Stormflower

It's late September and many great garden moments have come and gone unblogged. While there's a backlog of a few of them captured on film which i hope to put up soon, for now all I offer is news that a tremendous haul of tomoatos and jalapenos has happened, and the prized sunflower actually turned into a hideous mangled and disgusting freak of a plant.

Here's a picture of one of the smaller, and more well proportioned beauties.

Mutiny from the GC

As some may already know there was an "incident" a couple weeks ago when I employed some family members, who will remain anonymous for their own protection, to water my plants while away on vacation for twelve days....lets just say their contract has been terminated.




Some of the members of the "GC" now rest in peace (aka worm compost)

Chlorophytum (aka spider)

Pilea (aka Artillery)

Another member was brought to her knees but with a little TLC and luck I may be able to rise her withered branches from the hungry critters inhabiting the compost who are already eyeing up their next meal......

 Myrocladus (aka west coast)

 Withered West Coast

I'd like to wrap up this post on a POSITIVE note as there was a significant development on team GC over the past 4 days. Upon the usual post midnight return from a long weekend away i routinely inspect the team before hitting the sack and especially my first production addition "Mr. Tomato Head". He is one thirsty beast and keeps me on my toes at the best of times. He was almost a victim of the above mentioned offence but survived with only a few losses. I didn't expect this after weeks of nurturing he seemed to be at home in the GC with all the other single hue members. Upon close inspection and to extreme joy he has left the GC and starting his own clan yet to be named. With 21 tomatoes in various sizes bursting from his tired branches 3 have made the transition to COLOR.

"It makes no sense at all, I saw red. I saw red. I saw red." quoted from our friends Sublime. It was an awe inspiring sight (well maybe not that crazy) that i could actually produce fruits from my labor which is sporadic at best with my schedule. Now i look forward to my first tomato salad (tomato head tomatoes, red onion, chives, xv olive oil, sea salt, white pepper and balsamic paste) grown on the patio and spare bedroom of my home. Look out 2012 as the garden blog has the sky as the limit.....Hawk

Double Complete Flower!

What does it mean?
It's a double complete flower!
Here's a unique speciman of a siamese zucchini flower. They are attached along the stems, with two flowers blooming. Much nicer to look at than their human counterparts.

This other double complete flower is a couple little guys from the rosemary plant.

The Squirrel is Stealing Zucchini Flowers!

The evil squirrel with the white spot on his tail is back again terrorizing the garden. This time he's got his eyes on the big and beautiful yellow zucchini flowers.

He's ripped off almost all of the flowers and now it looks like there are no zucchini's growing either.

Here's a little section of a timelpase video where I caught him in action:

Zucs and Cucs!

Splendid weather this past weekend and by that I mean it was terrible.  In between the rain I took a few pictures of the Zucchini and Cucumbers which are showing some life.  The flowers on the Zucchini are gorgeous when fully opened but I didn't manage to take this picture early enough in the morning to catch it.

Furry little Zuc

Only sign of life on the Cucumbers

Shortly after taking these shots I was joined by Mr. Kitty who spent the remainder of Sunday afternoon in this position.  Rough life, I just saw him basking in the final sun of the day in his other usual spot on the bedrock while I got a little bit of weeding done.

Summer Update

Most of the garden is taking off well. Here`s some baby beans just getting going.

Some sunflowers are getting really tall, but haven`t started to flower yet. Here`s a view of everything.

And 2 delicious strawberries about ready to eat. What a feast!

Mystery Plants!

One of the best parts of growing with compost in the soil is that your plants will get new friends that pop up from time to time. This sunflower has got a bunch of new mystery neighbors - little green sprouts that could really be from anything that ended up in the compost bin.

We pulled out one of the uninvited visitors and put her in her own pot. I think it's going to grow up into a cucumber.

This pot is a mini-ecosystem of mystery plants. Looks like a few tomatos and cucumbers.

Here's the full spread as of about June 14. The little pots in the bottom right are a mix of mystery plants and some poppies.

There has been one jalapeno plant that quickly met an early demise. The other three in the pot with him aren't looking so hot either.

The sunflower leaves have been hosting some sort of insect eggs. Here's an extreme close-up from just before they were washed off.

In The Beginning...

Looking back to my May 15 photos, and here is where it all began. Some zuchinni, crookneck squash, beans and some sunflowers all started from seed and getting ready to go through a rainy spring.

A little zuch' just getting his start in life.

Green bean with a bright future

Not sure how this little guy got up to the third floor balcony...

my first entry....

After a solid night at the park enjoying the first proper evening of summer what better way to close the day than with my first entry on the famed garden blog..............

My first attempt with the dreaded tomato plant began weeks ago but our bleak climate prevented any noticeable growth and she had to be sheltered from the elements by the insulating concrete walls of my condo. Only time, the long days of summer & bi-weekly doses of fertilizer can influence her fate from here on in.

I enjoy a good cooking session as much as the next person so i added rosemary to the patio with future dreams of basil, chives, oregano and any other manageable herbs out there that i can make use of in the kitchen.

The last couple pictures represent species from my "Green Collection" (GC). No, it has nothing to do with environmental responsibility but more to due with my belief that plants which only produce various shades of green require less maintenance. Included in the GC is the classic monkey plant and a propagated English ivy that one summer dropped roots in a jump pot.

Herb Garden

The herb garden largely survived the winter and was in need of some major pruning. The rosemary had grown to over 3ft tall and the sage and oregano were running wild.  After some quick cleanup and the addition of some "shitty" Basil here is what it looked like a little over a week ago.

(center) Shitty Basil at her best

This patch has started to overgrow again and is encroaching on the Basil thus turning it to shit.  The herb garden has also seen the addition of any Cilantro we find popping up around the garden and some Dill that I planted as seed.  Not pictured are the Chives which are hiding behind Sage.

But not all is lost for the Basil.  I split a basil starter in half and planted it in 2 pots knowing full well how finicky they can be. With much care I am finally at the point where I can start using the leaves without decimating the plant.

Basil!

So that's the herb garden.  Lots more to cover when I get some decent pictures.  The rogue lettuce has returned like a weed this year...

Horbz' First Garden Entry

Well, here's my first post. Garden was built about 3 weeks ago. Spent about an hour removing the grass, turning the original soil and adding about the same amount of compost dirt to fill it out and give the soil some nice nutrients.

Currently 11 plants not from seed and the Ultra Sweet Tomatoes are already showing life, as well as some of the peppers.

Italian Roaster Peppers & Ultra Sweet Tomatoes

Hot Banana Peppers & "The Good" Basil

Spearmint & Bonnie Grape Tomatoes

Red Start Peppers & "Shitty" Basil

Rosemary & Red Long Cayenne Peppers

Fanfare Cucumbers

Day 1, The garden is ripe with love.

Not all of these plants have been started by seed. The little tiny plants i like to call perrywinkles. These Gardens are in little nooks around my yard among the boats, cars and general disrepair of my yard.

Boat Box. Squash, zuccini and beans

This is my halve. Spinich, tomato, sweet peas, lettuce, rocket,  and mystery plant.

SUPERSONIC!!! How could i not buy this troublesome tomato!

This is my roomates part. I think he bought them that size

The smelly box

Left over from last year. I think a beet