hours on Sunday. After I was done, the beds looked much better.






I'm not a fan of plant islands surrounded by seas of mulch, but it's not a great time of year to plant perennials, especially since we're in week two of high temperatures with no end in sight. Also, I live in the city, and I don't mind conforming a little to the urban standard. As long as my neighbors don't expect me to water the grass.

Monday, July 10, 2017

The gardener might be slacking, but the garden isn't

I've mentioned before how I am just not focused squarely on the vegetable garden this year. Luckily, the plants are chugging along without me. A couple weeks ago, I picked peas and broccoli.

First pea picking
Second pea picking

I had enough peas that I froze 3/4 pound. That isn't a lot, but for me that's pretty good, especially since we ate quite a few fresh. I froze the broccoli and ended up with a little over two pounds.

I picked onions yesterday.


It's a little early, but not as early as last year. I tried a new variety, but I can't remember what it is (that's how bad I am this year!). I wasn't unhappy with the copra hybrid I had grown for several years, but didn't have anything else to order from the company I got them from, so I tried this new one. They are more "flying saucer" shaped and not as round as the copra. They are now lying on the deck, covered by a sheet, and we'll see how they look in a couple weeks.

A walk around the garden yesterday morning showed me that I have plenty to look forward to.

I was inspired by the variety of peppers that Dave at Our Happy Acres grows, so I tried two new varieties this year. I also didn't manage to give away many extra plants, so I ended up planting nine pepper plants. All the seeds came from Seed Savers Exchange.

Jimmy Nardello
Sheepnose pimento
Healthy
Napoleon sweet
The tomatoes are also putting on fruit. This year, I decided to give up on Amish Paste, which I've grown for three or four years, because I just haven't been impressed with it. Instead, I tried this one:

Speckled Roman
It joins the other three varieties I've grown for the past two years:

Italian Heirloom
Nebraska Wedding
Mexico midget
Sorry for the focus on that last picture. I blame the sun.

Last, but not least, is a first for K's Garden...eggplant!

Diamond
A friend inspired me to try eggplant. He said he would grow them even if he didn't eat them because they are so pretty. The plants are definitely not quite what I expected, but both of them have at least two little fruits on them right now. I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to eat eggplant. Baba ganoush comes to mind, but I'm going to do a little research. This variety does not grown really big, they are kind of long and slender. Perhaps grilled?

One last picture, just because zinnias are so pretty.