Friday, July 29, 2011

august giveaway at the laughing vixon lounge!

'tis the august giveaway at laughing vixen lounge! winner gets to pick thier favorite item from her etsy shop. vixen has gorgeous items...i ordered one of her charm bracelets for my daughter & we are both *most* pleased :)

unhappy pumpkin

not wanting to leave the pumpkin seedling to get tromped by an energetic dog, i transplanted it into the wee patch. the blooms are still nice & green, but the leaves promptly wilted. hoping this is merely transplant shock. it seems to be firmly anchoring itself into the ground, so....today or tomorrow the last of this seasons' mugwort & basil gets harvested. i'll give the spearmint until early this week coming before it gets cut back. the chamomile has probably two cuttings left. the beets haven't germinated yet...will give until the end of the week coming.
i was worried that the tomato plants blooms were rotting, but looked the issue up online & it's written that sometimes this happens when the plant is weather-stressed or has decided to grow some more. they have grown noticeably, but haven't see where to clip back the new growth. hope they set some more fruit.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

so excited to try!

last year i promised myself to learn to space my planting so that i didn't have an empty patch come aug/sept. looky here what urban organic gardener is trying! tomato cages for pumpkins :) def. one i will be trying next season. for this season i have put in some beets (from seed...crossed fingers they come up) & mailman john pointed out there is a pumpking growing in the lawn. so i transplanted it to the garden patch so that dogs won't dig it up. hopefully it will make it!  there are already a few red cabbage growing away.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

no weeding in this heat!

mini cabbages will be ready to bring in by saturday. i have noticed a difference between this season & last. thinking it has to do with the fact that i didn't use miracle-gro this season.
it's supposed to be misery outside through saturday, so will have to get up extra early saturday morning to weed, water, harvest. 
if the last 4 cukes aren't big enough to pull, too bad. the vines are coming out. they are just too damaged by 'im not sure what. too many blooms rotting away to make it worthwhile. instead i will water deeply & set beet seeds in. according to the package late summer is when you're supposed to plant. we'll see.
basil & spearmint are almost done for the season. think i have a few more clippings before the chamomile is kaput.

holy wow....

bacon jam. bacon. jam. family-kitchen makes bacon jam.  even as miserable as this heat & humidity is, if i had the ingredients at hand i would be making this!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

too hot too cook

i hate summer. one of the few good things(there are, maybe, 3) about summer is ripening tomatoes. today the wednesday chef has an awesome spaghetti dish featuring those lovely glowing scarlet orbs of summer.  as luck would have it, the last of the garden basil is ready to be trimmed!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

more plants on the 'like to grow' list

those plants being red clover, yarrow, & mullein. also, thinking mini carrots & beets. however, given the soil composition, would need to be in a large container or in a raised bed. i've forgotten the link which showed small carrots & beets, another post on urban gardens webs writes that blue jade/baby corn does well in containers. wonder if i can get the grandchildren  to eat blue sweet corn?
cucumber issues: approximately 1/3 of all blooms are rotting as soon as baby cukes start growing. don't see any insects. those cukes which do grow do so normally. have sprayed 'stop-rot' & 'safer' on the vines. plenty of water & air circulation. haven't been able to match my description of the problem with trouble-shooting websites.
the mugwort has started to set blooms & so i have taken a final harvest from those stems. one spearmint plant is also setting blooms. my basil are almost beginning.  the gonzales mini cabbage are starting to set. the red cabbage has a way to go yet. as do my tomatoes. as least this year the end-rot doesn't seem to be showing up.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

july jewelry giveaway at ...

tribal horse designs! i won a lovely pair of summery earrings in june :) the random number generator loves me ;)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

f***...it looks like cucumber mosiac :(

one vine is wilted & gone. one more is on the way. lower blossoms on the vine are wilting & dying. this just started happening 2 weeks ago & is *quick*. when the rain comes whatever beetle it is is washed away. now the heat & humidity is back, the beetles (pretty sure that's what it is) are multiplying. applying safer, getting rid of damaged leaves/vines. pissed though...i was getting set to have double the harvest from last season!
recommendation is too alternate where cukes are planted (which will be difficult given the small size of the plot) & to plant resistant strains.
the mugwort is setting flowers early this season. last year it was late july, currently the middle half of the row has flowers ready to bloom. nice harvest as well.                                           thinking of raised beds for next season, also adding feverfew & bergamot herb.                                                                                                                           

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

i adore marshmallows

it's true...i do. big pieces, small pieces, any pieces at all! & david lebovitz has a great recipe listed :)  roasted marshmallows, candied potatoes with marshmallows, practicing marshmallows for gift-giving.....i am so ready for autumn & a cooler kitchen!