Garden update, July
Dave and I talked about my garden for a few minutes and he played with kidlet, who is NUTS about the garden hose. I swear that kid can't be a fire sign, he adores water so much. On the other hand, kidlet loves being outside running around (usually naked), and perhaps that's due to Leo's ruling planet being the Sun. He still wears about a gallon of sunscreen, mind you, but he sure loves being out in the heat.
After Dave left we went out to run errands, stopping at the Paris Farmers Union to get some hardware and I checked out the late-season flowers that were left. I found some very cheap flats of petunias and impatiens, I think they were $1.50 for six or something like that. I got five flats to bring home, along with some 40% off bulbs.
That afternoon I did some more weeding and cut three heads of broccoli (the fence worked! we actually have broccoli this year!) and eyed the thyme plant in the side bed. It was HUGE. I rolled up my sleeves and went at it with a pair of kitchen shears and some twine, and ended up with SIX bundles as big around as my wrist from just the one plant! I actually left quite a bit of the plant untouched as I simply couldn't think of any use for that much thyme. It smelled heavenly.
Then I attacked the oregano plant with much the same vigor and ended up with three sizeable bundles about 12" long. I strung up some twine in our laundry nook under the stairs as it's the darkest, driest place I could think of (other than the spare bathroom, but no thanks) and hung the bundles to dry. They're actually very pretty and lend a nice scent to the laundry area.
What in heck am I going to do with all that thyme? I didn't even touch the OTHER thyme plant in the garden, I have one that's much smaller but about twice the potency so you don't need much. I just left that one for now. I guess once we have tomatoes I can make lots of tomato sauce with the oregano and basil that's finally coming up, and can in all. Hmm. I'm going to need more shelves.
Speaking of basil, it's growing! I've never grown basil from seed before so it was an experiment. I saw about six plants coming up, the largest as big across as my palm. The leaves look lustrous and green and I can't wait until they're big enough to start cutting. Yum! The onions are also up, the swiss chard looks leafy and happy (after I weeded out all the grass and pigweed so I could actually SEE it), and there are a few grape-sized green tomatoes hanging from one of the plants. As I mentioned earlier the broccoli was ready to be cut, so I took those heads off and will be watching for more as the month goes on. The peppers have blossoms, and the beans look beany. No beans yet, but they're getting that bushy look. All the squash is making its way over the plot and finding places to creep.
I did find one surprise...back in the far corner a single tattered broccoli plant came up, in the same place as I had planted them last year when they were eaten by the groundhog. I don't know how that poor thing survived the winter but it did, and there it was! I'll never get anything off of it, but it's more of a pet now than anything else.
Michael brought up the remainder of the potting soil we had stashed in the garage and I filled the dilapidated cedar bucket with it and got it nice and wet, then planted the impatiens and petunias together. I am terrible at container gardening as I always forget to water things, but this bucket is big enough that I think it'll be able to survive if I forget for a day or three. I'm not a big fan of petunias but I have to admit the colors I got were very pretty, even if they smell like poo.
By the time I was done with gardening it was getting dark, so I lit the chimnea and settled into a camp chair to enjoy the settling dusk. Keith came over to visit and we played with the kidlet for a bit (though I think he did the bulk of the playing, that's what honorary uncles are good for) and we watched the fireflies come out. I love fireflies. I don't know if the kidlet knew what we were pointing at, but he seemed very interested in the way the light changed and of course the fire. He liked that too.
After Dave left we went out to run errands, stopping at the Paris Farmers Union to get some hardware and I checked out the late-season flowers that were left. I found some very cheap flats of petunias and impatiens, I think they were $1.50 for six or something like that. I got five flats to bring home, along with some 40% off bulbs.
That afternoon I did some more weeding and cut three heads of broccoli (the fence worked! we actually have broccoli this year!) and eyed the thyme plant in the side bed. It was HUGE. I rolled up my sleeves and went at it with a pair of kitchen shears and some twine, and ended up with SIX bundles as big around as my wrist from just the one plant! I actually left quite a bit of the plant untouched as I simply couldn't think of any use for that much thyme. It smelled heavenly.
Then I attacked the oregano plant with much the same vigor and ended up with three sizeable bundles about 12" long. I strung up some twine in our laundry nook under the stairs as it's the darkest, driest place I could think of (other than the spare bathroom, but no thanks) and hung the bundles to dry. They're actually very pretty and lend a nice scent to the laundry area.
What in heck am I going to do with all that thyme? I didn't even touch the OTHER thyme plant in the garden, I have one that's much smaller but about twice the potency so you don't need much. I just left that one for now. I guess once we have tomatoes I can make lots of tomato sauce with the oregano and basil that's finally coming up, and can in all. Hmm. I'm going to need more shelves.
Speaking of basil, it's growing! I've never grown basil from seed before so it was an experiment. I saw about six plants coming up, the largest as big across as my palm. The leaves look lustrous and green and I can't wait until they're big enough to start cutting. Yum! The onions are also up, the swiss chard looks leafy and happy (after I weeded out all the grass and pigweed so I could actually SEE it), and there are a few grape-sized green tomatoes hanging from one of the plants. As I mentioned earlier the broccoli was ready to be cut, so I took those heads off and will be watching for more as the month goes on. The peppers have blossoms, and the beans look beany. No beans yet, but they're getting that bushy look. All the squash is making its way over the plot and finding places to creep.
I did find one surprise...back in the far corner a single tattered broccoli plant came up, in the same place as I had planted them last year when they were eaten by the groundhog. I don't know how that poor thing survived the winter but it did, and there it was! I'll never get anything off of it, but it's more of a pet now than anything else.
Michael brought up the remainder of the potting soil we had stashed in the garage and I filled the dilapidated cedar bucket with it and got it nice and wet, then planted the impatiens and petunias together. I am terrible at container gardening as I always forget to water things, but this bucket is big enough that I think it'll be able to survive if I forget for a day or three. I'm not a big fan of petunias but I have to admit the colors I got were very pretty, even if they smell like poo.
By the time I was done with gardening it was getting dark, so I lit the chimnea and settled into a camp chair to enjoy the settling dusk. Keith came over to visit and we played with the kidlet for a bit (though I think he did the bulk of the playing, that's what honorary uncles are good for) and we watched the fireflies come out. I love fireflies. I don't know if the kidlet knew what we were pointing at, but he seemed very interested in the way the light changed and of course the fire. He liked that too.
posted by Jen at
3:01 PM
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