Thursday, August 25, 2011

Garden Time

Pitiful


I'm sure you must be wondering about the success I am having in my garden. I'm beginning to think I may not be a great farmer. (hmmm, what was my first clue?)


Here are a few photos from my garden. Have you ever seen such sorry looking tomatoes? Even so, they are still producing tomatoes, which is the main reason to grow tomatoes.


Pathetic


Sorry-looking plants
 One morning I came out to take a look, and this is what I found:


 Yep. Every. Single. Solitary. Leaf, had been eaten off of one, and only one, plant. Whatever did this, only preferred the leaves. It nibbled on the tomatoes, but left them half eaten. Must've gotten full on the leaves. Isn't that weird??


My brussel sprouts are still sproutless. Sigh. But, I'm not giving up, dagnabbit!
There is one lovely red pepper!
My mystery plant/artichoke imposter is thriving. It is now taller than the house. Turns out, it is, in fact, an artichoke, technically. It's a Jerusalem Artichoke aka sunflower artichoke. Supposedly, the tubers can be eaten, but they don't sound too appetizing. "Their flavor is somewhat sooty when cooked and not agreeable to everyone but they are very nutritious, and boiled in milk form an excellent accompaniment to roast beef." ehhh, no thanks. (Botanical.com)

Even though we still go to the produce auction to get veggies to can (wait until  I tell you about that experience!), I still like having my little garden to walk about, harvesting the veggies I grew:


In other news, I am happy to report that my avocado plant did indeed survive the decapitation.  However, the leaves are growing back much smaller than originally. 

I don't want to leave you with ugly pictures of my garden, so here are a few pictures of my flowers.






8 comments:

  1. Well, it's the trying that the fun. What a mystery about the tomatoes!! Maybe deer? You do have some lovely flowers, and that is a gorgeous red pepper! Have you already eaten it?

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  2. From most of the people that I've talked with, this has been a tough year for gardens. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't have any bell peppers this year. My guess with the tomatoes is a worm of some sort. Maybe a tomato horn worm. He will be the same color as the stems and leaves. I've had things eating my tomatoes too. I'm thinking that I have some thing like a corn ear worm. It's driving me crazy, but I guess it's not too bad, I haven't bought any chemicals or anything. I have been pulling off anything I find and drowning it. If you do find a green tomato worm and he has white cocoons on him, let him live. His body is host to parasitic wasps that will consume him and his brothers from the inside out.

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  3. You're so funny, Darlene :)

    Growing ones own veggies is not as easy as others would have us believe. I've not had much success myself, either, but I keep hoping. For the amount of effort I put in, my "harvests" are pitiful, too!

    At least you got to enjoy some pickings! I think farmers pump their crops with growth hormone and spray for every bug known to mankind, while we novice home gardeners try to limit the use of sprays and fertilizers.

    Your flowers are very pretty! Pick a big bunch and enjoy those :)

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  4. I have two words for you: Neem Oil

    I have heard that this is supposed to be a gardeners best friend. I think it is natural and you can even eat your veggies and fruit a day after using this spray. And buy a sprayer for it, one where you pump it up and it sprays. And for the life of me, well you know with the problem of CRS, I cannot remember which herb one is supposed to plant that keeps the deer and possibly some other critters away from one's garden. If I come across it again and my CRS problem does not keep me from remembering to let you know what it is, I will try to let you know. Uh....what was I gonna say about your garden...oh okay, it looks better than mine.

    It has been too hot to go outside and spray my plants and hubby refuses to do it. He says he has been watering them and that is enough. But I keep telling him they need more. I guess I am gonna be forced to go outside but for the next week we are gonna be in the 100's and it is hard to leave that 75 degrees of AC.

    Anyway those flowers are beautiful and that is one great pepper. And I think it was a show on the food network where they said that those Jerusalem Artichokes are better than the ones we eat. Just something about cooking them properly. Maybe you can find out something on the Food network site. Or the Epicurious website. Dang it now you have me curious about them. And they said they are easier to grow. Which I guess your picture shows that. Once I tried to grow artichokes and I think I got about 4 or 5 on the plant before the bugs got it. But then I did not know about Neem Oil. You can order it online if you cannot find it at the garden center.

    Now I guess I better go look for that new sprayer I just bought in one of my few forays out to visit the world. I have been hibernating in this heat, hiding in my cave trying to save on my energy bill. I hate those $450 electric bills during the summer months.

    Thanks for sharing your great garden pics. Oh and I guess I need to give you two more words: Chicken Wire. Just in case it is deer eating the tomatoes. Too hard for them to eat a plant wrapped in chicken wire. Dang it, still can't remember which herb they hate.

    God bless.

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  5. Please don't feel bad about your tomato plants. Ours look equally bad but also are still producing. My husband said he is starting to think it's just so much easier to stop at the farmers market on the way home. Lol. Enjoy your weekend! K

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  6. Hey, they're producing and that's what's important. Who cares what they look like. Besides, your flowers are gorgeous. So happy to have found you through the over 40 blog hop.
    Laura
    http://imsovintage.blogspot.com/

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  7. Your red pepper and all your flowers are beautiful! :)
    Thanks for stopping by Friendly Friday!

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  8. Being an avid Gardner myself (other than this year as I have had to many eye surgeries)I agree with Des. It is not as easy as it sounds or looks.
    Thanks for stopping by today. Phil is definitely a card and as Des says we are two pea's in a pod. :) I will be following you back as I love your blog. I have looked at two post so far. I will be catching up. :)

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