Drying Herbs & Relaxing

The basil is coming on like crazy!  I decided to try drying whole sprigs to store in mason jars and crumble as needed. 

Then I'll take my chair out to my favorite shady nook in the corner of the yard.  Who knew that the coziest spot would be between the compost(right) and the dog pen(left)? 

Dog Deterrent Yard Beautification

My little shih tzus love to escape and they love to dig to do it.  That's why we keep pots sitting along the fence...just to make their work a little harder.  I gathered them all up, striped some with masking tape and spray painted them.

Then I planted them with discounted flowers on clearance at the garden center.  I like it.

Swiss Chard is Starting

We just started picking the multicolored chard.  It's planted too close but I'm hoping the fact that it is in a raised bed will offset the issues. One hint of a problem is that japanese beetle have begun munching on the tops.  I hung a beetle trap in the hedge row at the back of the yard and am crossing my fingers that it will help distract them as they arrive.  The only plants that were bothered last year were rhubarb and zinnias. 

A Collage for Jill

Garden Ready to Bust Loose

Here's a picture of the garden today.  From this end you see tomatoes, then beans, then kale, then broccoli and dill, with the runner bean & cucumber trellis behind.  Beyond that are more tomatoes, basil, popcorn, raspberries, yellow squash and zucchini.  We also have banana peppers, paprika peppers, brown & green cotton, potatoes, onions, garlic, shallots and purple okra. We were lucky to get everything in so early.  And we only had to water once so far. 

The lettuce, spinach, cilantro, tat soi, bok choy, and rapini are already out.

Here is a side pic of our tomato table. We have lattice supported horizontally on cinder blocks through which the tomatoes grew.  Mistake- we used 2' wide lattice instead of 4' wide. The plants are already spilling over.  When the beans come out we'll extend the landscape fabric to widen the path and give then room to spread.

The upside down cherry tomato plant is zooming right along.  Mom is worried that the roots might not be able to handle the weight.  I'm more worried about the fact that if I forget to water even one day it wilts.  It is really loaded with tomatoes. I'm almost tempted to find out what fried green cherry tomatoes are like.