Garden update, it's been a while

[mousme]

The garden is booming. The tomatoes have made an appearance, and a few of them have ripened without my noticing. I have ninja tomatoes, apparently.

The peppers are sulking, but while they haven't grown, they have produced flowers, so I am cautiously optimistic.

I got one tiny cucumber off one plant, and the other plant has a cucumber on it too. I hope that next year the harvest will be better.

The herbs survived in spite of my not weeding the garden for about a month. The tarragon isn't very happy but it's hanging in there. The mint had a battle to the death with the bindweed, the clover, and the grass, and came out the victor once I cleared out the debris. I'm vaguely frightened. ;)

My garlic disappeared. I think something ate it. There is *one* bulb left.

The basil has gone nuts and is three feet tall. The carrots that moonandtree planted are doing well, as are the beets.

moonandtree and I got a lot of weeding done today. I am taking a break right now because I'm hot, tired and thirsty, but depending on how the rest of the day goes I'm going to try to get out there again to spread some cedar mulch where we weeded, to discourage the weeds from coming back too strongly again.

I also harvested the rhubarb, which I think I left a little late. I lost some of the stalks to... well, rot, I'm guessing. Still, I have a TON of rhubarb. I see canning in my immediate future. Gotta pull out my canning recipe for rhubarb and make sure I have enough jars for it.

Today's to-do list includes dishes, laundry, gardening, finishing the baby blanket, and getting in some writing. If I have time I'll be canning the rhubarb. If not, that will happen tomorrow at the latest. Oh, and I have to call my mother before she convinces herself that I've decided never to speak to her again.

In non-domestic news, I appear to have some sort of weird summer cold. I had a horrific sore throat all day on Thursday and it got a bit better yesterday, but today I woke up slightly congested and with the feeling that someone had settled a wildebeest on my chest: not quite an elephant, but big and heavy and inconvenient nonetheless, and the occasional racking coughing fits aren't as fun as you'd think. I'm feeling better now —being outside in the warmth helped— but I can feel whatever it is lingering in the background.

Comments

[langolier2408.livejournal.com]

In regards to the missing garlic, perhaps another gofer has invaded your area, the reason I say this is I caught one munching away on my neighbors garlic...maybe they are Italian gofers??

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

Oh no! not the dreaded summer chest cold. I hope it goes away quickly.

[urban-homestead.livejournal.com]

I strongly recommend the rhubarb barbecue sauce on the Canadian Living website. It freezes like a charm, too.

PLEASE be careful doing all that with a chest cold. You don't want to kill yourself. Pressure in the lungs is God's way of telling you to go to bed with a hot lemon.

Are you sure your garlic is gone? It's supposed to die back - that's how you know it's ready to harvest. I am worried about my garlic this year because it never did die back. I don't think it knows this weather is, technically, 'summer'.

[swestrup]

Your cold sounds exactly like what taxlady caught at Anticipation and what I caught from her. It seems to be doing the rounds right now.

Garden Update

[ankhorite.livejournal.com]

Pinch the blossoms off the basil. The bees will resent it, but c'est la vie. If you want, cut it down to half-size and wash and freeze the leaves of what you've cut.

I have too little space and too many vermin to do carrots, lettuce, etc. However, I did plant three jalapeño pepper plants and Savant cooked with some of the peppers this weekend and pronounces himself well-pleased.

I envy you your tomatoes! I am being supplied by the dachshund's grandmother, big fat fellows in orange and yellow. I planted orange and yellow cherry tomatoes and we are getting about four or five a day. She is also giving us a peck of cucumbers every week, om nom nom.

Congrats also on your excess of rhubarb. :)

I am very sorry to hear about your heavy chest! Booo! Bad!

[ai731.livejournal.com]

My garlic all but disappeared this year as well. I think I have one surviving garlic plant from the 8-foot row I planted. It may well have rotted. Garlic particularly dislikes very wet weather.