Garden update
It's been neat to watch my first veggie garden grow. Neat, but not without its frustrations. The tomato plants have all outgrown their cages...and although the plants themselves look very healthy, none of the tomatoes are turning red. At the farmer's market today, I overheard a few ladies saying they had the same problem this year w/ their tomatoes. And while at Powell's this afternoon, the checker lady said the same thing was happening with her plants - lots of green tomatoes and no red ones. I assume it is weather-related...but it's disappointing nonetheless. If I lived in a warmer, sunnier climate they may change, but I'm doubtful in Portland. I've learned a few other things too: fennel is better to grow from seed. Basil doesn't really expand much from starts - it's almost worth it to just buy bunches of it at the store or market and not bother w/ planting it in the yard. Next year I will plant cherry tomatoes - I've heard those do better
here and have a much better chance of ripening than the big ones. The pepper is growing, but not developing into fruit yet...we'll see if that does well here in the next month or two. The seeds I planted about a month ago for winter veggies are starting to come up - but they are still TINY little things. I don't know if I sowed them too early or too late, but those will probably not develop into mature plants before the frost hits...we'll see. If we're lucky we'll get a few carrots, some little lettuce and kale leaves, and perhaps a few little radishes. I'm happy to see the acorn squash doing so well - and those I didn't plant - the seeds were simply left over from Nancy and Andy, as well as the pretty nasturtiums. The oregano, sage, and flat-leaf parsley are doing 
wonderfully - as expected. Nearby we have rosemary, peppermint, lemon balm, and dahlias. It's a happy little place, even with dandelions popping up every day, Bermuda grass growing out of control in some areas, and an eyesore of a lawn that's gone a whole summer with no water. Last weekend I planted a bunch of things on the two parking strip areas on both sides of the driveway. Tomorrow I plan on picking up some mulch and laying newspaper down to discourage weeds, especially the grass, from competing with the newly establishing plants, as well as weeding the south and west embankments. Always something to do!!
It's been neat to watch my first veggie garden grow. Neat, but not without its frustrations. The tomato plants have all outgrown their cages...and although the plants themselves look very healthy, none of the tomatoes are turning red. At the farmer's market today, I overheard a few ladies saying they had the same problem this year w/ their tomatoes. And while at Powell's this afternoon, the checker lady said the same thing was happening with her plants - lots of green tomatoes and no red ones. I assume it is weather-related...but it's disappointing nonetheless. If I lived in a warmer, sunnier climate they may change, but I'm doubtful in Portland. I've learned a few other things too: fennel is better to grow from seed. Basil doesn't really expand much from starts - it's almost worth it to just buy bunches of it at the store or market and not bother w/ planting it in the yard. Next year I will plant cherry tomatoes - I've heard those do better
here and have a much better chance of ripening than the big ones. The pepper is growing, but not developing into fruit yet...we'll see if that does well here in the next month or two. The seeds I planted about a month ago for winter veggies are starting to come up - but they are still TINY little things. I don't know if I sowed them too early or too late, but those will probably not develop into mature plants before the frost hits...we'll see. If we're lucky we'll get a few carrots, some little lettuce and kale leaves, and perhaps a few little radishes. I'm happy to see the acorn squash doing so well - and those I didn't plant - the seeds were simply left over from Nancy and Andy, as well as the pretty nasturtiums. The oregano, sage, and flat-leaf parsley are doing 
wonderfully - as expected. Nearby we have rosemary, peppermint, lemon balm, and dahlias. It's a happy little place, even with dandelions popping up every day, Bermuda grass growing out of control in some areas, and an eyesore of a lawn that's gone a whole summer with no water. Last weekend I planted a bunch of things on the two parking strip areas on both sides of the driveway. Tomorrow I plan on picking up some mulch and laying newspaper down to discourage weeds, especially the grass, from competing with the newly establishing plants, as well as weeding the south and west embankments. Always something to do!!
2 comments:
Your garden looks beautiful! Why do you think it is better to buy basil at the store than plant it?
elizabeth :) i've noticed that the basil doesn't grow much once it's in the ground - either that, or i needed to fertilize the plant more. compared to all of the other plants, it hasn't expanded much - making it almost not worth it to have them in the ground. it's nice to just have basil in the yard, though, for when you need it, as long as you're not using gobs of it like for pesto or something.
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