visitors in the carrots

Swallowtail caterpillars continue munching away on our carrot tops: Also, exactly pne of our carrots is going to seeding, proving the relation to Queen Anne’s Lace:

her majesty has arrived

The butterflies keep rolling in. I’ve seen numerous sorts already, but I always feel a more successful gardeners when the Monarchs arrive. At least a few have been flitting about for a week or two. The autumn clematis is beginning to open. The honey bees are all over it. Monarchs come to partake of the […]

fall redo, plus stuff

To all the brassicae pests nibbling up our fall bed, I offer up to you a big, giant “F-U”! Bugs have picked clean my first attempt of a fall garden. So I am stepping it up: The potatoes are still a midsummer experiment, but the ones that sprouted are still growing: These native wildflowers (of […]

brad’s atomic grape

The most intriguing tomato I have grown is Brad’s Atomic Grape tomato. Two years ago was the first try, and I lost all the tomatoes I had started from seed. Last year I had better results with my “from seed” efforts, and I got four sturdy healthy plants. Then we had long, dry periods of […]

pico adjacent

I made fresh pico de gallo, with the addition of tomatillo, for taco (really nacho) dinner tonight. Fresh San Marzano tomatoes from the garden. Fresh tomatillo, onion, and cilantro from our latest Imperfect Foods delivery. Jalapeno from the store, garlic from the fridge… Very tasty!

pepperpaloosa, pt. 3

As it turns out, two Thai pepper plants were wholly unnecessary…

reclaiming the yard…

I’m on a work project staycation this week. Cooler weather arrived just in time for outdoor work.

pepperpalooza 2.0

Round two of pepperpalooza! Just in time for the first round to go from dehydrator to processor. So many green still on the plants. These yeilds are from two hot paper lanterns, two Thai peppers, and five habaneros…

what’s the ‘mater?

So… we had this volunteer tomato plant, random in the yard, that I transplanted into the second tomato bed. The plant grew massive, sporting tiny little fruit that took forever to grow. I found one with color today. First one off the plant in the second week of August. It’s that dimpled yellow one above… […]

portulaca! portulaca! portulaca!

The portulaca border is (mostly) stunning. On to the mostly bit: where the gate path drops a half step, the portulaca is decidedly not thriving. The stunted plants look healthy other than their relative size. There is no indication of overwatering, even less considering the slope continues downward past the path end. The division line […]