Hello everyone! We've been having some crazy weather around here lately. So, last week it was just starting to feel like summer with an average of the 80's as a high when, all of the sudden, the weather decided to step back a few months. This past weekend the weather jumped back down to the 60's and we had bead-size hail Monday morning! Everything's back to normal now, and it's been great weather for gardening :)
Some ominous looking clouds before the weather went crazy.
These rosebushes just keep blooming.
These pink ones are kinda looking like they're done for now. They'll be back later in the summer, though. I really need to deadhead them.
My littlest tomato plant <3 :)
Pots before transplanting- looking really yucky.
Pepper plants right after pruning about a week ago. I pinched off the tops and they're starting to bulk up really quick.
A mulberry seedling. I've been finding these EVERYWHERE thanks to the birds.
The cucumber and squash bed a few days ago-everything's growing like crazy. One day there's an empty looking vegetable patch with a few little green things sticking up out of the ground and the next there's a forest! :) I'll never get used to it.
Cucumber tendril :)
I've been finding these nasty looking little caterpillars everywhere. They turn into really pretty butterflies, though guessing by all of the gorgeous ones I've seen flying around my cilantro this spring.
My nasturtiums don't look very happy. They look better than they did, but still look a little sickly. I can't figure out if it's too much or too little water, since they're supposed to like it dry.
My Roma tomato plant. They're all growing very stocky this year. Last year, all of my tomatoes were scraggly and lanky.
My onions are growing way better than I had even dared to hope! :) I haven't had any luck with these and have had to stick to store bought in the past. We'll see how things go this year :)
Don't know what this weed is. It seems to be popping up all around my yard in all of the driest places.
A little pomegranate on my little pomegranate bush. It probably won't grow to an edible size, but there's always that itty bit of hope that it might :)
I put my hand in this one for size reference. I have small hands, but the fruit's bulb-y part is about the same size as a quarter, if not a tiny bit bigger.
Inside the Fig tree :)
Mullberries!!! I need to find a recipe to use these. Maybe a pie? Any ideas?
Today's Garden project was garden markers. I got the kids to help me paint. We all had a lot of fun! :)
Jorgie trying to look "grown up" ;)
Painting :)
No, that is NOT salsa, it is paint water ;)
Placing the rocks (that little blue cup thing has some thyme rooting in it. I had buried some stems from that thyme plant next to it to get them started, then transplanted into that little cup and plan on potting them separately when their roots get a little stronger)
Jorgie, proud that he got to paint the centerpiece for the garden :)
My sister painted this one and did all of the writing (except for the centerpiece) because I have bad handwriting (see said centerpiece :) )
The squash and Cucumber Marker
Jorgie and his ladybug friend
Abby- I love this little girl to pieces. I call her my little gaptooth :)
you can see I tossed out the old soil and planted some new herbs in the old pepper pots. This is some lavender and oak leaf lettuce.
The Carrot patch
My sister painted this one, too.
Dandelions :) always fun
Little hands :)
The melon patch. Abby painted this one
The green bean patch.
I painted this one.
Abby's melon patch rock :)- watermelons and cantaloupe
The "Centerpiece"
Abby's tomato patch marker
A closeup of the onion and pepper marker
I made some temporary bird-feeders by taking a cardboard tube, cutting it in half, covering the halves in peanut butter, rolling them in birdseed and tying one on each trellis. I wanted to attract more birds to my cucumber patch so, hopefully, they can help me keep cucumber beetles under control this summer. We'll see how well they work. I need to buy some more permanent ones, though.
Garden overview. Again, kind of messy. I haven't had the chance to really clean it, lately. The cilantro needs to be trimmed.
This patch is growing like crazy. In just a couple of days, the plants have almost doubled in size!
These pepper plants are bushing up really nicely since I pruned them.
My sturdy little tomato plants
The butternut squash plants are growing pretty well too.
My "lone" pumpkin plant. We'll see how this one grows. I forgot to put in a bottle, and before I knew it, It was too late to put one in, so this one will just have to make do with my lousy hand watering. I might just do an above ground jug system. I did it for my tomatoes last year and it worked great!
The melon patch is growing very well this year. I need to thin it out. It seems like a shame to pull out such beautiful plants, though. I saw some flowers starting to open up on a couple of the cantaloupe plants today.
This is peppermint and leaf lettuce. I love adding the mint to my tea or lemonade to give it a little bit of freshness.
Some sage and more lettuce :)
and lastly, the lavender and lettuce.
(post that never got published...oops! ;) just been a little too busy to keep up with the blog :( )
