A Big Zucchini.

I have been sick for 5 days now....I finally got out this morning to grab whatever was good in the garden......this is what I got! The tomatoes are a mix of 4 different kinds (3 of which are Heirloom). The Eggplant are the purple, and "white" variety (Heirloom), and I ended up with a HUGE Zucchini!!!

This Zucchini is 17 inches! I think I could make 4 or 5 loaves of Zucchini bread with just this one!
Here is River with the bounty! :)
(yes, he's wearing shorts. Astonishing, I know) :)

I know there are big Zuc's out there, but I, personally, have never grown one this big!

Seed Harvesting

I wanted to elaborate a little more on the seed harvesting.....I've never done this before, but I'm hoping I'm doing it right! Here is the Basil seed stalk...

I put the whole top into the labeled cup...

Here is the tops of some Oregano...can't remember which kind it is, I think I've got 4 different Oregano plants going.

Here the cups are, sitting, and drying. The big bushy one at the back corner is Comfrey.

Here is where I decided to hang the plants to dry.....in the pantry.

There is Flatleaf Parsley (Cilantro), Spearmint, and Sweet Basil so far....

Cages, Harvesting, Growth, and Aphids (Uck!)

Allright! I'll start with cages. I have been using up extra fencing that we've had from having fences in a couple previous homes (moved 4 times in 2 1/2 years, put up fences at two of them). At our last place, we were able to give away most all of the fencing and t posts to the farm down the road, but I saved some...so glad I did. I'm taking it and cutting the bottom off, so it will be able to stick into the ground.....

...then I am cutting the whole length in half, so I have two cages. This is saving us money, as cages are getting up there in cost!
...and here we go! Stick 'em in the ground, and you have a tomato cage! I don't always wrap them all the way closed, just enough for support for most of the plant. These are Heirlooms!

This one is the one that barely had any green on it when I planted the poor thing. Now, it's flourished, getting tall, and producing nice fruit!

Harvesting seeds.

Here is some Spearmint, I had taken the seed tops off, and put them in the cup.

I take the seed tops off, and put them in the labled cup. I let all the seed cups sit in the house till dried up, then shake the seeds into the cup, they usually fall off easily. Some might have to be coaxed in there :) I am planning on collecting a BUNCH of seeds this summer and fall.

Here is some beautiful Sweet Basil....
This was a harvest on the 28th of July....happy happy joy joy!

I started some Mini Pumkin seeds a little late, we'll se what happens...

Here is a harvest on the 20th....I was SO happy!

Here is Manny Von Popsicle, feasting on his Catnip. He only eats a bit at a time, he always is a gentleman, and doesn't eat up too much!

This one was in early July, I took this one to show how it gets watered most of the time. The sprinkler is at the corner of the fence, and is timed for midnight for 25 minutes. Sometimes, during these really hot days, I'll give extra water during the day, at ground level when I can.

Ugh. Ok, now onto the Aphids. Wait, I want to say Ugh again.....UGH. I hate them. Hate is a strong word, yet I still choose "hate". I'm ready to just pull up the Broccoli and Cauliflower....really, I'm this close to done. I've started with the "crushing them all with my own fingers" method. Then the "power spray with the hose" method. Now, I'm just giving up. Yet, I will try ONE more thing, something Mike found in the Jerry Baker book, a recipe to spray on them. I wasn't going to rely on just water and dish soap, and this sounded like it just...might....work. I am going to mix it up tomorrow, and give it a try, I'll let you know how it went......UGH.

1 sm onion chopped

2 med garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 tbsp liquid dish soap

2 cups water

Put all ingredients in a blender, blend on high, then strain out the pulp. Pour the liquid into a mist sprayer, and apply liberally on all affected areas at the first sign of aphid activity.

Now, we'll see how this goes, as they've been having "activity" on my Broccoli and Cauliflower for weeks and weeks. UGH.

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Some Recovering Corn, and New Starts...

I finally got to work more in the garden, and plant the rest of the corn starts, hopefully, we'll have some corn from them at the end of the season. A lot of the corn plants that the Samuri Kid and Younger Brother whacked down are possibly going to bear corn later! I saved some of them, and they are growing tassles at the tops! The new corn starts are in now, thanks to the help of River and Friend Breeza...they helped plant them!

Here is what the garden is looking like now......:)

Fennel, Oregano, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary (I'm missing Thyme, aren't I?) :)

More herbs: Oregano (I have 4 different oregano plants), Sweet Basil, Flatleaf Parsley, Spearmint

What a FAT Cucumber! I picked it today, to take to camp with us.

The onions are beginning to get bigger!

Here is a variety of Tomatoes.....some cherries...

An interesting Heirloom...

A funny looking Zucchini!

My very first Eggplant! What a beautiful plant it is. Might be hard to see, but it bears these pretty purple flowers first (close to top) and the most darp purple fruit is coming through at the bottom....I LOVE this plant! I have two of these, and two White Eggplants. I think it was the White one that is Heirloom.

Here is the comparison of the first corn plants, and the new ones just planted.

The Canteloup plant is flowering all over the place! I have three of these. I've never tried to grow these, I can't wait to see what happens!

This Catnip plant is on the picnic table, and Manny Von Popcicle goes to it daily, couple times a day and eats off of it. I don't mind, as he leaves plenty!

Here is the boy's friend, Breeza, and River helping me build up more dirt and compost for the new corn plants....

Breeza told me her mom doesn't let her help with planting anything, so I had her help me put the corn in the ground, and help work the soil. She had fun, and so did I!

First Mow, A Fire, Growth, And Flowers

Well, we finally set up the Coleman fire pit/BBQ, and had a nice fire last night. Felt like home, considering our landlords at the last house didn't want us to have fires (even though I explained I was an ex Firefighter, wildland and structure! Jeesh!), so we are so happy to have them back! Set up the Picnic table because the lawn was finally mowed and is ok to put things on already! Looks very nice, and the sod is secure in the ground....that was pretty quick!

Here is a picture of the nice fire at night....

Here is what the garden is looking like with the newly mowed lawn. I'm loving it, and it's really "growing" on me! :)

Here is the growth so far! There is red potatoes, garlic, onions, strawberries, a huge variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, corn, canteloupe, broccoli, cauliflower, two varieties of eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini. There are so many herbs, I won't list them right now!



A closer view...I love how the potato plants look, I've always loved the deep dark green of those leaves! (bottom left of picture).

Here is a pretty Oregano plant...with mint on the left.




I am excited about how wonderfully the corn is growing! I thought I'd lost most of it in the frost after I planted, but it's come through real strong!

The pretty potato plant! Yummy red potatoes are growing slowly under there!

My Pansies!

Snapdragons, Violas, Zinneas...

I painted a bit of Chalkboard paint on this small sitting bench in our entry way...

Growth That Brings Happiness, And A Ladybug!

Here is some pretty....:)

This is how the corn and tomatoes are looking so far.....not to bad with the corn! I was wondering if it would make it, they made it through a frost, after being stunned a bit. Looks like this crop might be nice! I'm planning on planting some more seeds, just to see if it will yeild a later crop.

Here is the Oregano, Basil, Italian Parsley, and Mint (at bottom in square box), Garlic, Onions and then more herbs....Fennel, Parsley, Greek Oregano, Sage (next to the top square box) and Strawberries in the box at top.

This little corn plant (left of the middle) endured a night of heavy frost after being planted, along with all of the other plants. I figured it would'nt make it, as there was barely anything left of it. I kept watering, and added some plant food, hoping it would make it....and it has! Awww...our little runt corn plant :)


This tomato plant almost bit the dust too. I planted it when it had not much green left. It has persevered, and is growing nice and green at the top!

I found my first Ladybug! I am so happy to see a Ladybug in the new garden! (It's on the plant cage).

Here is the potatoes that I experimented with. They are red potatoes from Costco, they had sprouted, and I decided to plant them and see what would happen. Looks like they are going to produce some food for us! I plan on planting some more this month for a later crop.

This is the garden from the lawn, a little hard to see, but I really liked this shot, as Manny Von Popcicle is up on the fence.

Here is another shot of most of the garden. I have been so excited to finally have a garden again! I can tell already, that next year's garden will have to be bigger!

Here is a mini Rose plant that I will plant this weekend, Mike bought it for me. :) Pretty, huh?