what’s the ‘mater?

Overall our tomatoes are doing well. We are losing a few plants, but they put out a good round of fruit before they started drying out. The other plants are doing fine. This is the third time I’ve grown Black Prince, and each time they only get so far into summer before the plant shrivels […]

sowing autumn

I wanted two beds for fall harvest, and the beets and carrots are still going, so… I built another bed yesterday, picked up more topsoil to fill it today. I still have to clear the first bed of whatever garlic managed to grow (I planted it much too late this year), but I sowed the […]

what ‘maters most…

The tomato beds are just fine. Some voluteers are stunted, but every other plant is making up for it. August should be a good month for BLTs… or even GBLTs. 😂😂😂

rainy day snapshots

I have a long established habit of cropping out the mess. Who doesn’t, right? I have been noticing that doing so with the garden causes confusion in terms of layout/location. So, a break from that: These images cover most of our garden, in its various stages of growth and development, disarray and overgrowth.

“thai hot”

My husband is fond of hot peppers. Each year, they are a featured focus in our garden: habaneros always, plus random new experiments. This year’s experiments include two Thai pepper plants. They are covered in tiny white blossoms for weeks, and then nothing. Then I brushed aside some leaves while weeding and found a hidden […]

portulaca pathway

Just a few days in, with temperatures in the 90s, and the portulaca is thriving.

maters: new variety – black beauty

This gorgeous, fuzzy, frilly thing is what I’m assuming is a Black Beauty heirloom tomato. (I got my starts mixed up after sowing the seeds.) The tiny fruits have the longest sepals I’ve ever seen, thin and graceful. This was the last variety I’m growing to develop buds, but went into overdrive this past week […]

the last minute project of a crazy gardener:

Sorting through the pantry to figure out dinner back at midweek, we discovered numerous sprouting potatoes. Any other year of my life, I would have tossed them, but not this year. This year, I am a crazy gardener through and through. So, I got online and ordered these: The idea behind the standing planter is […]

today’s mini project

Today, I continued work began yesterday: defining borders and future pathways to the firepit. Yesterday’s start: Today’s addition: The garden as a whole is firming up in my head. When I first established the spot for the firepit, I had no idea how the garden would interact with it. With the fence going in, and […]

day 44: the last day

I return to work tomorrow. The past six weeks in the garden have been great for my inner being. The garden has a great boost over past years: some seeds are still sprouting in their grow pots, many are sprouting in place, garlic and radishes are taking off, herbs are going in or have bounced […]