Guess what!

My garden is still alive!  Isn't that spectacular news?

In fact, things are lookin' pretty good out there!  Well, they look good to my untrained eye.  Which could really mean anything.  But I'm going with the positive today.

I'm still catching those poopy little wire worms in the soil, but they don't seem to be tremendously plentiful or damage-causing.  My carrot traps were looking pretty shriveled, so I chucked them and put out new traps.  This time they're potatoes.  I like to mix things up.  Not entirely sure if it has anything to do with my short attention span...

Anyway, potatoes.

I have an inkling that this potato is going to be unearthed by a squirrel or something.  We shall see.

Just wait until you see Scruffy!  Oh, scratch that, no waiting necessary.  My good buddy, Scruffy the tomato!  He's come a long way in his recovery from being pruned down to a little stick.  That's my Scruffy--he's a fighter!

Proud of you, Scruffy.  Sorry this picture is such a travesty.

Showing off his good side.

Helicopter view.  Weeeee!

My Climby's are still lookin' good.  They are getting so tall!  They really hit their stride last week and have been skyrottening--holy cow, did I really just type that?  I mean sky rocketing--ever since.

You grow, Climby.  You grow...  Hey look, my kid left her cup out here!

Rollybug view.

This is the only problem I'm having with Climby.

*munchmunchmunch*

It's not a huge concern right now, since whatever the little bug is has only been attacking the lower leaves.  But I am on the hunt to find this little monster.  Actually, I did find one, and holy cow--I didn't know caterpillars were ever that small!  Think emaciated rice.  He went squish now.  But I'm pretty sure more of his buddies are out there, making a snack out of my precious green things.  They, too, shall become patio pancakes.  When I find them, that is.

Here is a different kind of squish altogether--Squishy!  That's what I named my zucchini plant.  I only have one, so I am babying him like a kangaroo.  Except for the pouch thing.  That would be weird, and kind of impossible.  But you know what I mean.

You are getting so big, my cute widdle iddy biddy Squishy!  I'd pinch your cute widdle cheeks if you had some.

As you may have noticed, something has been making a midnight snack out of Squishy.  Not a lot of snacking, mind you.  More of the Jennie Craig variety.  But whatever it is, it seems to hide during the day.  In case you're wondering what that random patch of milk chocolate colored crumbles is... no, it's not cookie.  Disappointed?  Sorry.  It's cross contamination from my flower bed.  Oops!

I wasn't too sure about my snapdragons this year, but good gravy--the one from last year has exploded, and the other ones are getting much bigger too.  The seeds I threw into the foot of the planter box have also been coming up.

Criminy, woman!  You need to weed!  What's wrong with you?

If plants were zombies, this is what they would look like clawing their way out of their little plant graves.

The Desmond Patch is doing okay.  It's kinda weird.  Some of them look all pretty and nice, like this:

Hubba hubba!

While others look like old shriveled goats:

Dude, what happened to you?  I'm so sorry!

We'll see how it all pans out.

The end.

I don't like you...

No, not you.  I'm talking about this guy:

Bad worm!  Bad bad worm!

In case you're unfamiliar with this little gem of a critter, it is a wire worm.  Wire worms suck.  Well, to be more precise, they chew.  They feast, as it were, on the portions of a plant that are underground--that is to say, the roots.  This is especially unpleasant because you can't just go spray some Bug-B-Gonn and have done with it.  Because they live in the soil, you basically can't do jack squat about them.  The only way to deal with them is to bait them with their favorite roots--potatoes and carrots.  They go after the good stuffs, and then I pull up the good stuffs and kill kill kill death kill bad worm squish!  So I've been doing a lot of that lately.  Sometimes I catch several, sometimes I catch a few... I just hope they're leaving my precious peas and beans alone.

Scruffy!

Still kickin'.

I do have one other concern.  It's for Burt, my oregano plant.  He was being eaten alive by aphids or some sort of mites or something.  Whatever the case, I had to cut poor Burt way the heck down to the stump.  Some of the foliage inside looks like it might be diseased.  Burt may have to go.  So sorry, Burt.  In this picture, I had not yet cut him down, but as you can see, he is looking a tad droopy in the center, which is where the frumpy stalks were hiding.

Thankfully, his issues don't seem to be affecting the other plants.  I hope it stays that way.

Peas from the porch.  Also sage.  And sad, sad pathetic Burt.  Oh Burt, I'm sorry I chastised you so!

Did I mention Scruffy?

Just in case you forgot.

The end.

Such drama!

Well, I figure I'm overdue for a post.  I was going to make a post yesterday with some pictures that I took a few days ago, but last night we had a bunch of hail come down.  So I took new pictures this morning for a more honest assessment of the aftermath.

But check it out!  Everything looks great!  Even my young little Squishy the Squash, and my green bean patch Desmond.  So I am pleased about that.  Hardy little things!

Since thinning Squishy down to one lonely squash plant (for those why are interested, I ended up keeping Squishy #3), he has been growing a ton.  He still had that flat, ground-hugging formation yesterday, but today he is actually up off the ground and reaching up for a sun hug.

Happy to be alive!  I could swear the big leaf doubled in size over the last twenty-four hours.

So, funny story.  Yesterday evening at about seven, it started hailing like crazy.  We live in the PNW, so none of that golf ball sized hail that some folks get, but hail nonetheless, and to my knowledge, plants don't usually care much for hail.  So, me being the goober that I am, I more or less panicked, because Scruffy (my tomato) has already been through so much, I was afraid the hail might kill him the rest of the way.  So I ran out to put his cover on.  Well, guess what.  I was so hasty in trying to get him covered and safe in his cozy little house that I--hahaha, get this--I put the house on sideways.  The bad kind of sideways.

As I was running back to the house, my son Miles cried, "Mom, you just squished the tomato!"  My initial reply was, "No I didn't, I just put his cover on," but as I turned to look, I noticed that the opening that is supposed to be facing the ground was actually facing East.  I had indeed squished Scruffy.  Poor Scruffy.  He takes a beating.  But if a plant was ever a fighter, it is Scruffy, because when I went back out this morning and took the house off--before you ask, yes, I did go back out and put it on proper right away--he looked as fine as he did yesterday, and maybe even a little more robust.

That's my Scruffy!  Hanging in there still after all he's been put through.  He's a tough tomato-equivalent-of-a-cookie!

Ahem.

Anyway, other things.  I can't remember if I told you that my radishes kicked the bucket.  Well, I kicked it for them.  They had stopped growing and the roots weren't forming into anything.  I'll decide what to replace them with later, when I have money.  Ha.

But here is Climby, my happy little patch of sugar peas!  She is getting taller and taller.  One issue--which may not be an issue for all I know--is that Climby is trying to climb herself as much as she is trying to climb the strings.  I'm still looking into whether or not that matters.

Climby's corner.  She is being crowded by my oregano plant, named Burt.  Burt, control yourself!

My tallest pea plant, Climby Tallestness.  She keeps getting tallester and tallester!

The guys in the corner there look like they're strangling each other.  Either that or they're in love.

Even Desmond (the green beans) survived the hail.  We'll see if they survive the dandelion invasion.  Good gracious, get out there and weed, Woman!  I may do just that if the sun hangs around long enough today.  It may be my only chance for a while, if the weatherman can be trusted.

Poor Desmond is being encroached on by dandelion sprouts.  Bad, bad dandelion!  No biscuit!

In other news, some seeds are coming up!  I threw a cut flower mix on the other side of the tomato bed, and as you can see, they are waking up.  Healthy soil makes them happy.  The mint is in crappy soil.  But it still seems to be coming up okay.  At least I think that's mint.  There's no real way to be sure if you're me, except to wait and see if they start looking like mint later.

Crappy picture of flower seedlings in happy good soil.

Slightly better picture of what may or may not be a mint seedling in crappy, angry soil.

All in all, things are looking pretty good out there!  I've already started thinking of how I would do things differently next time.  Like a teepee trellis for the peas, which would be more supportive than strings.  Or planting more than one tomato and zucchini plant so that I'm not so emotionally invested in their survival (in other words, plant insurance).  Probably other things too, but I don't remember them.  I'll tell you later if I do.

As a last something-something, here is a picture of the pea trellis from the porch end.  I'm hoping that when the peas get tall and climb all the way up and so forth that it will look really cool.  We'll see.

See their little heads peeking over the top of the porch?  Nosy little things should mind their own business!

The end.

Growing and Growing

I think gardening is awesome.  It's fun to see the plants every morning, and see how they change every day.  They do change every day.  No really!  If you have a babying eye, you notice each and every change.  It's really cool!

The beans--also known as my good little buddy Desmond--are all coming up and flourishing.  We've had some warm temps lately, and the plants seem to be appreciating them.  The only problem I'm running unto is that it seems like portions of Desmond might be feeling a little too toasty.  I'll have to check that.  I don't think my flower bed soil is as well drained as would be ideal, so that may also be an issue.  I noticed that some little bug seems to be nibbling a touch on the leaves.  Nothing too drastic, but I need to figure out what's doing it.  When I checked yesterday, I couldn't find anything.  My initial thought was aphids, but I didn't see anything...  Then again it was pretty hot... do aphids hide when it's hot?  I have no idea, but for now I'm going with hiding aphids.

My bean seedlings.  They look pretty happy!  Many of them have come up, so I'm hoping at least some of them will make it.

I have another issue in my garden though.  These guys.

Stupid wasp is a jerk!

Ordinarily I don't care.  But today they seem to be everywhere I turn.  Not exaggerating.  I couldn't even check my plants a second time.  (In search of aphids again.  I'm not obsessed, what are you talking about?  Psha!)  Anyhoo, I am most displeased.  They seem to be searching for nesting sites.  I think one of them has already made a nest in my hose hangy-uppy-thingy.  Bleh.  Time for Hubbyman to take action.  I don't give a hoot about the overgrown lawn, but the wasps are a bit much.

Honestly, I wouldn't care about the wasps if they nested somewhere else.  They eat bugs I think.  And bugs are jerks in the garden.  So it's not like I'm anti-wasp altogether.  They just need to back off my property, yo!

However, here's a guy I am happy to have in the garden.  You go, spider!  Eat dem bugs!  You know, to be fair, I'm only assuming he eats bugs.  Mainly because I've never heard of a plant eating spider.  Boy, that would be weird...  Also, as an aside, I am terrified of house spiders.  I have no idea why yard spiders don't scare me.  Except those big fat ones that make big webs for bug catching.  Those things get huge, and they have angry fangs of death.  *Shudder*

Happy little garden spider of happiness.  Yes, I typed happy and happiness in the same sentence.  What of it?

And check it out, my peas are still alive!  Good ol' Climby.  I didn't kill them last time, actually, so this isn't particularly surprising.  I'd feel pretty pathetic if she did croak though.  She is the biggest garden investment this year after all.  Mainly because they were the most successful vegetable I planted in the past.  So you know.  I feel like we have a good relationship.  (She better not throw me under the bus!)

As you can see, I was really dumb and planted some Climbies under my hose.  WTF.  I'm an idiot.  I couldn't bring myself to pull all of them though.  I had to pull the ones that were directly underneath.  But I left the ones that were only kind of under the hose.  The dumb part about this, however, is that now the peas are trying to climb the hose.  I keep attempting to redirect them to the trellis.  We'll see what the outcome is.

Stre-e-e-e-etch!

Okay, I don't have a picture to show it, but I keep forgetting to cut back the oregano.  There are peas growing on either side.  Burt is trying to eat them.  Bad Burt!  No biscuit!  (No, Burt is not a dog, nor is he some sort of monkey man.  He is my plant.  In case anyone is reading this but not reading that down there.  No further... further... there it is!  That post down there!)

Anyway, I didn't get a picture of Burt, but I did get a picture of Climby again.  This is one of the Climbies that is situated by Burt.  Climby seems to be happy so far.  In fact, this is the tallest and most robust of them all.  So it's important that I keep her happy by chopping off some of Burts arms.  Nah, he won't mind.  He's got plenty.  Plus, I understand that Burt plants are happier if you cut off their arms regularly.  I read it on the internet.  The most reliable source of factness in the world.

My Climby has a last name.  It's t-a-l-l-e-s-t-n-e-s-s...  hmm, that's not very catchy.  I need to work on my song writing skills.

What do you mean?  Of course Climby Tallestness needs another picture!  She is a vain and egotistical plant.

McCrunchy.  You know, I never have anything to say about McCrunchy.  Talk about a low maintenance little dude.  He just keeps on truckin'.  I noticed today that his roots are starting to bulge slightly.  I have no idea how I'm supposed to know when to harvest him.  I'm gonna go with... well, no.  I got nothin'.  Bing will have to assist me on this one.

McCrunchy!  He doesn't get much attention.  I hope the weather won't make him bitter.  He's a bit particular.

And now the infamous Scruffy.  Holy crap, I can't believe he is still trying to live.  Good little Scruffy!  There's more to life than unlife!

I actually took this picture a couple of days ago.  He now has slightly bigger leaves, if you can believe that.  You go, Scruffy!  Photosynthesize like a lettuce!

Squishy is not only hangin' in there, he's multiplying.  Oh no, wait, those are his brothers.  They decided to test the air.  Come on, Zucchini!  Don't let me down!

There's one thing you can say about Squishy.  He's a zucchini.  Oh wait, I mean he's extra-extra-tough.

My daughter's fairy garden was feeling a little neglected, so I decided to give it some camera love.  He don't need no TLC.  He's ivy.  And you know how ivy is.  Manly and invasive.  Like the thing that wouldn't leave.  Good thing he's in a container!  For now...

You be good, ivy!  No!  Don't spread!  No... no... NOOOOOO!

Hey, did you know that cobwebs make a handy weed seed trap?  Check it out!  Thanks, Mr. Spider!  Whoever you are... abandoner of your crappy home that wouldn't catch jack squat because it was in a tiny secluded corner of non-bugness...

I think we've learned our lesson now, haven't we Dandelion?  Oh wait, you have ten thousand children... rats.

Snapdragon of glory.  You know, I am really a big fan of this color.  I hope she bounces back next year.

What can I say?  ...No, really, what?

I also have some Climbies in a container.  I just wanted to see how it went.  So far she's doing okay over here.  I thought you might like to see this corner of my flower bed.  This area has a little bit better soil than the long narrow part.  A couple of years ago I mixed in some potting soil, so that helped it be a little less crappy.  I really should have done that again this year...  Oh yeah, so anyway, the corner bed.  I made the trellis wrap around, so it's against the house, runs alongside the porch, and then comes around to the edge of the patio.  I'm hoping that if the peas do okay there, maybe they will make a cool vegetative wall of peas next to the porch.  I think that would look totally cool.

You can see where Burt is encroaching on Climby Tallestness' personal space.  He really needs to learn the five foot circle rule.  Actually, he doesn't look to bad on that side.  But on the opposite side, he's practically swallowed the pea plant.  I'd go a-hacking right now if there weren't twelve thousand wasps out there...

The end.

We have reached a verdict!

So after some research, and a little counseling, I have decided that Scruffy underwent some major frost damage.  It froze Tuesday night, which was a little unexpected.  I thought Scruffy had sufficient sleepy-time protection from the cold, but it would seem that his cozy little box house was a bit on the drafty side.  Maybe I should have called it his drafty little box house.

But what is a novice garden blog without a little tragedy?  I ask you!

When I got up this morning, Scruffy looked like this:

I read on the internet (which I hear is the most reliable source of legitimate know-how) that when frost damage occurs, one is supposed to removed the damaged leaves and stems so that the plant can focus its energy on growing new, healthy stuff.  So, now Scruffy looks like this:

Cue tumbleweed.

Wow, look at all those dandelion seeds!  This lady must have kids...  Anyway, needless to say, pretty much all of Scruffy's leaves were damaged.  There were a couple of tiny new ones that looked so-so rather than horrendous, so I left those on.  It seemed like the right thing to do.  But what do I know?

Scruffy was feeling pretty bad about himself over this whole affair, so I decided to cheer him up by making him look like a giant tree.

Scruffy's good side.  Work it, Scruffy!  BTW, the tips of the leaves are not really black.  I toned down the brightness and increased the contrast.  Yes.  I Photoshop my pictures.  But you would too with a crappy camera like mine!

One of my flowers decided the garden needed some perking up, what with all the drama over the last twenty-four hours.  What a pick-me-up!  Way to remind me that life goes on and whatnot.  Thanks, Petunia.  And such a lovely color, too!  In my experience, the really crappy looking flowers on the clearance racks always turn out the prettiest.  This one looked pretty sad to begin with.  To underscore my point, I spent almost two and a half bucks on a really beautiful, vibrant snapdragon.  I swear it was the perkiest flower in the whole place.  Now it's dead.  But my pathetic discount flowers are in great shape--even the one I almost drowned by planting it in a really dumb place!

If I were smart, I'd do something about that dandelion seed... but I prefer to spend my afternoon hours cultivating muscle spasms in my back while weeding.  It's a good time, you should try it.

A quick update on McCrunchy.  He looks like this:

 

The end.

Screw the Blight! Bring on the WTF!

Well, turns out I don't have to worry about blight, because Scruffy developed a case of WTF.  Allow me to show you how it progressed over the last six hours.

In the morning:

First, one of Scruffy's branches began to wilt.  There also appeared a couple of faded, yellowish green spots.  I know it looks like it has powdery mildew, but that is just an effect of the camera.  Not a special effect at all.

Two hours later:

Within a couple of hours, Scruffy looked more like this.  Why, Scruffy?  Why?

At this time, Scruffy also developed a rather sickly hue.  It was something of a brownish undertone.  Definitely not healthy looking.

Six hours after discovering the first wilted leaves:

As you can see, the WTF virus has pretty much obliterated Scruffy's will to live.  Poor Scruffy!

May you rest in peace, Scruffy.

So I have pretty much no educated suggestions regarding what in the world happened, but I do have an ignorant theory.  I bought this plant at Lowe's.  The plant had been thoroughly watered--and I mean thoroughly!  To put it mildly, it was drenched.  So I'm starting to wonder if Scruffy was in the early stages of Root Rot before I even put him in the ground.  He only survived in my plant bed five days!

Moving on to other things, there has been another tragedy in our garden.  While playing ball in the backyard, my two year old daughter accidentally deflected a bounce right onto Squishy!  I planted five Squishies, so I think we are still in business... but I don't think this one will make it.

Suddenly the name Squishy seems that much more appropriate...

But, to end on a more positive note, Climby and Desmond are still pretty happy.  I haven't been too sure about McCrunchy from day one, but they aren't dead yet, so hopefully this means good things and not bad things.

Apparently my camera thought dirt was more interesting than Desmond.

The end.