Well, hello there!
How have you been, my friends?
For the past few weeks I really neglected my vegetable garden. My husband was watering it for me but I would go there maybe once a week. But as I'm slowly bouncing back to being my normal self, I knew it was time to show it some love. We got a few days of beautiful rain about a week ago (after weeks and weeks of heat and drought), and my plants really enjoyed it. I also used a mixture of epsom salt and water (dilute 1 TB in a gallon) and sprayed peppers, tomatoes and zucchinis to give them a boost. Apparently, it's supposed to majorly boost your crops within ten days. I was skeptical at first but let me tell you - it's for real!!! Everything like doubled - both in size and amount. I suddenly have about 20 peppers coming, a bunch of new tomatoes and I should pick at least two of my first zucchinis by the end of next week:
This year I ended up with five zucchini plants. I've never planted more than 4 and it was the plan again this year too. But two of my plants were really struggling. Then one died and the other one looked like it was going to follow very soon. So I got another plant but didn't put it into the ground right away. In fact, a week later it was still sitting in my green house. But in that week the "sad" plant decided to start fighting for life... I have at least ten beginnings among those five plants, and I know it's only the beginning. Now I need to figure out what I'm going to do with all of them. Maybe, I'll try this recipe this year or this one. Yum!
And let me introduce you to the first tomatoes of the year:
OK, I'm totally boasting here :) I'm just too excited about these little guys. They taste so much better than any store-bought cherries I've ever had (OK, I might be just slightly too bias...:)
And a few peppers. These are the gipsy kind but I should have a bunch of green and red peppers by the end of July:
But something that makes me especially happy is this particular plant (or a couple that I have):
My beautiful basil. Oh, I love thee so... Why am I so excited about a basil plant? Well, it's actually my third attempt to plant basil this year. The first four plants (I planted two each time) were eaten by an evil nocturne creature that was skillfully hiding from me (OK, I do have a suspicion it was a slug of some sort but I could never get it, and it drove me insane). It literally devoured my plants within about 3 days... I was desperate. And then I remembered a trick about planting marigolds in the garden to prevent the "evil creatures" from attacking the tender leaves. I gave it the last try... I bought two more basil plants and two wilty marigolds (since the season for them is pretty much over). And as you can see, the slugs are GONE!!! Not a single hole on the leaves and the plants are thriving. Yes, it might be a bit silly to be that excited and jump up and down here right now but, hey, I think I have every right to be.
Or maybe it's just the hormones?...
So do you have a garden? How is it doing this year?
Your gardens is looking great. I had 2 tomato plant but only one survived. My courgettes seem to have only male flowers. Had a few peas (they have grown great) Ton of black and red currants and blue berries too. I have managed to grow a few Cole rabby for the first time.
ReplyDeleteCarolx
Yum! I miss black currants so much! We don't have them here on the west. Too hot and dry :(
DeleteI love seeing your garden pics! Mine had a slow start with the cold and wet start to the spring and summer. We just had a couple cherry tomatoes. My zucchini is much smaller than yours.
ReplyDeleteMy garden had a slow start because of me :) And this is my biggest zucchini plant. The "sad" one is 3 times smaller :)
DeleteI have a huge garden and some things are doing great, others not so much. We are experimenting with an automatic watering system and haven't perfected it yet. Beans, lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini and green onions doing great. Spinach and broccoli and pumpkins not so much. My raspberries are awesome, though and that will always make me happy.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! I wish I had some space for raspberry bushes. Maybe, one day... And I've never had success with broccoli, so I gave up on them. But my kohlrabis are doing pretty good!
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