new garden delights

budding sunflower

new tomato

something budding

for a salad

our yellow pear tomatoes are coming along quite well. we have so many of them, I pick them off to eat as a snack now and then. The hot peppers I don't even try. Nate likes them in salsa. Our green leaf lettuce has run its course for this year. I'm looking forward to starting it again next year. 

new garden photos

some new yellow pear tomatoes. we've been very successful with these, this year and last. 

not sure what this is growing in the compost pile. I think it's some kind of potato. we'll see. 

corn. lots and lots of corn. 

hot pepper

rogue on the compost box. she likes to claw at the wood.

the rose bush has done really well since I trimmed it back, A LOT. 

and lots of sage. 

rain barrels and new plants

Nate has rigged some kind of contraption that forces the water from the rain barrels into the pvc pipes that run to the garden boxes. So instead of us filling buckets and hauling the water, the water will run through the pipes to small sprinklers in the garden boxes to water for us. good concept. I'm waiting to see how well it plays out. 

We haven't had much rain here lately. Quite a bit on tuesday, but that's it for the week. It's not really our rainy season yet. wait another month, then it'll hit. 

back to "normal"

our weather has improved as of late, and we are back to our "normal" of 60's/70's here for the winter. I have no doubt that we will have at least 2 more cold snaps where it gets down to freezing for more than a couple days again, so we are not doing too much to the garden. We have some lettuce growing and onions too. I don't worry too much about the onions since they are root vegetables, but the others, and the fish, I worry about. So far, so good. The fish I cover, and the other garden boxes we've covered also. Nate set up one of the garden boxes as a 'greenhouse'. I say that in quotes because it's not made of glass or metal frame, just a wood frame and plastic around the sides. We'll see how our makeshift house goes. 

We have so many oranges that aren't good to eat but can be used for something, that I had thought of making marmalade. I need canning equipment though. I need to look into that. I could be something lucrative, or at least interesting, to try. I'm also looking more serious into growing sage. A good herb for many reasons. 

enjoy your weather, whatever it is like. 

cold cold cold

Wolfie and Moses

We have been especially cold here lately. We woke up to 28 degrees this morning and it's only supposed to be a high of 50 around 4p. We have covered the plants in the container garden and moved some of the hanging ones into either the shed or tool room for cover. I know that my wedelia in the front yard has been killed off. Not to worry, it's a low maintenance native plant and will come back in no time. Nate wanted to take it out, but I like it because it has yellow flowers. I like to have a little color in the yard. 

The kittens have been staying inside all day lately. I can hardly wonder why. It's unusual though, because as soon as they eat in the morning, they head right back outside. Although, this cold hasn't kept them from doing their job. Nate found rat parts outside our back patio door this morning. yuck. 

cauliflower

the leaves look great, but where is all the cauliflower? 

much cooler weather...

Rogue

It's been so much nicer and cooler the past few days that it is pure joy to work in the garden. The kittens are running around with so much more energy, as am I, it is so refreshing! The lettuce is still doing very well; I have a salad almost every night. The tomatoes are done for the season, and the catnip has come back! I haven't dried it, but I pick off some leaves and leave it in the living room for the cats. They get a little possessive of their leaves. Moses loves to rub all over it, Wolfie doesn't so much with it, and Rogue will eat it all if I give it to her. Here she is coming out of a bag of yard waste that tipped over. Kittens are so funny!

It's supposed to be 44 here tonight. I am not complaining, really, I'm just saying. We need a break. I hope you're getting a break where ever you are...

kids visit

Nate's niece and nephew are staying with us for the week. They helped us when we originally started the garden. They were good at planting. Tonight before dinner we'll go out and pick some lettuce and see if the red peppers are ready to be picked. 

lots of lettuce

Nate tells me the lettuce is really coming along and I need to eat some. True, I need to eat lettuce and I don't want it to go bad. After yoga tonight I'll have a good salad. It looks so good and healthy! I am so happy with our progress so far. 

tented food

no, it's not some strange bio-harvesting project subsidized by the gubment.

So this is what the backyard garden looks like at present. I have to admit, as much of a pain as it was to put up these things, it sure has saved us a lot of grief and headache and heartache. This fabric has saved our plants from pests, disease, and the burning sun, but still allowing for rain and sunlight to get to the plants to feed them. I thought Nate was crazy to buy such things, but I've found that we need it in florida. 

The weather here has been beautiful all week. I rode my bike to work one day this week, and we have actually had a chance to open the house windows and let some breeze in. It is beautiful. I always tell people; we suffer through the summers to have winters like this.

and here's what's in the garden tents...

here we have some tall, hot peppers, and views of cabbage...

2 different kinds of cabbage, and some lettuce. all is well, so far, thanks to the fabric covering our food. Let's hope it stays that way. 

new garden tents

well, I call them garden tents because that's what they look like. They are protecting our fall vegetables. 

hurray! cooler weather!

It is amazing! The weather has actually been tolerable these past 2 days! We've had the windows open today in the house for the first time in months! This is so refreshing! I know I could go on and on and on about this, and I just might, because this is what we have been waiting for since May. Now, it's tolerable for us, which means in the low 80's, but I know for many it would be way too hot. I am so glad that fall is finally here. I doubt that we'll get any hurricanes now, and we have planted for the fall harvest, and what we have already done has come along so well. I am just so thrilled that the plants that are covered are doing so well. 

I planted some cat grass the other day and that has already sprouted. I don't know that the cats have seen it, as they usually go for what they are not supposed to get into. Nevertheless, it looks good too. I'm waiting for it to get a little taller before I move it to pots. Then I'll put it in the screen porch for the cats to gnaw on at their leisure. 

Rogue got in the yard waste bag. She was trying to hide. I caught her as she was coming out. 

enjoy the weather wherever you are!

covering the garden boxes

The bugs have been so bad here that Nate bought this very thin fabric to cover the boxes. He's ingenious at putting things together, and he came up with an idea of using pvc pipe as an arch over the boxes, and using this fabric to protect the plants. So far, it has worked well on the one box that we have covered right now. It is just so damn hot and humid that it's not fun putting this together. Either at 6am or after 6pm is when it's best to be outside. I can't wait for November. 

what're you lookin' at?

We have some plants for the fall: broccoli, cabbage, and we're going to try some lettuce again, in these covered boxes. I am hoping for the best. The herbs have done very well uncovered in this weather, so we may leave those smaller boxes as is for now. 

sweat rag and water bottle are de riguer around here.

Happy Labor Day

Take a break everyone! enjoy the day off! here is to all who labor, sweat, toil, and stress for a living. Congratulations on an extra day off. Do whatever you like today, enjoy the day. Because tomorrow will be here too soon. 

My beloved was working in the garden putting this cover over the plants. The bugs have been brutal this year, and the one container that already has this on it has been very successful. I told him to stop for today and take a break. It's too damn hot too. It's supposed to feel like 100 today. A great day to stay inside. (pay no attention to the butt crack.)

Finally RAIN!

Yay! we finally had some big rain today! When I first moved here to Florida, I had never seen such big rain! It seems to take up the whole sky when it rains here! and it's not like a little drizzle for days either. It rains A LOT in a relatively short amount of time, and then it's gone. The thunder and lightning sure make for a big show and can be very scary sometimes. The yard and the plants are very grateful for the rain. As am I. It helps to cool us all down, which we desperately need. It was in the 90's again today. The white tent looking thing in the garden has sweet potatoes growing in it. Nate decided he had had enough with all the damn bugs and made a cover for one of our planters, and they look pretty good in there. They are coming along nicely and don't look burnt or have leaves full of holes. that's one thing about Florida, too many weird funky damn bugs and not enough cold to kill them off. 

Full Moon planting

I've known for some time that the moon affects the earth as well as our bodies. Since we've just had a full moon, I thought I'd check out what this is all about. I found 2 books that have all sorts of information on the moon phases and what they mean as far as when to plant. 

I've never heard of this one, but it includes all kinds of information on gardening, the weather, and moon phases. The almanac for all seasons, they say. The website is very simple, and there's no way to order online. We have to go old school and send a check! I wonder if I still have some....

The Farmers Almanac I remember from back in the day. My dad had a copy of this every year. There's information on astronomy, astrology, gardening, husbandry (no, not that kind), even sports. To think, they were talking about astronomy and astrology back in 1792! I think that's kind of cool. We're all connected you know, and the more we know, the better off we will all be. I think I'll get one of each almanac for Nate. Well, for both of us really. I always liked reading the farmers almanac. Such interesting stuff!

we have a watermelon!

I could hardly believe it when Nate showed it to me! The weather has been unbearably HOT (feels like 102F today) and most things are withering brown and dying. I was wondering how a watermelon would grow on a vine, but it is! I am so ecstatic! I am hoping this one comes to fruition so we can have some for later this year. Watermelons take a LONG time to grow, and this is a baby one. We'll keep an eye on it to see how it progresses. 

Our tomatoes are growing really well. Almost everyday we have at least a few yellow pear tomatoes and one big red tomato.

even the hanging tomato planter is producing! 

bad news...

the corn looks terrible and all eaten up, one of the watermelon plants is shriveling, and the pepper plants are only producing small peppers. I think we started too late on some things, and it's too hot now to save them. Next year we'll start earlier. In September we'll try the cooler weather plants.

On a brighter note, we have LOTS and LOTS of yellow pear tomatoes! yay!

bounty from the garden

I'm thrilled to report we have A LOT of yellow pear tomatoes! and some red big boy tomatoes too! Look!

A couple of the red tomatoes looked ready to burst, but they still looked good. I've had a few of the yellow ones for lunch. It's great to be able to go in the backyard and pick some food for lunch. 

Scotty was guarding the yard for me while I was picking...

and the watermelons are starting to take over the yard...

I can't wait to see how they turn out! The red of the tomatoes looks beautiful against the green of the plants...

I'm having some of these with my salad for dinner. Can't wait!

The passion vines are in full bloom too. These are so pretty. I've cut some flowers on the vine and set them on top of the water in the fish pond. They last for a few days like that and look very pretty.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July holiday and are well rested and still have all their limbs, fingers, and toes. Happy gardening!