Naked and Cold

The garden is deceptively sleepy right now. It is cold outside and only the hardiest of my little plants have survived. I pulled up the last of the marigolds a couple weeks ago and now the ground is host to mostly weeds from the previous rains..

Bit by bit, though, Ive been digging up the soil and amending it with leafy kitchen scraps.Although its cold out, the ground is damp and the weeds have been easy to pull out. If I were to wait until warmer, drier  weather, the ground could get rock hard. I'll have some nice compost and worm castings to toss in here in a month or so. I'm going to attempt to plant things in the ground this time and see what happens. A lot of varmints and bugs is whats gonna happen, but I'll spray with cayenne and neem oil - and probably sprinkle pee around the parameters just in case. Diatomaceaous earth will be my friend again. I'll circle the veggies with marigolds and stickerie bramble sticks  and hope for the best. I'll plant lots of herbs and tomatoes and squash. I'll have lettuce and carrots and beans.

There is garlic showing itself in one of my Smartpots. I wish I had planted more, but that, and onions, and potatoes will be on the agenda for spring.

Cant wait!

Traveling Morning Glories and Summer Blooms

This little baby just popped up in the sidewalk this morning. She must have washed out of my rose bush planter at one point - Ive got some planted there and they are starting to trail up my shopfront wall. So pretty!

 I also planted some under the acacia tree next door in the vacant lot. I was hoping that they would go crazy and  twine all throughout the tree. But no - they are now growing in the compost pile. But thats ok with me as this was supposed to be a temporary pile of pull weeds and shrubs - things the lot owner was supposed to be taking away. I water it occassionally as Ive seen these things go up in flames on a hot day. But since the property owner is trying to sell and has lost interest in upkeep, all I can do is pull a few weeds and hope that the fire department really did get ahold of him like they said they would. Thats another story..........

 In the meantime, It is now August and things are in full swing, full bloom, and full speed ahead............I love people stopping to look at my guerrilla gardening. People have been snapping pictures. Little kids are ooing and aweing over the volunteer tomatoes.

 Even the neighbor next door in the ugliest building on the block has done his part to prettify the landscape with this little display of succulents on the sidewalk. Who knows what inspired them to do this - but I like to think that my little flower patches had something to do with it.. At any rate, Im super happy to see these!

Filling The Herb Jars

Bit by bit, Im getting those dried herbs into jars to be used this winter when everything feels cold and blah. I'll be reminded of my glorious summer and how much fun it was growing this stuff!

Oh God, We're Back To The Urine Again......

Its very ironic that last night when some friends and I were coming back from a birthday party, there were some cute little deer in the road and we wondered where they were eating thier dinner.

They were in Sam and Earl's yard eating our beans and tomatoes! And it was Earl's party that we coming home from. Oh the irony.....................

So on Facebook, Im being told to use Boar's urine now. I just cant deal with anymore urine, folks!

Its been plenty warm out and the plants are loving it! Even my sad little container garden is looking a bit better.

The plants up at Sam and Earl's (this is a little info about what they do - they manage the Burlington Hotel and run a sweet little cafe. Earl has bees and his honey is Magick!) are literally growing like weeds! These tomatoes are monsters and I had better start thinking about what Im going to do with all these babies!  Im pretty proud that they are actually growing and producing. My confidence was not high when starting  this project. So far, Ive not seen any signs of bugs or those hideous worms. Although, with my luck. I'll reach in and accidentally touch one. I'll realize what Ive done, scream, and wake up the dead.

I don't want to get my hopes up, but it would be nice to at least have enough to freeze for a few months. I'd also like to purchase a canner set. Unfortunately, I used to have all that stuff and it has disappeared over the years. Oh well. I have no idea exactly how many tomatoes it will take to make enough to freeze for the winter. I might not have enough, but I do have a lot of plants in various states of growth. It will be a wait and see.

By the looks of my container garden, I'll have some kind of yield  - at least enough for a few salads and sandwiches!  I'm also surprised that Ive managed to get this many. This is so much better than last year on  many levels. Onward and upward. I'm pretty happy about it. Despite the raccoons digging around in the pots.

 I don't know how people get high yields out of 5 gallon containers. I read all sorts of things online, but no matter what I do, my plants always look anemic. So for me, I need to either put them in the ground, or give them bigger containers and probably more or better  food. I can water the hell out of the ones in the ground, or leave them for every other day. They are mulched and happy. These in the bins are either too wet or too dry. There never seems to be a happy medium.

BUT - I have learned a thing or two. And now that I know I can get SOMETHING out of them, its just a matter of regulating water and food. I think the bigger container the better and as much dirt and organic material as possible.

I'm going to eat this tomato today. The first of the season!

I have never really known what to call that strip of land between the sidewalk and the curb, so I googled it.
This is what I found:
Streetside Easement
Grass Bay
Parking Strip
Parkway
Grass Plot
Tree Lawn
Neutral Ground

Whatevs...........was just curious..........
Last year, mine was a neglected, weedy, clay and rock filled strip that nobody gave a shit about. This year, I decided to do something about it and make it pretty. I pulled up all the weeds by hand and shovel. I added dirt from fill dirt in back of the vacant lot. I added mulch from under the compost pile created with all the weed pulling from the year before. And I amended what soil was in those easements with the compost I made from leaves and vegetable scraps.

Some worker guy from over at the Sugar Factory across the street called over while I was weeding and expressed curiosity as to why I was pulling weeds by hand ( as opposed to chemical weed killers, I assume) and I responded that this is how our country was built - by hand - and I'm showing you all how its done. He laughed and said point taken. Honestly, you would think one had never seen someone working with their hands. Wait.............................

I planted wild flowers and marigolds. And then accidentally,  I planted tomatoes from the seeds from the year before. I'm not sure that I want to eat them as I don't know where the dirt came from,  but this little flower garden is starting to bloom and fill out. And it makes me happy to open my door and see a splash of color. Sure, it still needs some constant weeding that I can never seem to get to, but I think the neighbors appreciate it also. The butterfly's and bees sure do!

Liver Rehab

Ive been craving Milk Thistle tea for the last few months. I think my liver has told me that Ive done enough damage and now its time for a little rehab. I don't drink much alcohol, but I did used to take a lot of over- the-counter inflammatories. Not so good for the old blood purifier that has to work overtime................ Milk Thistle has good restorative powers. My liver thanks me. This herb seed tea has a really nice, mild taste that I can drink large quantities of without any honey. It cant hurt you - only help. I even keep a couple thistle plants around my tomato plants - despite the pain inflicted on my bare legs whenever I forget they are there!

And the other jar is the first harvest of my Summer Savory. More is on the way. It is one of my favorite of the culinary herbs and I'm so happy to finally be able to grow and use it again!