soggy garden

we got a heavy-rainy day tuesday. the patch is still damp. the pumpkin is putting up 4 new leaves, so i think it's here to stay. the cabbage didn't mind the rain, but the tomatoes are looking wilty. i forgot to order heirloom seeds, so my daughter picked up seedlings from the local home depot. i'm not pleased with the way the fruits are ripening..very staggered & oddly in layers...majority in the mid section of the plant. the top is mostly leggy stems. i won't forget to order next season!
hopefully, within the next week local nurseries will have mums & seedlings out :)

tomatoes & riots

tomatoes are ripening nicely. only a few were damaged in our hail storm the other day.  since i only have 4 plants, there isn't enough to make canning worthwhile. however, this  the english kitchen soup should do nicely to use what i have now.
on to london, & what has been on my mind these past few days.  riots may be an expression of frustration, however it is anger misplaced & hurts more than helps.  mary riddell puts the situation out ever so much better than i.  read it.

last of spring/summer herbs

the chamomile was cut down yesterday. the stems were yellowing green & the flowers were noticeably smaller with fringed petals. this morning i pulled the last of the basil. will use it with the latest ripened tomatoes.
the more i read about tomatoes the more i realize i'm going to have to move them around next season.
the cabbages & pumpkin are being horribly munched by pests.  sprayed them thoroughly with 'safer'.
not pleased with how the tomatoes are growing. they are far too leggy & not producing enough fruit. will try pruning them tonight before watering.  the leaves are also curling & looking dried.

113

113. i counted the number of blogs on my blogroll & this is the number.  which explains why i don't have a blogroll posted here as it's just too embarrassing.
i will point out that the majority post but once a month or so. it's not like i read 113 every day! still & all, there would far fewer if i didn't feel bad about deleting a blog when it has but a few subscribers.
the few that post nearly every day are: diamondgeezer, vegplotting, octoberfarm, londondailyphoto.
*sigh* in the spirit of fall cleaning, it's off i go to prune the blogroll with a heavy hand....

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.

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.