This garden has struggled ever since Cherie and Dave pick axed it out of the hillside in 2020. The soil is shallow and the sunshine a bit limited. So I’ve gotten many “mini” veggies over the year but they still taste yummy and homegrown! This year I am also trying to keep it pretty even in the heat of August which is always the ugliest month. It has been relatively cool but high 90s up to 100 F this upcoming week. And the plants are starting to kick in production. I had a salad for lunch with homegrown cucumber and carrots today. Tasty!
First off, the flowers always look nice this time of year and I’ve got a lot of them! We’ve mostly been home this summer so things are well watered; don’t feel as guilty as years past because we did get a good amount of rain this year! The Gazania and snapdragons are blooming like crazy in both pots and ground. The lantana look so good- only took 5 years to get medium sized but it is now a happy plant. The marigolds look very pretty in the garden areas and are attracting lots of pollinators. The petunia plants are starting to look a bit beat up but if I can limp them through August I usually get a wonderful autumn bloom out of them.
The veggies are finally starting to grow. I’ve been getting tomatoes- pear, green zebra and some midsized red one- for a month now. I got these from Lori and the red ones are supposed to be pineapple ones but Nope. Everyone likes them although the Pear tomatoes are the favorites! The onions are being harvested and I probably will not plant more here. I’ve also gotten a couple cucumbers- the Wilton ones have tended to be bitter (?) but these here have been small but good. The green bean plants are beautiful and I’ve had to top them so they start flowering and getting me my beans. One of the few things I grow and actually eat! I ended up with 3 crookneck squash and a yellow zucchini plant and those are flowering and setting small fruit. That was supposed to be a regular zucchini but was mislabeled. The peppers are struggling mightily but the jalepeno has set a couple. The sweet pepper plant is still 6” tall with no flowers or anything. Humph. The cantaloupe plant has lots of vines and flowers but no fruits. Typical for this garden! Also my basil is looking good in the shade of the tomatoes.
So all in all, my small but mighty (?) garden here is again producing and what does grow is tasty. And it is fun and gets me outside. The weeds grow well although have definitely reduced in number over the years and now mostly grow in decomposing wood chips so are easy to pull. I am thankful that Cherie and Dave got bored enough during lockdown to dig me out my little growing space!