Happy July!

My dog Anastasia gives my garden one nose up. So if she approves it must be good. She likes wandering around the yard while I am checking on my garden.
Here is the latest full shot of the garden. You will probably notice first the huge Okra plant on the right. It is growing fast but still yet to produce any flowers. The beans in the center are nice and bushy but the pods are not growing large enough to use at this time.

The “unidentified” squash still has not been fully identified. Signs point to it being a spaghetti squash. There is one large squash growing. All other female flowers have died rotting deaths before they get to ripe. I suspect I need to do more research on what is happening. I think I will be happy if I can just get the one squash to ripen.
Here is a view of the tomatoes and you can see the squash in the distance.
Found this guy hanging out on my beans the other day. I wanted to kill him but then I realized he is a parasitic wasp (I think it is a paper wasp). He kills all the little buggers that like to destroy my plants. He is my friend – as long as he doesn’t sting me.

Pictures of Square Foot Garden 1

I just ordered our second square foot garden box for an early start for fall crops. In celebration of that, I am posting the current photo of garden number one.

Upper Left Corner – 2 tomato plants
Upper Center Right – 1 big unidentified squash (suspect it is spaghetti or butternut)
Bottom left – Yellow squash
Center – Carrots, Onions, Beans, and a hidden tomato
Side Right – Okra
Bottom Right Corner – Extremely small pepper
Bottom Right Center – Extremely small eggplant

On a unrelated note, I am still mourning the loss of this lovely borage plant. A few years ago, I did some reading on gardening and ordered borage seeds. I never really used them. When we moved into our new home, I couldn’t remember why I had them but decided to start one from seed anyway. It produced this lovely purple flowering plant. I did some more reading a few weeks ago and realized why I ordered them. They are a great companion plant for tomatoes and squashes. They help keep bad bugs out of the garden. Upon realizing this, I tried transplanting it next to the tomato. They don’t like to be transplanted. It died 😦 I have recently planted new seeds around the tomatoes and hoping these lovely flowers soon return.

I have garden envy

I have garden envy. Everyone else I know who is gardening is actually growing food but I have yet to see any. When I hear stories and see pictures of my friends’ bounty, I get jealous. I know I should be patient. Things are actually progressing quite nicely in my own garden. I haven’t killed a plant in over two weeks and many are on their way to producing food. I should see a squash in the next week or so (I had to hand pollinate one this morning after finally seeing a female blossom). Tomatoes should start blooming any day now. The beans are almost ready to burst. Patience is a virtue that I must work on. However, I am definitely getting a head start on my fall harvest so maybe I will be the recipient of garden envy. 🙂

Tomato Herb Planter

Last Saturday we purchased a cherry tomato plant at the Winter Park Farmers market. This purchase led into the ideal of creating a mix herb pot. I had plenty of mini herb plants started from seeds so it seemed like a great idea for a porch plant. The 9 side holes have a mix of marjoram, dill, parsley, cilantro, oregano, sage, and basil. The cherry tomato is planted in the top hole. We are excited about seeing this planter grow.