Tomatoes are Ripening!

The garden is slowly coming along. We've had an exceptionally cool summer, which is slowing down how fast the tomatoes are ripening. The two plants are over 6 feet tall, and are so pot-bound in the watering kit that at this point they're pretty much hydroponic tomatoes. The bottom branches are browning, looking like they have a fungus. I've broken off the sickly bottom branches, given the plants some fertilizer, and made sure they have plenty of sun.

The top branches are still getting new buds, and I've lost count of how many tomatoes are on the plant. We had to throw the first two away due to bottom blossom rot. The next two are half-red and are on my window sill.

I've found a great tomato diagnostic tool at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tomatoproblemsolver/index.html
a link I found on the home page of my favorite garden supply place, Logan's.

The green bell pepper looks weak, and partially eaten. The red pepper plants look great and have lots of new growth. The zucchini is doing well and has buds. The cucumber plants have buds but not great leaf growth. At least they don't look eaten!

I'm hoping to get the brick work done on the flower garden this weekend.

Starting to garden again

I've had lots of excuses for not gardening. Honest.

Two weeks ago I swam in a triathlon. I was crazy enough to agree to a relay style triathlon. I'm a cyclist, but guys at the office needed a swimmer. So, the Town Hall Titans registered for the triathlon, and I swam 750 meters in a lake with PCB infected silt (Lake Crabtree). There's a photo of me next to the No Swimming sign, but I look like a whale and refuse to post it.

The visibility in the lake was so bad that I swam a zigzag pattern until I finally gave up and switched to breast stroke, so I could see where I was going when I breathed.

I won't mention my time either, but I finished without drowning, and got the timing chip to our cyclist, which were my two goals.

Did I mention our motto is "Don't Eat the Sediment" ??

Last weekend Dan and I had his kids for the weekend. Fairly uneventful. I got to watch them play Marco Polo at the pool. Jordan (12) would call out Marco, and Danny (8) would say nothing. Yet she'd still find him! It was funny to watch. When she got too far off I'd call out "Go left!" and help her find him.

Now, I'm starting back with building gardens. I set out the bottom layer bricks for what will be the flower garden, beneath dining area window. It's at the back of the house, faces east, and will perfect for some colorful, butterfly attracting flowers.

Have a good week! Enjoy the outdoors, wherever you are.

No major gardening this weekend

I'm avoid all lifting. This time last year I sprained my back, and had to withdraw from a triathlon. It was a relay tri and I was the swimmer (even though I'm a cyclist at heart). I had to beg my running coach, a triathlete, to please swim for me. It's a muddy swim in a gross lake, so dirty that regular swimming is not permitted. She did it for my teammates, the Town Hall Titans.

The back sprain was dumb--I lifted something at work while slightly twisted. There was furniture in the way, I didn't square myself in front of what I was lifting, and didn't bend my knees. Silly stupid mistake that I dearly paid for, for months!

My team is registered for the same tri I missed last year. I've been training hard, working on stroke efficiency and better breathing. Luckily the swim is only 750 meters, short enough that I can focus on my time. Anything longer and I'd just worry about finishing it without drowning....

So. No gardening other than watering my lilac, vegetables, and potted herbs and flowers. Everything is doing well and we badly need rain. The rain barrells are nearly empty. For Mom, I'll post another photo of a tobacco field in full bloom.

An unusual, beautiful flower

I'm posting this photo for Mom, because although she's been using this plant for 50 years, I don't think she's ever really seen it. I now live in "Eastern Carolina" as they say here, and I'd seen many tobacco fields in Maryland when I lived up there, but I don't recall seeing them flower all at once. It's a beautiful site! This field is adjacent to our huge cookie cutter planned development. For all the pesticides, sick field workers, and other nastiness, it really is a beautiful plant.

Nice Tomatoes!

We're conducting an experiment: just how much water can two measly tomato plants drink? We're not measuring precisely, but these puppies are drinking 4 gallons a day. Each day. They're draining our rain barrels! There was a cool, overcast day recently where they took in only 3 gallons.

We used a cool tomato success kit from Gardener's Supply and I bought two Bonnie Original tomato plants. That was barely two months ago, and they're now about 5 ft high. No lie!

There are four tiny tomatoes, and tons of blossoms. These two little plants will be very productive!

Always wanted a Lilac...

Gramma had a lilac bush next to the garage. It's been my dream to have that peaceful smell in my own home. Today we planted my first lilac, and I just about cried!

Getting the circle of bricks laid out was not simple-we had to re-level the whole circle after it was done. The grade made it a test of patience. What was really scary was was the dry red chunks they call "dirt" around here. This development was created by earth-movers that piled the dirt and sculpted the hill after razing the trees. Dan tried to dig the hole deep so we could work in good dirt. I hope this lilac has some very determined roots!

Finished the vegetable garden!

The vegetable garden has a wall, dirt, and plants. I call that a garden. Leveling the bottom row of bricks was a big pain in the butt, but I'm the patient type. Dan was great with packing the dirt, and paver sand.

It's so cool to have my first real vegetable garden ever. Mom had a great one growing up. She was into stir-fry in the 80's, and would tell us to "go pick dinner." We had some odd dinners, and she would occasionally veto our choices.

I love growing my own food, teaching my step-kids that food comes from dirt, and someday teaching my own kids to tend a small spot of land.