Heather's Garden

IF THE SUN EVER COMES BACK...

The rain stops, and the thermometer gets up over 70 degrees, I'll be back out at my current favorite spot in the garden.  We found raccoon prints on the edge of the wading pool one day and we just couldn't go in it anymore.  So off it went to a friend's house (cleaned first) and the double-lounger went into its place (please note my nifty watering can table):

The dahlias are beautiful and since they're about the only thing flowering in the garden right now, really doing a great job of attracting pollinators:

Wait, I take that back...I've got marigolds blooming too!  the ones I grew from seed are finally flowering:

I'm inordinately proud of them:

And the peppers have suddenly started getting color out of nowhere:

 

And best of all I have a big beautiful Black Russian tomato sitting on the kitchen windowsill to have with lunch on Monday (our luncheon guest, Christine, doesn't know how lucky she is yet).  Now we just have to get through moving SS2 back to school tomorrow!

ANYONE REMEMBER THE SHED PROJECT?

I first talked about the shed project way back here.  In April.  Yes, over 4 months ago.  With SS2 heading back to school this weekend, we thought it was probably time we got around to putting up the shed.  First we pulled the stakes holding down the old pop-up shed, picked it up, and walked it out to the driveway.  I listed it on Freecycle and have received quite a bit of interest even though I was very candid about its condition.  VPH pulled weeds and attempted to level the empty spot:

SS2 and I started assembling the foundation on the patio:

Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain tonight, though I think a little wouldn't hurt anything we have out there along the fence:

The gravel patio seems much larger without that huge box under a tarp (now balled up under the table until we can get it cleaned up and stowed away):

Well we didn't quite finish, but we pretty darn far!  And we got it as close to level as one possibly could:

 

We'll finish up tomorrow morning since rain is predicted for the afternoon and more importantly I have a 3:30pm pedicure.  Sure I may spend day one of my vacation assembling the shed, but there had better be some pampering for me on day two!  There's only a million more pieces to assemble before I get pampered:

I'm getting so excited to take down the other shed and do our little project in that spot.  Oh, and I didn't even tell you the best part...VPH found a huge stone while he was leveling out the area.  It will be the lintel or step into the shed (haven't decided if it will be partially buried or just plopped on the ground in front of the shed).  Stay tuned for the completed shed!

UPDATE: It started raining much earlier than predicted this morning (VPH ran around in the rain gathering all the remaining parts and stowing them away on the gravel patio back under the tarp and moving the weedwacker and whatnot to the basement), so we won't be able to finish today.  It's supposed to rain all day on Saturday, and on Sunday we have to move SS2 back to school, so either late Sunday afternoon or early Monday morning VPH and I will finish up by ourselves. 

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

I'm just digging out from under a pile of work, but I'm trying to get outside for at least a few minutes a day.  And it's paying off...potentially October's calendar photo:

I sprayed the web with the mist setting on the hose...pretty:

And slowly but surely the veggie garden is starting to produce.  Sunday's harvest included lots of beans (Royal Purple Bush beans, Kentucky Wonder beans, and French Filet beans), a cucumber (likely the last since the plant appears to be dead now), and 5 Green Zebra tomatoes:

Today's harvest yielded the first eggplant, the first 2 Black Russian tomatoes (the ones at 10 and 11 o'clock), a Brandywine Pink tomato, and a bunch of Perfect Plum tomatoes:

Yes, it's been slow to get started, and no it may not last for much longer, but for today at least, I'm quite pleased with my garden!

NOT THE PRETTIEST GARDEN EVER

Let me start with the good stuff though:

Did you see that Brandywine Pink tomato on the back left?  First one of the summer and it was as great as I remember them being last year.  VPH made me up this little plate for lunch on Friday -- chicken salad, potato salad, and a little dressed, sliced cucumber.  He apologizes to you for the presentation...he said had he known I would be photographing he would have arranged the cucumber nicely (and those are our own green beans in the potato salad):

The nasturtium twining around the tomato cage is one of my favorite things about the garden this summer.  It it's just lucky that the yellow ones ended up by the Green Zebra tomatoes:

Also pretty is this dahlia (whose name I can't remember and I'm too comfortable to get up and go outside to check):

But I'm not sure that either photo is calendar-worthy.  I was rather surprised when these peppers started turning red:

But they're not the only peppers in my garden at long last:

It looks like I might actually get some blooming zinnias this year:

And the lawn looks great (one upshot of so much rain):

The veggie garden should be a lot lusher than this, but from a distance it's not too bad:

In fact, even up close, parts of it aren't too bad, like the Perfect Plum tomatoes:

But the Black Russians are downright scary looking tomato trees:

 

The zucchini have plenty of male blossoms hiding under all those leaves (shot from behind the table for scale), but no female blossoms, and therefore no zukes: 

And I just found that it's covered in the dreaded larvae of the cucumber beetle:

Am I the only gardener in the world who can't grow zucchini?

FINALLY...SUMMER

The current heat wave started on Saturday which coincided with my first summer meal of homegrown heirloom tomatoes.  Planted way back on May 13th, I present my first two Green Zebras (supplemented with a few Husky Cherry tomatoes):

This was my first taste test of a green tomato.  Very odd sensation eating a green tomato that tastes just like a nice red tomato.  Delicious!  VPH said, "It was oddly different.  I'm glad I experienced it."

And thus, more than 3 months after planting and halfway through August, I declare it at long last to be summer!

FIRST HARVEST

I've had a few veggies here or there, but this was the first real harvest.  Some Husky Cherry tomatoes, tomatoes from the greenhouse plant, teeny tiny carrots, and a cucumber!  A short, fat, and very tasty cucumber:

I hate half of my salad without dressing it was so delicious:

The first of the home grown tomatoes are coming now.  Stayed tuned.

WOULD IT SURPRISE YOU TO LEARN...

That I've only had to water the garden twice since I planted in May?  And I grow vegetables in containers?  Just another example of the crazy summer we're having (or not having depending on your point of view).  But amazingly I have sunflowers blooming:

Granted not even half of them came up and the only ones that seem to have made it are the little short ones, but they're sunflowers:

The last day-lilys that I saw bloom (there was one more bud, but I didn't get to see it bloom, darn work and volunteer responsibilities):

Staying in the patio garden, but moving on to veggies...zucchini -- large on left, extra small on right (in front of the light next to the bird bowl -- seriously, it's there), and not a single zuke growing:

And the eggplants may not get much larger than this, but I'll give them a few more days before I harvest one and let VPH eat it:

The cheating garden center tomato plant has pretty much done its job by giving us 10 or so tomatoes and it looks just about finished:

Just in time for the heirloom tomatoes to be ripening, starting with the 'Perfect Plum' (we've picked one, but haven't tried eating it yet):

Switching gears entirely, I'm loving the deep purples in this gorgeous container, but I can't get them to reproduce correctly in a photo:

Can you spot the absolutely terrifying sight in this photo:

The dreaded tobacco budworm (I found 2 on this plant and crushed them both):

But I spotted a much more interested insect in the garden a few minutes later...is it calendar-worthy: 

And then I saw the weirdest looking thing...turns out it's a plume moth...who knew?  Would be calendar-worthy if I did a vertical calendar:

Then this dragonfly insisted on having a photo session:

Seriously, it kept flying away and coming back.  Wow that's a face only a mother could love:

VPH likes the detailed shot of the wings below.  I think it's cool, but I don't know if I like it as much as the photo above:

 

What do you think?