New Gardens = )

I know that the summer is winding down. I won't have many more weeks of posting pictures of my learning experience that I call a garden before I have to clean and oil my tools and tuck all the plants in for the winter. I will not despair though because I look forward to hours of daydreaming while looking out over a snow covered yard, and thinking of all the things I want to improve for next year. I also have armchair gardening to look forward too. This go around Amy and I can expand our circle and invite Liz and Vicci, who have recently acquired gardens of their own, to dream and scheme with us! I see a snowy Saturday afternoon of gardening books, catalogues, wine and friendship; and husbands who will all be running as fast as they can to get out of the house!
When the girls acquired their gardens, I told them that I would be available to help them get their gardens growing. I so enjoy helping other people have their own little gardens of Eden, especially if I get to help with all the fun planning and picking of stuff and leave them to do all the day to day trimming and weeding! I have even been contemplating what kind of horticultural education I would have to undertake in order to successfully start a business to teach people not lucky enough to have a mom or friend who is willing to pass along gardening knowledge. I even had a great name... the Garden Tutor. Of course my inspiration of being the first person to think of being the savior of gardeners who can't quite get their gardens to grow because they have no idea what they are doing, with a great business name and plan were dashed when I searched "garden tutor" and actually came up with 2 other businesses with the name and the plan that I came up with. On the negative side, I am not the first person to think of this, on the positive side, neither of the companies were in the Philadelphia area, and they are apparently doing well enough to post current portfolio pictures on their websites. There must be a need for this service... I will just have to come up with an even more clever name.
Off to check and see what goodies the roof has produced today...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

The evil green sausages have returned to the garden!! This time I only found one, but it looks like I caught it just in time, it had what looked like little white eggs/cocoons on its back. No mercy for this girl, I hope I got all of the babies when I scooped her up and deposited her in the garbage can Fingers crossed there aren't baby evil green sausages waiting in the soil of the buckets waiting to emerge next year and nibble their way through the tomatoes!
I wonder where she has been hiding all this time. I know tomato worms are remarkable similar in color to tomato plants, but at more than 2" long and bigger around than a pencil, you would think I would see the thing before it showed up with a hoard of eggs!
I had to laugh though, as much as I dislike the critters, if you look at them from the back end, they have a single horn and a nose shaped rear that kind of makes them look like a little unicorn. That "nose" and horn make a good camouflage and protection. I have seen one before, and know what their heads look like, and yet when I saw the horn and "nose" I thought I was looking at its head!

Roof Top Gardening

The tomatoes are really starting to look sad. I did get another good batch of fruit from them this week, though I worry that in the coming week there will be less ripe tomatoes. The over night temperatures are supposed to get into the 50s; good sleeping weather, not good tomato ripening weather. If we start getting frost too soon, I may have to drape a sheet over the bird netting to help keep the little 'maters warm at night.
The peppers are still producing new flowers. I have had pink paprika peppers and some have turned to red while waiting on the kitchen counter to be eaten. I haven't eaten one yet though, so you will have to stay tuned for a report on taste.
The scallions that are sharing pots with some of the tomatoes and peppers are starting to be a usable size. I plan to use one later this week as garnish for fried rice, and also in some homemade salsa. Our neighbors gave us some nice little chili peppers to use for heat. Grilled pepper fajitas here I come!
So far I haven't seen the little bugger in person, but I believe that there is a squirrel stealing tomatoes. I have gone up a few times thinking that there should be several ripe ones, only to discover only 1 or 2 ready to eat. And I have found a few that see to have been nibbled on, just far enough away that they couldn't have fallen off the plant and been nibbled on by a passing bug or bird. Next year I may need to get crafty with squirrel deterrent systems!

The Frugal Bouquet

Everybody likes getting flowers, and I am always giddy with excitement when my garden produces enough flowers that I can have a vase full for me, and one to give away. I have been cutting random flowers here and there all summer, and figured there would be just enough rudbeckias in bloom that I could take some to a friend for her birthday. I went out with my clippers and my flower basket, and to my dismay, discovered that I only had 2 fully formed flowers and about 6 sick looking ones. Not really a great bouquet.
I figured I could look around and see what else I could fill the vase out with. I clipped a few purple butterfly bush branches, some nasturtiums, marigolds, a geranium branch, peach bean blossoms, chive flowers(!) and mint. I never realized that I had such a variety of flowers in the yard! By the time I got all of them into the vase, I was really struggling to find room.
So, in honor of having watched a few too many public television cooking shows this weekend and the fact that I don't think many people truly appreciate the idea of being frugal (according to Merriam-Webster dictionary: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources), I present to you, the Frugal Bouquet...

(should I admit that the vase is really a neat looking hexagonal mustard jar?...)

Roof Top Gardening

There is nothing like standing on your roof and gazing over rows of tomatoes and peppers. In the midst of a barren wasteland (and it really is wasted land, all that wide open, flat space and sunshine just begging for tomato plants and solar panels!) my little patch of green is heaven. I had more peppers this week, including some of the paprika ones that are now turning pink, I can't wait to taste the difference when they finish changing. I am only leaving them on to turn red on one plant. When peppers are allowed to turn red on the plant, the plant thinks it has accomplished its task of producing fully ripe fruit, and thereby seeds, and stops producing flowers and more fruit. It's no wonder red peppers are so expensive at the market.

The tomato plants have a little disease problem and are a little whimpy looking. They are still producing though, and I have sprayed them with copper spray (much more diluted this time so I don't burn the leaves). I have also been monitoring their soil moisture more closely and have had fewer blossom end rot victims. I picked more than 20 tomatoes this week! Most of them are small romas, but they are still tastier than anything from the store. I am going to order tomato plant food next year from Garden's Alive and get them on a feeding schedule to hopefully better combat the lack of nutrients inherent in container gardening.

I think we'll have tomato, basil, mozzarella and green onion salad tomorrow for dinner....

Weekly update

There is hope for another round of squash! All of the partial plants that I pruned down and twisted back over the garden, have lived! I had to spray with sulfur solution to combat a new case of powdery mildew, but otherwise, they are filling out nicely and even have blossoms!
The beans, despite me not planting a second round, are still producing, slowly, but we have enough for dinner about once a week. I'd say they have returned on their investment. A pack of bean seeds was about $2.50 and we have had about 3 pounds of beans, that's cheaper than the market, and I still have more seeds that I can plant next year. They are also prettier than the ivy and junk that used to climb up the fence.
The transplanted lettuce is looking good. I always forget just how long it takes lettuce to really start growing, but at least it wasn't completely beaten down by the 5 hour thunder storm we had the other night (wow was that crazy!)
If you look at the bottom left corner of the picture, you will notice a new addition to the garden. One morning we were out in the garden enjoying a cup of coffee before heading off to work. Something above Paul's head caught my attention. There was a humming bird hovering about 2' above his head! Such fascinating creatures! So we got a humming bird feeder. We got a pack of the pre-made nectar, but I think I want to see if I can find a homemade recipe. I can't imagine that red food dye is good for such a tiny creature. Since hanging the feeder I have seen either the same humming bird twice in one day, or two different birds about 2 hours apart. Either way, the bird seemed more interested in the pretty peach bean blossoms and the butterfly bush, than the feeder, but it did stop by for a little sip. I am going to have to leave my camera by the back window so I have it next time I see one come by.

Ah, summer.

update

Well I think the cucumbers have mildew, I'm not sure what to do about it. If they were sqash I'd do a hack and hope, but with the sensitive cumbers I don't know what to do so this maybe the end of the cukes. the squash bed had been emptied, i hate that furry speed bump, so I put in some kale seeds and I'll but in carrots and parsnips later. I really need to go ask that neighbor lady if I can borrow her trap...
The tomatoes and herbs are still doing well. I've made one jar of freezer tomato sauce, dried some tyme and camomile and I think I'll be freezing some basil soon.