From Summer to Fall

Overall it's been a very mild summer for us here. We've had only a handful of days of intense heat unlike Maybelline's Garden over in Bakersfield - yikes.  Perhaps that's why our tomato crop was not anything to brag about. We also got hit this year with  katydids and sadly they devoured a few of our tomato plants and reproduced like mad. There are a few more tomato plants left in the beds but I'm giving up hope on them as they are becoming quite an ugly site. I'm about to fill a few more vases of zinnias up before I yank those out too. I hate to pull them out while they seem to still be doing so well but want to make sure that I have the room for the fall garden.  The zucchini is still thriving and showing no signs of stopping so quiche is definitely on our menu this week and we have a ton of tomatillos, eggplant and bell peppers that are soon ready to harvest. Sadly we had no luck with our pumpkins this year so we'll make yet another trip with the kids to the pumpkin patch, which is always quite fun and bring four home. With the exception of the noisy leaf blowers on our street throughout the week, I just love this time of year.

The Secret Garden

Just home from a fabulous time seeing my family in Southern California. It was great spending time with them. Their garden was a delight to see. New beds were built in 2009 and huge change has taken place down there. They have a composting area, grapes growing and it is definitely a place any gardener would admire. Their garden sits at the bottom of a terraced backyard and it certainly qualifies as a secret garden as a narrow stone pathway is the only way to get there. My dad made these garden beds for my mom and they are quite charming to look at. I just love how the boards sit at different heights creating a more interesting look than your standard garden bed. I've never seen green zebra tomatoes like my mom's. Her plant (yes, 1) was monstrous and there was absolutely no way we were leaving without incorporating them into a meal. I came home inspired and more enthusiastic about our garden and the fall planning is under way.

First Cucumbers Of 2010

The kids were pretty excited to pick their first cucumbers of the year this evening from the trellis I created between their garden beds. The top cucumber is from Sam's garden bed and although he refuses to try cucumbers I'm hoping he'll give this one a try and love them from here on out.  Maggie picked about 5 of these little cute little cucumbers (bottom) off her side of the trellis. We plan to cut them in to spears and pickle them tomorrow. I'm hoping to find a easy dill pickle recipe. I think I'm going to give refrigerator pickling a try (they'll be gone in no time anyhow) Still waiting for a miracle to happen with the tomato plants - they're not as showy and full of tomatoes as they were this time last year. Leggy is the best word for them here. The zinnias & cosmos are blooming and the pumpkin plants are spilling out of the beds everywhere and are a delight to see! Already we are thinking about what/when to plant for fall.

Happy 4th Of July 2010 ~ Red, White & Blue

Garden Pictures June 2010

2009/2010 Tomato Plants

Late May 2009

June 25, 2010

I planted our tomato plants much earlier last year (I think it was the 1st weekend in April) This year I waited until later (April 19) and with the very wet and cool spring, I'm glad I did. I'm still waiting for the Sun God to turn up the heat. My tomato plants are really on the leggy side this year - not as full and bushy as last year. I should follow my daughter's advice and not look at them so often. Maybe a long weekend away is calling us.

Parking Strip Gardens

Recently we had our street resurfaced. I asked the contractor on the job if he'd lift the cement from our parking strip. Not only did he do it but he also took away the concrete as well (what a nice guy!) We plan to plant lawn and crape myrtles there in the fall giving us something to look at other than the street and parked cars. I have always been a fan a tree lined streets and was told that years ago our street was once like this. While surfing the net one day I stumbled across another great garden blog called Greenwalks. It's about Seattle parking strip gardens. The pictures are lovely and I find it very inspiring. The trees and sod will eventually be planted in our parking strip but in the meantime four zucchini plants are loving the full sun out front and it makes me happy to know there will plenty to share with our neighbors.

Picture from Greenwalks