Welcome Fall!

I'm so grateful for cooler temperatures after so much heat and humidity, and I'm grateful for fall rains after drought. The swallowtail (above) allowed me to get close for the photo.

I never learn...I tell myself not to buy pepper plants because they ripen late and aren't particularly prolific, but I'm looking forward to eating this one!

The carrots are looking good!

The Stupice tomato plants are setting fruit now. It's a bit late in the season, but these will be okay.

This cosmos is from saved seed, a curious yet lovely combination.

Cucumber Mistakes

The good news is my two lemon cucumber plants are healthy. Recently I got two cucumbers, which are tasty. The bad news is I experimented with planting them late (end of June) to avoid the beetles, so that may be the only two I get this year. Sure, I out-clevered the beetles, but I also out-clevered myself. 

August Update

August is prime season for lots of good thing. Above is a zinnia from saved seed. Below is Blue Spice basil. I'm so happy I was able to find seeds at Bertie County Seeds. I recommend them and Pinetree Garden Seeds (no paid endorsements).

This mess below is a delphinium, which is doing well, a bunch of alyssum (grown from seed), and struggling plugs of native wildflowers. The bunnies have been so terrible this year. I suspect I will lose even more over the winter.

The Limelight hydrangeas (below) love their spots. 

It's been fun to watch this monarch caterpillar on the butterfly weed.

I bought the Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz (above) on clearance with an incorrect label, but it's bigger than the pot.

I'm happy that the bees are happy, such as on the coneflower above and the agastache below. 

Please note that I'm not showing the weeds that I've haven't taken care of because of the heat and humidity. My garden isn't perfect, but it's mine and I love it. 

Tomatoes!

I started Juliet (above) and Stupice (not shown) tomatoes indoors. The Juliet are resilient, and I'm harvesting every other day. The Stupice have struggled in the extreme heat and drought. But I'm making meals out of the Juliet grape tomatoes. I have grown a lot of paste tomatoes in the past, but they get ripe all at once. I like the cherry and grape tomatoes because I can collect some for a meal, and then wait a few days for the next meal. Less pressure to keep up!

Above is Chocolate Sprinkles, which was one friend's favorite. Below is Pink Gal, a pink tomato. How cool is that!

I wasn't sure if I was going to get any tomatoes after I dropped the seedlings this spring indoors, and then the cutworms ate some soon after planting, and one plant just completely disappeared (bird? squirrel? alien?). I'm glad I bought a few plants, which were big enough that the cutworms left them alone. Even though it's a little more prone to disease, the Golden Boy is a prolific slicer that is absolutely delicious on a sandwich.

Late lettuce planting

I'm behind on blogging, but I have photos from when I planted lettuce. The above picture is after I've planted tiny seedlings and covered them with wire to prevent bird and squirrel damage and cabbage butterfly damage on the kale.

Here's what happened when I planted seeds directly into the ground...nothing! I see lots of little ants nearby, and I suspect that they feasted for dinner. However, I planted seeds in little containers in the shade outside, and they sprouted and quickly filled the containers with their roots. I planted those in the garden, and I'll keep them evenly watered until they're a little more established. I also planted some pea seeds (no photo yet), also covered with wire to prevent damage. I'll keep you updated. 

Not Much Rain in July

My rain barrels are empty. I'm using water from the dehumidifier, and it's not enough. Whatever I want to survive, I use the hose to water.

The grass is dormant, hopefully not dead. Most of the neighborhood yards are filled with dry grass or sprinklers. (It feels like a waste to water grass when it naturally wants to go dormant to survive the heat.) The empty looking garden bed was filled with lettuce and greens, which haven't survived the heat and humidity. I'm regretting raised beds because I need to water the veggies every day if I want them to survive. And I do. Occasionally I'm watering flowers and more recently shrubs. They need a break from from the extreme heat. And so do the critters. And the humans. Including this human! Rain is forecasted for Thursday, and I'm hopeful. 

Nasturtium Sleight of Hand

Nasturtiums are a really cool plant. PubMed states that they are a sources of  "trace elements and bioactive compounds which can be easily absorbed by the human body." I planted "Moonlight," starting the seeds indoors until the plant was a couple of inches. I had problems with getting them started from seed in the past, perhaps because we have a lot of squirrels. 

I read online (not from a scientific source but I was getting desperate) that planting nasturtiums with squash confuses squash vine borers. I'm happy to report that I've been getting a steady supply of  zucchini. I have one pollinated pumpkin (so far). These photos are just before our extreme heat wave. But you can see how the flowers are similar in color. I don't know if the confusion works or if it's because I have a lot of plants. That was the extension educator's advice--plant more. Hope is an intravenous solution, flowing through me, keeping me motivated to garden another day.