2012 - June 30th

Amidst the heat and lack of rain, the fruits of our vegetable are struggling to survive.  June has been so hot and dry, with temperatures in the upper 90s and low 100s.   These three little Spaghetti Squashes are protected by the netting from the deer.

The Butterfly Bush is doing well with the drought.  I love how it keeps producing beautiful purple flowers throughout the summer for the hungry Butterflies, Bees, and many other nectar eating insects.

The deer netting is also protecting the Crab Apple nicely.  The tree has recovered nicely from the attacks from the hungry deer.

The morning sunlight shines on the backside of the house as Panda tries to stay cool on the walkway bricks.

Mimi's plant at the bottom is doing well along with my "Cat Vomit" plant (my mom calls it) with all it's new sprouts all over the plant.

Another pretty Sunflower bloomed in the Walmart Pot with the Daffodils.  I love the color variation of red with the yellow.

The heat has really taken a toll on the Inpatients.   The leaves are shriveling up into small echos of a leaf.

The Green Pepper is ALMOST ready to pluck!  It has done well.  It is small, but looks VERY tasty!

The Basil has been very delicious on our Margarita Pizzas. 

The Brussels Sprouts have taken the toll from the caterpillars, which have just about munched all the leaves off of this stalk.  I ended up pulling up this plant in hopes to get rid of some of the pesky eaters.

 The larger of the two stalks has only been sparsely munched on.  Thankfully. 

The Sunflowers in the Raised Garden are so pretty, but they are so freaking tall that I cannot thoroughly enjoy them.  Next year, I will put the shorter Sunflower varieties in the Raised bed and put the taller ones out on the fence line to see them from afar.

The Gypsy Pepper and the Tomato plants are struggling the most in the small pots.  I am not able to water them like I should with this drought.  The plants suffer from the heat and lack of water and have put out a limited supply of fruit.

The Cherry Tomatoes are getting ready to turn Red!!!

The Radish Seed Pods are full of seeds and look about ready to be pulled for collection.

The Snow Peas are definitely done.  The plants have turned to a crispy papery shell of a plant.

This is the third year for the Butterfly Garden.  It looks so rough.  The caterpillars have really done a number on the Cone Flowers.  After I divided the really pretty Red Lilies, it seems to declined in life.  It has gone dormant like it was turning winter.  I hope it survives.  I really love that plant.

The Mammoth Sunflower is getting taller and taller, while the Yuccas are done with their flowers as they produce seeds in their pods.

2012 - June 22 - Pests and Production

The onslaught of an early spring and the lack of a true winter has shown my garden what it can do to it.  Ants have been a problem on all the sunflowers, but no major damage.

Soybeans!!!  This little plant had several bean pods.  They are too small to taste.

The cilantro is blooming and is done with producing the yummy leaves as the heat has caused this herb to bolt.

I wanted to attract pollinators to our vegetables so they can produce a bounty of fruit by planting the sunflowers in the raised garden.  However, the mass of caterpillars have done their damage to the plants.  Pockets of holes all throughout our garden show how hungry these guys are.

The Spaghetti Squash is getting bigger and bigger and I await patiently for it to turn yellow!

The Bumble Bees LOVE our garden this year.  They frequent the Butterfly Garden and the Raised Garden.

2012 - Pesky Pests

And it begins.  A swarm of Japanese Beetles have graced my garden.  My poor four year old Rose-of-Sharon Bush is finally providing me privacy from my neighbor is being eaten alive by this damaging pest.  I need to find some way to save it.  I used the rest of my insecticidal soap to kill the mating bugs in the act, but I fear it is minimal to zilch effect.  This flower is now devoured.  As well as the majority that have bloomed yesterday and today and the ones that are just opening.  A few beetles turned into hundreds.  Madness.

 

 On another note, the Spaghetti Squash is producing a few fruits.

 The Green Pepper is getting bigger!

The Peas are finishing their season and I am trying to decide what to put in their place for the summer rotation.

 The Brussel Sprouts are doing better.  Maybe by winter, they will be as tall as me and have lots of Sprouts!

 My pot of Sunflowers and Daffodils are almost as tall as me and starting to bloom.

Opening Soon!!!

2012 - After the Rain

Another beautiful, radiant Sunflower bloom.  We finally got some rain after a long spout of none.  It has been hot and dry and this rain has been much appreciated.  Now I do not feel so bad for missing a watering yesterday.

The Radishes are still blooming away with no signs of seed pods.

I had an empty spot in the Raised Garden.  Hard to believe, but I put more Sunflower seeds, so they will be on the way soon!

Grow Carrots Grow!!!

Evan's Flower is doing well! Here's a view from April 30th.

The Russian Sage is taking over the back corner of the Butterfly Garden.  I had to keep it from smothering Evan's Flower.

2012 - The Raised Garden - June 7th

The Raised Garden is definitely in full swing.  After two months I finally finished it.  I also added three tomato varieties: Cherry, Yellow, and Heat Resistant.  Another new addition is a Gypsy Pepper Plant.  I love the small sweet peppers find at the store and hope these are like those.  The new plants would not fit in the raised garden, so I bought some plastic pots to set in a protected yet full sun spot.

In the meantime, the Sunflowers have really sky rocketed!  I would say it is at least 7 feet tall!  The blooms so far are a deep, dark red.

Aside from a few caterpillars and a billion ants, the pests have been forgiving.  The Brussel Sprouts seem to be affected the most.  Their leaves are riddled with chewed holes throughout the leaves.

The Snap Peas finally have gotten big enough to eat.  They are so sweet!  I love just snacking on them while I am watering the garden.  The Peas have been the most fun and rewarding to grow so far.

I need to figure something out for the pile of logs.  Burning them would be a good option, but it's been so hot and dry.  I fear, as July approaches so fast, that I will have a much bigger pile here shortly once our summer storms start blowing through.

Our Green Pepper is finally growing and looking good!  It is so small right now, about the size of a thumb. Evan and I have not had a successful growth of Peppers in previous years.  We grew them near the fence where the deer would munch on them or they would get too much water and rot.  I keep my fingers crossed that they will do well here in the raised garden.

Evan picked up this garden sign at Target in the dollar bin and has really helped out our garden.  When we left at the beginning of May on our separate trips, the garden doubled in size while we were gone.  The Parsley was just sprouting, the Cilantro was about two inches tall, and the Sunflowers were only a foot tall.  I get back a week later and everything was doing great and grown!  The Sunflowers were then as tall as the trellis and the Cilantro and Parsley were ready for munching on.

The Kentucky Pole beans have finally produced some Beans.

The Leek plant is still blooming. I am unsure about when it is going to go to seed.  I left the Cottage Cheese container on the bulb to keep from loosing any seeds, but it still seems to be just a bloom.

The Sunflower is so beautiful, but is about 7 feet tall in the air!  More Blooms to come!!!  Even the leaves on this one plant has red veins that stand out against the green, just like the Beets.

The Beets are so yummy.  Evan sautes them in a skillet with Oil, Garlic, and a splash of Balsamic Vinegar.  I slice the Beets and tear the Leaves into bite size pieces and cook it for 8 minutes.  Oh yeah!

The Radishes have stopped making Radish Roots that are editable and had shot up some pretty blossoms.  I am eager for the seed pods as they are supposed to taste like peas, but with a sharper bite.
 

Yay! Yay! Yay!  What a garden!  I can't believe how much better it has been for growing this year.  I make an effort everyday get up early to ensure everything is watered well since rain has been so scarce this year.  I Love it!  It makes me smile.