Out & About – July 22 Edition - Fertilizer Friday

I’m joining the weekly Fertilizer Friday meme hosted by the wonderful Tootsie.  You can pay her a visit too!   By clicking here.

This week has proven to be a random happenings kind of week. 

I pruned back the petunias in my hanging baskets and collected seeds for next year.



The last of the Leeks were pulled.   I love to let them bolt and have the papery scape burst open to reveal the inside.  But that’s just me being silly (and experimental).



In my little neighborhood the backyards are kind of pie shaped and meet in the middle.  Thankfully, we have been blessed with the greatest neighbors.  Very “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”.  This is a view of one part of my backyard.  Looking right from the deck. 
About 20 minutes before this picture was taken, I mentioned to my husband that a mammoth vine had climbed the tree overlooking my veggie patch and the tomatoes were not doing as well as they should because they needed more sun.  Next thing I know, our neighbor is up the tree on a ladder roping the tree to take it down.  Do you see the diagonal white line in the center of the picture?    Well hubby is on the end of that rope (behind our SHARED compost bins) pulling the tree while our neighbor is on the chainsaw.  He is obscured by the overgrown grapevine and hydrangea.  Poof!  Done!  My veggies should be happy!

From this vantage point if I were to look left (wish I had taken a picture), there is a small creek with a bridge and pretty much forest on the other side.  I use it to store nursery pots and there is a compost bin there too.  While I was walking the puppy  a couple of days ago, I was startled (doesn’t take much to freak me out, critter-wise) to see this….
This guy has apparently taken up residence in an old kiddy pool.  A quasi Club Med for frogs and friends.  Knock yourself out buddy!

WARNING!
At the risk of boring you to death, be forewarned this is but yet another blurb about my daturas.    You may want to run off at this point and that’s cool.  Run!  Run!  (This is the first year that I’ve grown them from seed and I just want to keep track.)


What a difference a day makes!

Have a wonderful week but first,  head on over to see Tootsie and more garden aficionados!

Potato, Pa-tot-ow

As one of my experiments this year, I grew potatoes for the 1st time. Not only that but instead of planting them directly in the ground I bought some "Smart Pots" and gave those a whirl. All were planted in pure homemade compost. So yesterday I pulled the potatoes from 2 of the 3 sacks. Success? Failure? Somewhere in between. Most of the few potatoes that I did get were small but they were nice and firm with no rot. This is a good thing cuz this summer's weather was not co-operative. A resounding success? No. But everything is relevant isn't it...

To Compost or Not to Compost...That is the Question

Any gardener who has jumped on the composting bandwagon knows that it is awesome stuff. When it is ready...mmmm.....the earthy smell. For weenies like me, getting there is a little more challenging. But I did it. And if I can do it, anyone can.

In case you're on the fence about it. Check out your options on the Compost Guy. There has never been an issue with odor or critters. The only critters I encounter are those wild wiggling worms. And that's a good thing.

2008 "Newborn" picture

Memorial Day - Veggie Kick Start

"OFFICIAL" PLANTING OF THE VEGGIES
The past two days have been spent prepping and planting the veggie beds - finally! One last addition of black gold (compost) and we are ready to rock 'n roll.

I planted several varieties of tomatoes, jalapenos, banana peppers, celery, pumpkins, cukes, eggplant, brussel sprouts, watermelon, and zucchini for now. Look how silly the little peppers look next to the garlic! Not for long!

Last year I pickled the banana peppers and they were a hit with my daughters so I'll definitely do that again this year. The jalapeno peppers won't go to waste either. One of my daughters works at a Mexican restaurant and last year's yield was used to make some excellent Ceviche. Once a week she has some of the cooks/chefs over and a big ole batch is whipped up. Now that is something to look forward to!

POTATO BAGS
I have mentioned before how delighted I was with my neighbor's garden fresh potatoes last summer and so had to grow my own this year. I have kind of been in a quandary as to what I should do because we might be moving this summer so I wanted them to be movable. In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I decided to experiment with Smart Pots that I bought at Gardener's Supply.

In addition to my "potatoes to go", I've split tomatoes, cukes, peppers, celery, etc. between the raised beds and containers , just in case.

Unexpected Findings.....Pleasant and Otherwise
Sometimes when you're down on your hand and knees you come across some funky stuff. Such was the case today when I found this in my raised bed....