Garden Blogger's Death Day

I'll make the sadness of it all short... Here are the before and after pictures of the contents of my SFG. They weren't dead until after I pulled them all up... This still counts, right? ;-) What was left of my Yolo Wonder Bell peppers... I posted pictures of these last month, I think, for Death Day, but they weren't truly dead then... Not watering for a few weeks did the trick though. It's been so blazin' hot out that I don't think my watermelon, cantaloupe or sweet potatoes have grown in at least a week. I was beginning to think I had created a "bush variety" of sweet potatoes because they aren't vining at all. I wanted to see what they were up to so I pulled one today. Poor things. And, for my big disappointment... My broccoli and cabbage seedlings are all shriveling up. There's a patch of mold on this pot's soil. I think their deaths are due to too much moisture, not enough sunlight, and too much heat from sitting next to the window. Good thing I'm ahead of myself for the upcoming growing season! With the exception of my seedlings, I'm welcoming this month's nasty business of garden death, as it signals the upcoming season of cool weather crops. Instead of looking at my empty SFG with longing, I'm patiently standing by for the weather to cool off enough to get another round growing. My first season of gardening has been more turbulent than productive, but I feel I've learned a few things, and am better prepared for what's to come.

Harvest Monday picked on Sunday and Tuesday and posted on Wednesday

HA! I think that title made me realize I've had a little too much coffee, and not enough food. I see more and more of the blogs I read joining in contributing to "Harvest Monday," (hosted by Daphne's Dandelions) and I actually had stuff I harvested on Sunday with intentions of contributing too, but didn't get around to posting about it! Doh! Anyway, here are the goods... On Sunday, I picked all of the ripe cherry tomatoes, and made doubly sure that DH brought them in to work on Monday. He ate most of them for a snack, and gave a few to someone who loves tomatoes. The tomato lover confirms that they were good tomatoes. LOL I also picked a few pears to see how they'll taste. Yesterday I went to work on the SFG, and decided at the last minute to rip everything out. Here is what I harvested before the destruction began (tune in on Monday for carnage pics). My three bell peppers ended up with the same rotting/scorch marks as the one seen in the picture... They were pretty small too. At least I had a good turnout of chili's! I hadn't planned on using anymore okra because I didn't think I would get enough to do anything with, but there were more out there than I expected. After I tore everything out of the SFG, I made a mix of Bumper Crop Soil Amendment (since I don't have any home made compost *yet*), fresh and dried grass clippings, bone and blood meal, coffee grounds, and added this to the existing soil. I've tried to take all the information I've read about fertilizing and amending soil, and putting that info to work. Alas, it just seems so complicating to me that I'm crossing my fingers with this mix. I did a few soil tests two weeks ago with a home kit, and my results showed very low to no nitrogen. This is why I added the coffee grounds, blood meal and grass clippings. Let's hope I didn't overdo it! So guilty! While I was mixing everything in buckets, the LO got into the SFG, and started throwing dirt everywhere. I, of course, grabbed the camera and clicked while I disciplined. Check out how tall that zinnia in the background is! He kept getting into the bed, so I gave up on that battle, and handed him a bowl in a fruitless effort to dissuade him from throwing the dirt out of the bed... Boy Wonder started 2nd grade yesterday. He had a great day, and is excited to be back in school. Dad and I were both sad to see how fast it's all going by, but are so proud of how big he's getting!

I'm a blog slacker

Well, fellow gardening bloggers, sorry for not posting anything in a while... The garden has sort of taken a back seat for me with preparations for Boy Wonder starting 2nd grade on Tuesday, and trying to squeeze in a few more activities before summer break is over. We've also had our 1 year anniversary of moving to CA, and it's had me feeling a little down and out. The garden would normally kick those bummy feelings, but I haven't been gardening! It's too stinkin hot, and I'm too busy for it! The good news is, there hasn't been a lot going out there... I finally got around to frying up the okra I'd been stashing. I chopped and froze about 1.5 sandwich bags worth, and ended up making way too much for one sitting. Now I know that next time I grow okra, I can probably cook about 1/2 that amount at a time. I don't know that DH and Boy Wonder will be glad to hear that since they didn't like it a lot. The LO and I, on the other hand, scarfed the fried okra! Then again, I've got southern blood runnin' through my veins, and the LO eats almost everything. He's been the one eating the cherry tomatoes, in fact. I tried them, I promise, but I didn't like them! Blegh. I served the fried okra with BBQ chicken topped with grilled Fresno's. So yummy... This is the lone giant purple zinnia that grew from the 6-10 I planted on June 1. The first picture was taken 10 days ago, and I thought I'd caught it at the end of it's bloom, but it turns out it was the beginning... the second picture is from today. The zinnia has filled in nicely... Here is my first watermelon. She's still growing, but growing sorta crooked. I think this may be the beginning of the end for her. I recall reading a blog or forum post somewhere where melon's that weren't fertilized grow for a while then die off, and I'm jumping to this conclusion due to the funny growth. The good news is, I ensured these ladies got some lovin'. Teehee The one on the left was pollinated 3 days ago, and the one on the right was done today. Here are my Texas Grano 502 onions. I started them on the 7th, and they began sprouting on the 11th. I have them growing in a 2:1 combo of Miracle Gro Seed Starter and vermiculite, in a plastic container that salad greens from Costco came in. I also started my first round of Waltham 29 broccoli (3 square pots) and Red Acre Cabbage (circular pot) on the 13th. It took the broccoli 4 days to begin sprouting, and the cabbage 6 days. They're looking a little leggy so far... Hmm... I guess there have been some things happening around here after all! I'm feeling a little better now... Yay!

I knew something like this would happen...

We went camping in Bodega Bay for a few days, and something happened while we were gone... A female watermelon bloomed! Oooh, I'm all turned about inside. I wasn't here to make sure this lady was pollinated, and now I have to sit around with fingers and toes crossed! I guess I'd be doing that even if I had ensured pollination, just waiting to see if it would be healthy and grow... Male watermelon flowers, waiting for mates that won't appear in time... Patience seems to be paying off with these peppers so far. There are 3 healthy looking (gasp) bell peppers on the front plant. Since it's getting close to the end of the season, I'm leaving the Fresno's on the plant to turn red. 4'x2' cantaloupe bed. All three are blooming, and only males have bloomed, but I think I spotted 2 females this morning. Now the trick is getting them blooming at the same time! Do the melon's leaves seem small? The Meyer lemon blooms from last week died, but there's already another round going. The interesting thing about these blooms is their size difference. The blooms up until now have been small, like those seen below. See that big one though? There is another set of all large blooms like that one. Maybe these will do some growing. I cleaned up and reorganized the shed yesterday. This was an unplanned project (I have yet to do any planned projects ugh), but I needed to do it before putting the camping gear back in the boxes. Thanks, Boy Wonder, for helping make a quick job of it. I don't have a before picture, but it was a mess. The boxes were under the shelves, and bags of soil and folding chairs were in front of the boxes. I could barely get to anything on the shelves, or into the boxes. The shelves still need to be tidied up, but it's great being able to walk straight up to them. During our trip to Bodega Bay, we stopped at Candy & Kites for salt water taffy and a kite to fly on the beach. I wanted a windmill for the garden, and Boy Wonder chose a ladybug. A few pictures from the trip... These wild orchids were growing all along Route 1, and down the hillside to the beach. There was also a beautiful variety of succulent but I forgot to take a picture of it. Dad helping Boy Wonder get his kit up in the air. It took no effort at all because of the constant breeze. It also only lasted about 30 seconds before Boy Wonder decided digging in the sand was much better than a self flying kite! Cheeze! Boy Wonder took this... He's got a great eye for a 7yo.