Saga of the Peas--Episode Five: The Rootbound... er... Episode.

Well, whatever is going on with them, the problem with the peas does not seem to be spreading.  Which hopefully is a good sign that it is not some sort of disease.

At the advice of some more experienced gardeners, I cut open the plastic bags to check for drainage issues.  Drainage was good, soil evenly moist and all that, but I did notice this small detail...

So... apparently there might be an issue with growing things in bags that grew just fine last year in planters of the same size?  It might have been that small detail of spacing... hahaha... ha...

Anyway, not entirely sure how I will actually deal with this issue.  They don't all look rootbound, just certain areas.  But of course that just means that there are other rootbound areas that I can't see from the front.

So, I'm asking folks what I should do about the roots.  Leave them?  Loosen them?  Cut them off?  The soil is only loosely contained, so if I jiggle them too much, the whole thing might just crumble apart.

The vines actually look a little better since I cut them open, so I'm thinking suffocation may have been a contributing issue.  But I'm still finding a few shriveled leaves near the tops of the vines.  Nothing in vast quantities or anything like that, but just here and there, a weird, crinkled leaf.  Also a bit of localized wilting here and there.

Localized wilting.

Shriveled leaf, and also one of the anemic vines in the background.

More withered leaves.

But an encouraging sign is that they are growing little peas!  So if they still produce some good peas, I'm happy.  They may not be as robust as last year, but I'll take what I can get.

I spy baby peas.  Do you?

And they really are looking better overall.  I think.  Although it's quite likely that I'm imagining things.  What do you think?  Better?

Okay, so, moving along.  I rearranged the patio in anticipation of spreading cucurbits.  I suppose that's a bit of a misleading term, in my case, since it instantly makes you think "cucumber", but the cucumbers never germinated.  So it's all summer squash.  Perhaps I should call them "zuccirbits".  Anyway, they're growing and all that.  I need to develop a decent watering system.  If I remember right, I mulched the tomato last year, and that way I was able to just water the roots without disturbing the soil.  So I think I'll attempt to do that again.  I need to figure out what to mulch with though.  Last year it was lawn clippings.

Anyway, squash.

I need to check back and see which squash is where.  I'm pretty confident that the zukes are in the upper left hand corner.  But I forget which ones are the paddypans and which ones are the crooknecks.

Oh, forgot to mention the fact that I will have to cut down the twine around the squash when they get a bit bigger.  It's really just there to keep my daughter from rummaging around in there, but it will really get in the way of the spreading squash.

This is where my garlic and flowers ended up.

These babies have attracted a few hummingbirds.  So that's been fun!

I like the garlic, it looks almost like ornamental grass or something.  Cool.

The kale struggled for a couple of days.  I transplanted them into a bigger box to give them more room.  They looked great for about a day and a half, and then for some reason, they just fell over.  One in particular took longer to bounce back, and I started to wonder if I was going to lose that one.  But it finally bounced back last night!  I am pleased.  The cilantro is glorious.  Also, microscopic basil.

The worst one was still a little wilty when I took this, but later that day it finally perked back up.

I had those empty pots, after harvesting the lettuces and transplanting the kale, so I bought a six pack of flowers that were on sale and planted them.

Beans are hanging in there.  One of them was devoured, but for some reason they only ate one leaf and then left.  Whatever.

I always forget to show you all Bilbo Baggins.  It's got spinach still.  My daughter ate one of them because it was forming a bud.  The other ones do not seem to be forming buds yet, so I'm letting them get bigger.  But we are supposed to get some high temps soon.  I will have to keep a close eye on them.  I also need to find a better place to plant them next time.  The ones that I planted in the soil bags are failing.  Probably that whole rootbound thing.

And the porch.  I think it was probably a mistake trying to grow all three broccoli plants in one container.  I wonder if it's too late to transplant one or two of them.  Although I really don't have any place to put them...

In related news, the Swiss Chard seems to be bouncing back pretty well.  I've got one leaf that is showing some water damage, but the other two seem happy.  Thinking I will pull the stunted middle one, give the other two plants room to roam.

The strawberries are weird.  One day they will look fine, then the next day they will have some wilting.  Not sure what the problem is.  I mean the soil there kinda sucks, so it's probably related to that.  But some of the berries are starting to turn red, so that's cool.

As you can see, this was one of their droopy days.

Also, the wildflowers are still growing, although I'm pretty sure that the one that's sharing a bed with the strawberries is almost entirely weeds.  But the one I never take pictures of looks great!  Go me!

The end.

Good news and bad news...

Should we start with some good news?

Aww, such a cutie!

However, there is some fairly significant bad news.

Not sure if I mentioned this.

Allow me to reiterate.

They don't all look this way.  But a good portion of them do.  I hope we get a few peas before they croak.  Some of them still look good, so I'm hoping they will produce a good harvest.  But I'd say about 50% of them appear to have some defects.  Poor babies!  I think it might be a fungal wilt disease, based on pictures I saw on the internet.  Which we all know to be completely reliable.

And, here are the green beans.

Boy, my legumes are struggling this year, I tell ya!  The one below looks pretty good, but as you can see, something has started nibbling on it.

A friend of mine told me about a safe insecticide called Neem Oil.  I'm going to try that.  I'm also going to look for an anti fungal spray, or start doing milk sprays or something, for the sake of the squash.  It prolonged the growing season last year, but I didn't start using it until after the powdery mildew showed up.  I'm told you can actually use it as a preventative solution as well, so I'm going to give that a whirl.  Learn by doing and all that.

Speaking of the little squishies... true leaves!  This makes me happy.

The cucumbers never did come up.  The seeds were from last year.  I'm wondering if they went bad.  There were a few squash seeds from last year that did not come up either, although most of them did.

My herbs are really doing great!  Herbs are supposed to be pretty easy, I guess.  Well, the must be, since I haven't killed any yet.  Haha... ha...

A few more teeny tiny flowers have opened up, and new buds are growing on the other parts of the plant.

Cilantro, oh yummiest of summer garnishes!

Something has damaged the ridiculously miniscule basil, but I can't find any pests.

The oregano in the middle looks the best, but I think the ones on the ends will be okay too.

Pretty little thyme.

Rosemary and mint.

Sage amongst the strawberries.

Speaking of strawberries, more of them are beginning to perk up, much to my very definite surprise.  There are still a couple that I am confident are beyond repair, but it looks like I will have four plants at least.  If they get hardy enough, I'm likely to transplant them into pots.  The soil in the flower beds is just not very good.

Here's a good look at the broccoli and kale.  That little guy who was in the yogurt cup?  I transplanted him to the red tub, where lettuces once were, but have since been eaten.  Mostly on sandwiches.  The kale is growing really well.  I'm going to need to rearrange them.  I have a longer flower box that I think I will put soil in, and then move the kale into there.  Then they will have the elbow room they have been needing for a while now.

I have to say, the broccoli and kale have been a real pleasure to grow thus far.  They have been pretty low fuss, and they are nice to look at, too.  The only issue I've had with them has been the persistent reappearance of this stupid cabbage moth.  I'm out there every day checking for eggs, because it will just not go away.  I have found several eggs on various occasions, and I have squished a few larvae as well.

The Swiss Chard is hanging in there, and actually has been looking better the last couple of days.  My lovely little girl decided to help herself to some of it, so it still looks pretty thin.  But it is getting new leaves and looking healthier.

The garlic shoots are starting to turn a little brown.  It is my understanding that they are supposed to do this.  Also, the green onions look like they are going to bloom or something.

Lastly, I have messy children.

The end.

Picture Post!

Oh, who am I kidding?  They're all picture posts.  I don't really have anything to update on, but it was such a nice day...

Lavender has one teeny tiny bloom!  So cute.  I'm really proud of my lavender.  She fought hard to hang in there, and now she seems to be doing great!  Good thing I didn't hack it down like I was tempted to do...

Chard seems to be enjoying the sun.  Since moving it back to the patio, it hasn't been munched on as much.

Oregano.  I hacked them down so that they could put more growth into their roots.  I have no idea if that even works, haha.  I just like to make things up as I go and try to sound like I know what I'm doing.

Kale is happy and getting pretty big!  It's a dwarf variety, so it's not supposed to get super huge, but I do think I'm going to have to thin these.  Which means sometime in the next couple of weeks we will be eating baby kale, I guess.

Broccoli.

Basil is growing.  So... at this rate we should have basil by, say, November?  Ahaha, I kid.

Thyme.  Quick, someone help me remember what variety this is!  I'm too lazy to step outside and look at the tab.

Sure is pretty...

More squishies.

The upper right corner is conspicuously empty.  That's where I planted the cucumbers.  Hope they come up soon!

Okay, fine, you can see it.

I need to figure out a spot for this broccoli plant...

The beans in the middle aren't coming up, and some of the new ones look really strange.  Hopefully they just have bed head or something...

The best looking one of the bunch.

Wildflower seed progress.  I suppose I should consider thinning these out just a bit...

The ivy is beginning to block out the sun.

Babies birds are getting bigger too!

Peas are blooming!

They still don't look as healthy as I'd like...  I'm wondering if growing them close together is really such a great idea.  I was told you could grow them close and they would climb each other, but they just don't look as good as they did last year when I had them spaced farther apart.

My 3 year old ate a head of spinach out of the bag because it was starting to form a bud, and I had heard they lose their flavor when they bloom.  She was adorable walking around the yard, snacking on her big bouquet of spinach.

Thank you, come again!  And be sure to tell your friends!

Cilantro has me thinking of fish tacos every time I go outside.  Also, it turns out I'm hungry.

Some of the strawberries are starting to come around.

Others, not so much.

Sorry to finish on such a hideous note, but there you have it.

The end.