Garden August 2018

 The new garden is a mix of good and bad news. I have been very happy about parts and really disappointed with others. Never have I had so many marigolds in bloom, so that is a victory. Lots of wonderful basil to eat and give away, over and over. The rain has been frequent which is great of course and Dave has watered when necessary and also did a bunch of weeding. The soil in the flower bed was really really weedy and yet once we got rid of them, it does look pretty darn good. But the heat has been horrific. The only time it is pleasant is early morning. 

 The white bed is behaving nicely with thick growth. Basil, fennel and pineapple sage is that glob at the end. It gets just the right amount of sun, and is thriving.

 All the zinnias are blooming continually. I could just have zinnias and basil and feel successful. Many of these were put in late, and no matter. They just love this bed. I've planted cut and come again varieties, but so far haven't cut any. 

 I planted basil in stages, and these are the youngest. Lettuce leaf is the variety and the leaves are huge compared to plain old sweet basil. Some of the other groups have started blooming and getting woody, so I am grateful to have baby plants just under way.

 Black eyed Susan, the weed variety. Can't complain but these aren't what I wanted when I bought the plant. Still, they are vigorous. 

 And then there is the veggie garden... Gardening is a learning process and I learned that these beds are pretty much in the shade much of the day. The eastern most beds get good sun, so the peppers, sweet potatoes (in bloom) and tomatoes are doing well but the squash is not so great. The zucchini and yellow squash got attacked with vine borer early and only produced a few fruit before it was destroyed.

 

 We do have lots of tomatoes, still green this late in the season, but a few ripe ones have been picked and eaten, and were worth the wait. Just found my first tomato horn worm this morning and he was HUGE. Hate those buggers. We've had lots of windy storms lately and the vines get blown about since they weren't tied to the posts. No damage was done, since they are not the indeterminate varieties.

 

I am happy about the butternut squash! Three are forming so far and lots of blossoms are on the vines.

 
 Lots of vines, pumpkin, cantaloupe, butternut and kuri squash. Who knows what is under all those leaves? I just today discovered two cantaloupe, altho they might be pumpkin.

The beets are going great and I have pulled three to cook, but haven't done so yet. One of these is a yellow variety. Never tasted one of those. I'm waiting till it gets bigger.

The veggie beds had better soil than the flower beds, so no weeds at all. It was mushroom compost and I have more waiting to put onto the flowers when they are over. No weeds makes a big difference as you might imagine. So with this year's experiments I have learned what works where and next season I will use the farther veggie beds for more flowers and put the veggies in the full sun of the flower bed. I've learned to be flexible.