Tomato Eating

I picked my first Black Krim recently because it was cracked and started to get "soft." Boy is it yummy! My bearded dragon didn't think so though. She ignored it! Humph! I haven't picked any of the other tomatoes cuz I figured soon as I picked them the sooner they would rot! The basil is yummy as always! It's been quite chilly at night recently, almost feels like an October night! It's just getting a tad too chilly for my liking. Still quite humid tho!

I haven't had the time to finish reading that grass book. Hopefully after this week is over I can sneak some time here and there to finish it. Maybe I'll learn something! :) Anyway, back to studying!

Rotting Zucchini

At first glance you would think the dog decided to make himself a cool bed out in the yard at the look of my Zucchini plants, but upon closer inspection the plant itself isn't broken...it is mushy! I kinda figured this would happen as each time I pulled a Zuchini off and it left an exposed wound to bacteria all around. So my guess is that it got a bacterial infection and it has died :( Now my bed is going to look all empty! I picked my big zucchini that I didn't pick in time and let go to seed. There are two more fingerling baby zucchinis on the plants. So I guess we'll see!

Fall is Around the Corner

Football has apparently started. That is my signal that fall is just around the corner. Probably another reason why I hate football! Means my growing season is coming to an end! This last week has been super stressful as it was my first week of fall semester back at school. I have a very rigorous class that I have been spending every free moment studying for already. The only times I take a break are if I am eating or if I am taking a short break. It's been hard falling off the face of the earth to everyone I know. I like to keep in touch! So hi to all those folks out there that have not heard from me! I am not dead, just super super busy! I had to force myself to do the dishes today since I have been too busy to do them and the sink was overflowing.

So some garden talk....my two Black Krim tomatoes are not only growing at different speeds, but the fruit produced is also looking drastically different from each other. One is more black than the other. One of the fruits has already cracked so much I can see the seed in it. Probably needs to be eaten ASAP so that it doesn't just rot on the vine.

Everything else has been really dry. Some of my ferns have died back, my Irish Moss is trying to go. I hope the both of them have established themselves enough that they will come back next year. Everything else is pretty uneventful. Oh! I did catch the vole that was digging tunnels all over my yard with a mouse trap! WOOHOO! I did re-set it in case it decided to leave me any friends or offspring that might want to see who took mommy's life!

Anyway, back to the grindstone here....

Grass

I am now reading The Organic Lawn Care Manual by Paul Tukey. I am in chapter 4 and never thought of growing grass was such a science! There is lots to learn on just how to grow grass, not just organically! The types of grass (there are lots!), where they grow, what they tolerate, what they love, etc. Will update on what I learn!

Tomato Growth Progress

I am finally done with my chores and had some time to take some updated pictures. The garlic is all harvested. They weren't as fat as I had hoped they would be, but here are some shots of the tomatoes instead:

The tomato in the foreground in the pot is the same as the taller tomato in the ground in the way back, Black Krim. The one in the ground got more constant water as there was more ground to be saturated with the stuff and it probably got some weed and feed too when bf put some down w/o telling me he was going to do so! So it is quite a difference as you shall see...

This is what the whole area looks like now. The zucchini plants have given me 4 zucchinis of which I am afraid to eat due to the weed and feed. There is still one giant zucchini on the vine because I let it get too big to take off. It wouldn't be good to eat so I thought I'd let it go to seed. The honeysuckle sure got big over the Vegas weekend! I had to tie it up some more. No flowers yet, maybe next year!

One giant ugly Black Krim tomato. This is the biggest of them all and grows on the bigger, in the ground, tomato bush. I believe this was the first tomato to grow. You can see how big it is against the ruler...it is in inches.

These are two smaller Black Krims as you can see. They are two of very few growing in the pot and are ripening up already. These will have less of a chance that they got any weed and feed as evidenced by their size :) Can't wait to try these out as they are AWESOME tomatoes! I think I will always have one of these growing in my yard each summer!

Hood Rat

No, not the furry four legged with a tail type vermin....the two legged I don't give a shit as to what society says kind. I know it's not my neighbors because they have RESPECT. This is the view outside my front door this morning:



The yellow circles indicate where my planters have resided for the past 3 years since I have lived in this house. The green circles indicate where my planters were this morning as I walked outside! I don't go walking into YOUR yard and messing it up. Why the FUCK would you touch mine?! Yeah, no harm done, but guess what? There is, cuz I am not supposed to lift anything more than 10 lbs at the moment! To the jackass that thought this was funny. You come here and do this again and I'll have something nice waiting for you. Stay the fuck away from my property!

All Gone...!

Alas....all the beautiful Stargazer Lillies are done blooming! They were so beautiful and fragrant, but they sure didn't last long enough! It'll give me something to look forward to next year along with those red Asiatic lillies! The back of the patch there is looking a bit empty now that I have cut off half their stalks to make sure they are not trying to put any energy into making seeds.

The home grown zuchinis are a bit tough skinned though as we found out the other night when we decided to cook two of them.

Other than that...not much going on. It's a bit dry. We could use a good downpour so that I don't have to pull out the hose. I haven't been able to pull the hose out due to the fact that bf is parking his car right in front of the spigot!

I just realized I could put labels on my posts....I wonder who reads my blog? Apparently quite a few of you since my visitor counter says so! :) I hope ya'll enjoy my posts as much as I do writing about them!

Another orchid in starting to bloom!

My baby Meyers Lemons growing! Woohoo! Can't wait to eat them!

My garlic patch in the backyard....they are ripening up. The zucchinis are finally starting to grow here amazingly enough! I thought it wasn't getting enough sunlight, which it isn't, but it is still growing some for me. Not many, but two is better than none!

Garlic

Harvested my first garlic today. The bulb wasn't too bad, but it wasn't super big either for such a big plant! I think I'll pull up the others later.

More Blooms

This is Phal. John Ewing. It was supposed to bloom last year and had TWO spikes, but I threw it outside with the other Phals in the fall and blasted the two spikes! :( So this year, to make up for it....it has given me one single spike. This has been a long awaited bloom since this is a SCENTED Phalaenopsis! Oh it is heavenly! Pretty to boot too!

Spider Lily I believe what this is called. Quite pretty, small flowers though. Apparently the bee in the flower the morning I took this picture agreed since it was drunk with sleep! I thought it was dead! It must really appreciate the food :D

Close up shot of the pretty small flowers. They are about 1" across.

Neofinetia X is in bloom!

Somehow this beautiful little thing has a tinge of purple to the petals even though Neofinetia is white and the other plant it was crossed with was named 'alba.' this is a first bloom for me. I got this plant off eBay. It is lightly scented at the moment, but I am sure it will get stronger as night falls! Grown under florescent lights!

Stargazer Lillies Are Open!

All four lillies are open! Actually, one is already fading. It didn't last very long....a week max? They all opened up during the heat of this past weekend. They smelled SO good! The rain storm late afternoon yesterday, Sunday, knocked a lot of the pollen off the stamens. I will definitely grow more of these since they are able to bloom in shade even!


8:29pm - It is pouring! WOOHOO!!!! The yard sure needed the water!

Stone Plant Bloom Progression

Is it safe to come out?

Hello?

Must be safe....?

Hello world! Hello tiny itty bitty bee!

Ahhh....the sun sure feels good!

Blooms!

I have six, count that S-I-X, orchids in spike under my light stand! YIPEE!!!! Some I have not seen some of them bloom since I bought it (years!) and some have never bloomed at all (few years or just bought) so it will be exciting to see what they look like possibly!

Outdoors, my stargazer lillies are about to bloom so I am excited to see what those actually look like! I hope I got the white ones because I really can't remember LOL

Just found out two nights ago bf put down weed and feed in the backyard....GRRRR....now I can't eat my garlic! :( :( :( He has been reminded that he is ***FORBIDDEN*** to use any pesticides/herbicides in our yard because not only is my garlic affected, but my worms and the dog since he didn't tell me he put it down. You are supposed to wait something like two days before letting pets or children onto lawns when you put down fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides (read your labels!). Well...unbeknownst to me my dog was still being let out on that same grass and EATING on it! Ugh...

Visual Update

This is what my front yard looks like now that all the spring flowers have died back. Seems a bit empty now... I've gotten a lot of compliments though!

Baby zucchini! I have learned that these need A LOT of light! The ones planted in shade are blooming all male flowers like crazy, but absolutely, not even one single female flower! The three I planted in the pot and is sitting actually in my neighbor's yard (rental) is growing some baby zucchinis, but eventually they will outgrow the pot. :\ I learned my lesson....grow in pot only!

A little piece of my backyard....finally decided to plant my tuberous begonia back there with the ferns. The light requirements worked well and it looked nice to have some white popping up. the fern next to the begonia is a native maidenhair fern. It dies back every fall and comes up every spring! These are my most favorite ferns!

Mini Hosta "Gold Drops" in bloom. I thought the flowers would be darker than they are now, but quite pretty for such a tiny hosta! I planted it last summer.

Brad's Black tomato given to me by Doug Oster, the Post-Gazette's Backyard Gardener, who showed me how easy it was to go "organic" with his and Jessica Walliser's book, Growing Organic.

One of two Black Krim tomato plants I am growing....these are SO good! They are an heirloom variety and finally setting fruit! I can't wait to eat them!

Look how big my yellow peppers are getting!!!

This is one of those stone plants I keep killing indoors. Yes, you just heard it...a master gardener kills plants! I too cannot grow everything I love :) I bought this from Lowes and put it outside in a clay pot so it wouldn't blow over (just plopped it into the pot, plastic pot and all) and I haven't even watered it! All it gets in water is when it decides to rain. I can't believe it is blooming! Guess I have to grow these as annuals....

Update

It has been raining for two days now. Am I still in Seattle???

My red lillies were really short lived. There is only one left. One of my Stargazer lillies got blown over by the storm so I had to cut it down. I don't know if the bulb will survive since there are no leaves for it to gather food with. I guess I'll find out if it doesn't come back next year!

My garlic is starting to turn brown. Woohoo! :D The tips...we cooked one. It was kind of tough, but pretty darn tasty! Maybe I gotta cook them a bit more for them to soften up.

The habaneros still have not set fruit yet. I am worried they won't at all being on a windowsill. I think I will move them closer to the other plants for a day or two when they are in bloom next. My yellow peppers on the other hand, have two little baby peppers growing already! I hope it grows some more!

The weeds are growing well....like weeds! You won't believe how fast they really grow! Seems pretty tough to keep up after them, but they are so much easier to pull when they are about 4-6" tall. Of course, I am not that meticulous about the yard. If it looks good to me then it is fine LOL

My Neofinetia falcata cross is spiking!!! I am excited about that as I have never seen it in bloom. I also have a Phrag in bloom for the first time for me. Not too exciting, but quite pretty in its plain simple way. Seems like there aren't much of a color variation in Phrags...just red, pink, and some yellow. Pretty boring if you ask me! I think I will uh..."weed" those out soon.

Bletilla striata

Bletilla striata 'alba' in bloom!

The Story of Stuff

This is a great video on why we need to be sustainable!

More Stuff in Bloom!

Bletilla striata 'alba' in bud.

Habanero's in bloom.

Yellow peppers growing!

The Things That Grow While You Are on Vacation...

Besides the weeds that sprouted a whole 6" while I was gone for a week last week look what is blooming!

Phalaenopsis Lava Glow

Chirita 'Aiko' - Whoever said these types of African violet relatives don't bloom well clumped up is WRONG! I have TWO buds! Much more than I ever had with a single plant!

Look at my zucchinis! They've finally grown some! Guess I didn't need to move some. The garlic is amazing! The heads are really neat and twist around quite a bit! And oh the lillies! I forgot they were RED!

Close up of my Asiatic lillies in bloom. They are just stunning!