Hi, friends.  In the midst of all my packing and unpacking and painting I have still found time to procrastinate with tend to the garden at my new house.  The bathtub is moving along nicely: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] little green things[/caption] That green stake on the left in the bathtub (am I ever going to not cringe when I type that??) is a metal tomato stake that is awesome:  there are three prongs so it's sturdy and you can keep adding more on the top as your plants grow.  Although looking at this one, I think I put it in upside down.  Oh well, still works!  Tomatoes are heavy and I always underestimate how many stakes I will need to hold the plants up.  In fact I only got three of the metal ones - on the left are two stacked and one is already being engulfed by plants on the right - because I couldn't imagine needing more than that when I ordered these in December.  Maybe someday I will learn. And look!  Tomatoes! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] The inside of my house is entirely this shade of blue and unfortunately it extends to the back steps as well[/caption] These are Dr. Walters that I chose solely based on the name.  And...they were not so tasty.  They weren't sweet; in fact, they were almost sour.  Since when are tomatoes sour?  I don't know if sour is the right word, but when I tasted a slice my mouth kind of automatically puckered so sour it is.  My first thought was bitter or acrid but I think acrid is too strong a word.  They still tasted like tomatoes, just not sweet ones.  Anyway, these are both from the same plant, one that has had a hard time of being moved around and gotten quite dry - I'm actually surprised it survived the multiple moves.  All that to say that with my very unscientific method I'm not sure if the sourness is due to poor conditions or if that's just what Dr. Walters taste like.  I still have some Dr. Walters in the tub and also at my other garden in the ground and those plants are a lot healthier.  Once those ripen I'll have to see if they have the same pseudo-sour taste. Bear with me while I pat myself on the back for planting things that are not vegetables.  On the other side of the broken concrete that I call my yard I planted some flowers.  Yes, flowers!  And not even edible ones!  Greensgrow is having their big summer sale - as are a lot of garden centers as they clear out the summer stock to make way for fall - and so I grabbed some pretty things for my garden.  I plan on planting fall vegetables like chard, kale, spinach and arugula and some bulbs for the spring but I'm still in the process of cleaning out all the overgrown foliage back here and wanted something nice to look at in the meantime.  Here they are! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] mini flower garden[/caption] From left to right we have:  hibiscus, sunflowers that I started allllll the way back in May at the container garden workshop but just put in the ground a few weeks ago, daises, a butterfly bush, black-eyed susans and a little harebell.  The honeysuckle on the fence is my neighbors' but I'd like to plant some of my own, too. This thing that I am battling with to clean out is wild morning glory, and I've dug up the little bed above at least three times pulling out morning glory's thick roots.  Wild morning glory is very different from the nice climbing morning glory:  the wild one is a horribly invasive weed.  It is TOUGH and the roots go on forever and have a horrible smell that I can now smell in my sleep I've spent so much time pulling them out.  Everything I've read says to just use a weed killer because THAT IS THE ONLY WAY but I'll battle the roots a bit more before I resort to that.  Maybe I'll take a picture of the huge pile of roots I pull out every other day if I'm not too defeated by the whole thing.

Hi, friends.  In the midst of all my packing and unpacking and painting I have still found time to procrastinate with tend to the garden at my new house.  The bathtub is moving along nicely:

little green things

That green stake on the left in the bathtub (am I ever going to not cringe when I type that??) is a metal tomato stake that is awesome:  there are three prongs so it's sturdy and you can keep adding more on the top as your plants grow.  Although looking at this one, I think I put it in upside down.  Oh well, still works!  Tomatoes are heavy and I always underestimate how many stakes I will need to hold the plants up.  In fact I only got three of the metal ones - on the left are two stacked and one is already being engulfed by plants on the right - because I couldn't imagine needing more than that when I ordered these in December.  Maybe someday I will learn.

And look!  Tomatoes!

The inside of my house is entirely this shade of blue and unfortunately it extends to the back steps as well[/caption]

These are Dr. Walters that I chose solely based on the name.  And...they were not so tasty.  They weren't sweet; in fact, they were almost sour.  Since when are tomatoes sour?  I don't know if sour is the right word, but when I tasted a slice my mouth kind of automatically puckered so sour it is.  My first thought was bitter or acrid but I think acrid is too strong a word.  They still tasted like tomatoes, just not sweet ones.  Anyway, these are both from the same plant, one that has had a hard time of being moved around and gotten quite dry - I'm actually surprised it survived the multiple moves.  All that to say that with my very unscientific method I'm not sure if the sourness is due to poor conditions or if that's just what Dr. Walters taste like.  I still have some Dr. Walters in the tub and also at my other garden in the ground and those plants are a lot healthier.  Once those ripen I'll have to see if they have the same pseudo-sour taste.

Bear with me while I pat myself on the back for planting things that are not vegetables.  On the other side of the broken concrete that I call my yard I planted some flowers.  Yes, flowers!  And not even edible ones!  Greensgrow is having their big summer sale - as are a lot of garden centers as they clear out the summer stock to make way for fall - and so I grabbed some pretty things for my garden.  I plan on planting fall vegetables like chard, kale, spinach and arugula and some bulbs for the spring but I'm still in the process of cleaning out all the overgrown foliage back here and wanted something nice to look at in the meantime.  Here they are!

mini flower garden

From left to right we have:  hibiscus, sunflowers that I started allllll the way back in May at the container garden workshop but just put in the ground a few weeks ago, daises, a butterfly bush, black-eyed susans and a little harebell.  The honeysuckle on the fence is my neighbors' but I'd like to plant some of my own, too.

This thing that I am battling with to clean out is wild morning glory, and I've dug up the little bed above at least three times pulling out morning glory's thick roots.  Wild morning glory is very different from the nice climbing morning glory:  the wild one is a horribly invasive weed.  It is TOUGH and the roots go on forever and have a horrible smell that I can now smell in my sleep I've spent so much time pulling them out.  Everything I've read says to just use a weed killer because THAT IS THE ONLY WAY but I'll battle the roots a bit more before I resort to that.  Maybe I'll take a picture of the huge pile of roots I pull out every other day if I'm not too defeated by the whole thing.

It's almost August!  That means... [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375"] Dr. Walter I presume[/caption] Red tomatoes!  I actually do just presume in the caption above.  I've moved these poor tomatoes around so much that most of the labels are gone.  Oh well.  And if you look closely at the stem above the fruit you can see that it's broken - another casualty of moving.  It's hard to move large tomato plants, especially in a small car.  Let's just say the sunroof came in handy. Unfortunately, when I was watering the garden today I found an interloper: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375"] this thing was about the size of my index finger[/caption] I realize that it is hard to see a green caterpillar against green plants but that's how hard it is to spot these guys.  I only found this one because I was poking around for tomatoes - just goes to show that you should always check your plants under the leaves.  This is a tomato hornworm and it is alarmingly large, eats tomatoes (and eggplants and peppers) and will turn into a moth.  This was the only one I found on any of my plants so  I just pulled it off and threw it into the alley for the birds. Lastly, I "liked" Greensgrow on Facebook and they told me the other day that it was time to plant carrots for the fall.  Okay!  My friend gave me some homegrown carrots as a housewarming gift and they were delicious.  I mean delicious - sweet and earthy and crunchy.  I just ate them plain and raw they were so good and I didn't want to mar the fresh taste with anything else.  Usually I dip carrots into hummus and they become more of a hummus vehicle but I think homegrown I could just eat them on their own.  I've had some "Little Finger" carrot seeds lying around for over a year now so I finally decided to give them a try.  Fall carrots would be nice!  I also found this helpful post on the Philadelphia County Master Gardeners blog all about what you can plant now for the fall.  I'm going to try a few of these as I figure out my back yard.  It's exciting that spring isn't the only planting time!

It's almost August!  That means...

Dr. Walter I presume

Red tomatoes!  I actually do just presume in the caption above.  I've moved these poor tomatoes around so much that most of the labels are gone.  Oh well.  And if you look closely at the stem above the fruit you can see that it's broken - another casualty of moving.  It's hard to move large tomato plants, especially in a small car.  Let's just say the sunroof came in handy.

Unfortunately, when I was watering the garden today I found an interloper:

this thing was about the size of my index finger

I realize that it is hard to see a green caterpillar against green plants but that's how hard it is to spot these guys.  I only found this one because I was poking around for tomatoes - just goes to show that you should always check your plants under the leaves.  This is a tomato hornworm and it is alarmingly large, eats tomatoes (and eggplants and peppers) and will turn into a moth.  This was the only one I found on any of my plants so  I just pulled it off and threw it into the alley for the birds.

Lastly, I "liked" Greensgrow on Facebook and they told me the other day that it was time to plant carrots for the fall.  Okay!  My friend gave me some homegrown carrots as a housewarming gift and they were delicious.  I mean delicious - sweet and earthy and crunchy.  I just ate them plain and raw they were so good and I didn't want to mar the fresh taste with anything else.  Usually I dip carrots into hummus and they become more of a hummus vehicle but I think homegrown I could just eat them on their own.  I've had some "Little Finger" carrot seeds lying around for over a year now so I finally decided to give them a try.  Fall carrots would be nice!  I also found this helpful post on the Philadelphia County Master Gardeners blog all about what you can plant now for the fall.  I'm going to try a few of these as I figure out my back yard.  It's exciting that spring isn't the only planting time!

...but, well: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] that's a tub[/caption] You see, the house that I bought has a back yard but it is mostly concrete.  I'm going to dig it up and make it all plants at some point, but my bigger concern right now is fixing things inside the house so, you know, I can live there by the end of the summer.  But my tomatoes were outgrowing their pots and I certainly don't have the money to buy or move any big planters right now and this bathtub was just sitting in the back yard already filled with dirt so... [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] no judgement in bathtub planting, right?[/caption] I planted it!  Rutgers, Copia, Dr. Walter and Jersey Giant tomatoes, sweet yellow stuffing peppers and one lone eggplant in the bottom left corner.  So much space!  You can see that the eggplant and some of the tomatoes were getting quite dry in their little pots - because the tub holds so much more dirt they won't dry out nearly as quickly now. I'd like to say a word about using household items in gardens.  You may think that with my love of puns I'd think the ubiquitous flower "bed" planted in an old bed frame would be just hilarious.  Bed!  Bed!!  That's some highbrow humor right there, and exactly the type that I normally laugh at so hard I snort.  Somehow, though, in my mind the wonderful pun is overshadowed by the fact that there's A BED IN YOUR GARDEN.  Sorry, that's just too tacky.  And that's how I feel about this, too. THERE'S A BATHTUB IN MY GARDEN. DID THE PLUMBER GET CONFUSED? WHERE'S THE TOILET? [Actually my neighbors have planted things in a toilet bowl right across the fence so that joke doesn't work.  But pretend you didn't know that.] Okay, okay.  But the aesthete (ha) in me is a little embarrassed to admit that when I first walked out the back door and saw the hideous tub my immediate thought was "What a great planter!" followed closely by "Sarah, don't you turn into one of those people who plants things in old shoes and tires and - shudder - beds." But I knew that my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant needed more space.  I knew that the tub would have to stay for the time being since it's very heavy and I'd need lots of help to move it.  I knew my money and time were best spent on things inside the house like, uh, real plumbing and a working kitchen.  And before I knew it I had planted the entire tub. So now my little vegetable garden looks like this: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, tree of heaven and a rose[/caption] And I'm telling myself that it's okay that I planted the tub because I didn't put it there.  But then again I didn't remove it.  What's that saying about making a choice by not making a choice?  Because for now, at least, I've made the choice to be a person with a bathtub in her garden.

...but, well:

that's a tub

You see, the house that I bought has a back yard but it is mostly concrete.  I'm going to dig it up and make it all plants at some point, but my bigger concern right now is fixing things inside the house so, you know, I can live there by the end of the summer.  But my tomatoes were outgrowing their pots and I certainly don't have the money to buy or move any big planters right now and this bathtub was just sitting in the back yard already filled with dirt so...

no judgement in bathtub planting, right?

I planted it!  Rutgers, Copia, Dr. Walter and Jersey Giant tomatoes, sweet yellow stuffing peppers and one lone eggplant in the bottom left corner.  So much space!  You can see that the eggplant and some of the tomatoes were getting quite dry in their little pots - because the tub holds so much more dirt they won't dry out nearly as quickly now.

I'd like to say a word about using household items in gardens.  You may think that with my love of puns I'd think the ubiquitous flower "bed" planted in an old bed frame would be just hilarious.  Bed!  Bed!!  That's some highbrow humor right there, and exactly the type that I normally laugh at so hard I snort.  Somehow, though, in my mind the wonderful pun is overshadowed by the fact that there's A BED IN YOUR GARDEN.  Sorry, that's just too tacky.  And that's how I feel about this, too.

THERE'S A BATHTUB IN MY GARDEN.

DID THE PLUMBER GET CONFUSED?

WHERE'S THE TOILET? [Actually my neighbors have planted things in a toilet bowl right across the fence so that joke doesn't work.  But pretend you didn't know that.]

Okay, okay.  But the aesthete (ha) in me is a little embarrassed to admit that when I first walked out the back door and saw the hideous tub my immediate thought was "What a great planter!" followed closely by "Sarah, don't you turn into one of those people who plants things in old shoes and tires and - shudder - beds."

But I knew that my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant needed more space.  I knew that the tub would have to stay for the time being since it's very heavy and I'd need lots of help to move it.  I knew my money and time were best spent on things inside the house like, uh, real plumbing and a working kitchen.  And before I knew it I had planted the entire tub.

So now my little vegetable garden looks like this:

eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, tree of heaven and a rose

And I'm telling myself that it's okay that I planted the tub because I didn't put it there.  But then again I didn't remove it.  What's that saying about making a choice by not making a choice?  Because for now, at least, I've made the choice to be a person with a bathtub in her garden.

After a short hiatus I am back with some exciting news:  I now own a house with a big sunny back yard so my garden will be expanding!  Of course I'm excited about the house but I'm also excited about the gardens (yes, plural, front and back) and a potential greenhouse (!!)  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  I may be living in a sublet while I work on my house but my plants are still growing, albeit in two different locations, soon to be three.  I know...I have a lot of plants.  Garden #1 is a very deep raised bed-type area that I've planted plants in and set plants in containers on.  It's pretty harsh, condition-wise:  it's very sunny and hot and windy and there's no shelter from hard rain.  I planted a bunch of tomatoes in the bed because I knew those conditions would dry out pots quickly.  Here they are beginning to bloom! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] once again I neglected to label all my tomatoes: these are either rutgers or jersey giants[/caption] Notice the unused tomato cage in the back?  I have so much room here that I just let the plants spread out.  I'll just have to watch once the tomatoes get ripe so that they don't rot on the ground.  Or get eaten by wildlife. I also brought some mint with me and that is in a large pot in the sunny garden: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375"] neglected mint about to flower[/caption] And next to that some basil that is a little dry but still okay, I think: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375"] soon to be pesto[/caption] This garden is so big (and I share it with my neighbor so this is just half) that I got a bunch of flower seed very cheap - 12 envelopes for a dollar - and just mixed it all together and sprinkled it around.  I actually did have a little bit of a plan:  the tallest, poppies and phlox, against the wall, then marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums and various other "cutting flowers" in the middle and forget-me-nots and sweet alyssum around the border.  They're just seedlings now but hopefully I'll have something to show you soon. At Garden #2, which is mostly shade, I have the rest of the tomatoes (in the sunniest spots), peppers, eggplant, figs, ferns, moss, begonias, crown of thorns, bay, chives, thyme, lavender and other things that I can't remember right now.  Despite the shade, these guys are all doing pretty well.  Here are some Dr. Walters ripening: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375"] sweeties[/caption] I plan on moving these tomatoes and the peppers and eggplant at least to Garden #3 which is my new house.  It's sunny and south-facing and - wonder of wonders - there's a HOSE.  My days of filling up watering can after watering can in sinks and bathtubs are numbered, thank goodness.

After a short hiatus I am back with some exciting news:  I now own a house with a big sunny back yard so my garden will be expanding!  Of course I'm excited about the house but I'm also excited about the gardens (yes, plural, front and back) and a potential greenhouse (!!)  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  I may be living in a sublet while I work on my house but my plants are still growing, albeit in two different locations, soon to be three.  I know...I have a lot of plants.  Garden #1 is a very deep raised bed-type area that I've planted plants in and set plants in containers on.  It's pretty harsh, condition-wise:  it's very sunny and hot and windy and there's no shelter from hard rain.  I planted a bunch of tomatoes in the bed because I knew those conditions would dry out pots quickly.  Here they are beginning to bloom!

once again I neglected to label all my tomatoes: these are either rutgers or jersey giants[/caption]

Notice the unused tomato cage in the back?  I have so much room here that I just let the plants spread out.  I'll just have to watch once the tomatoes get ripe so that they don't rot on the ground.  Or get eaten by wildlife.

I also brought some mint with me and that is in a large pot in the sunny garden:

neglected mint about to flower

And next to that some basil that is a little dry but still okay, I think:

soon to be pesto

This garden is so big (and I share it with my neighbor so this is just half) that I got a bunch of flower seed very cheap - 12 envelopes for a dollar - and just mixed it all together and sprinkled it around.  I actually did have a little bit of a plan:  the tallest, poppies and phlox, against the wall, then marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums and various other "cutting flowers" in the middle and forget-me-nots and sweet alyssum around the border.  They're just seedlings now but hopefully I'll have something to show you soon.

At Garden #2, which is mostly shade, I have the rest of the tomatoes (in the sunniest spots), peppers, eggplant, figs, ferns, moss, begonias, crown of thorns, bay, chives, thyme, lavender and other things that I can't remember right now.  Despite the shade, these guys are all doing pretty well.  Here are some Dr. Walters ripening:

sweeties

I plan on moving these tomatoes and the peppers and eggplant at least to Garden #3 which is my new house.  It's sunny and south-facing and - wonder of wonders - there's a HOSE.  My days of filling up watering can after watering can in sinks and bathtubs are numbered, thank goodness.

Things are a little busy around here!  I'm in the process of buying a house (fingers crossed!!) but in the meantime my old lease was up so I moved into a sublet for the summer.  I've moved but my plants are in two different places (what, you thought I wouldn't move my plants?  Another bonus of container gardening!):  about a quarter of my plants are at my sublet and the rest are on my boyfriend's porch.  If all goes well with the house I'll start moving plants over there after closing at the end of this month.  But just because my plants are being carted around the city doesn't mean they aren't growing.  Oh, they are.  I was going through all the pictures I've taken so far this year and I thought it would be fun to see how the plants have grown.  I thought the arugula was a particularly nice example: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="March 11th"][/caption] Above, in mid-March they were freshly planted. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="March 18th"][/caption] A week later they sprouted! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="March 22nd"][/caption] They grow fast!  Four days later I started thinning them out (because apparently I am incapable of sowing seeds evenly...) [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="April 16th"][/caption] By mid-April they were starting to look like real arugula (and tasted great, too.) [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="April 22nd"][/caption] The front pot is spinach and behind it is the monstrous arugula. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="May 3rd"][/caption] I tried to eat as much as I could to thin them out some more.  When I say "thin out" I don't mean pulling the plants out of the ground - I just pick the leaves so new ones can grow back.  Because... [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="May 18th, arugula on the right"][/caption] They will! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="May 18th again"][/caption] After I thinned out what I could eat for dinner, I moved some plants to a bigger space so I wouldn't have to thin out as frequently and they'd be able to grow a little bigger - although I tend to prefer baby greens for their tenderness, I love the nutty flavor of adult arugula because it's more pronounced.  Also I wanted the leaves to look more arugula-ish. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="May 24th"][/caption] I stuck the little arugulas in wherever possible (like with my chard and kale from last winter that were basically just bird food by now) but they grew big with lots of space. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="May 24th again, blurrily"][/caption] The ones I left in the original pot grew lots too. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="May 28th"][/caption] Four days later they were enjoying their new home and steadier photography! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="May 31st"][/caption] And I was eating as much arugula as possible.  Don't knock arugula and cream cheese on a bagel until you've tried it. This might be the last harvest since tender greens like these don't like it really hot (I've already gotten rid of the spinach and lettuce.)  And I've eaten enough arugula to satisfy my springtime arugula craving, but I'll probably plant more in the fall when it cools down. As for the rest of the garden ("garden"), I'm getting lots of these: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="nice to see you"][/caption] which is always exciting!  But more on that next time.

Things are a little busy around here!  I'm in the process of buying a house (fingers crossed!!) but in the meantime my old lease was up so I moved into a sublet for the summer.  I've moved but my plants are in two different places (what, you thought I wouldn't move my plants?  Another bonus of container gardening!):  about a quarter of my plants are at my sublet and the rest are on my boyfriend's porch.  If all goes well with the house I'll start moving plants over there after closing at the end of this month.  But just because my plants are being carted around the city doesn't mean they aren't growing.  Oh, they are.  I was going through all the pictures I've taken so far this year and I thought it would be fun to see how the plants have grown.  I thought the arugula was a particularly nice example:

Above, in mid-March they were freshly planted.

A week later they sprouted!

They grow fast!  Four days later I started thinning them out (because apparently I am incapable of sowing seeds evenly...)

By mid-April they were starting to look like real arugula (and tasted great, too.)

The front pot is spinach and behind it is the monstrous arugula.

I tried to eat as much as I could to thin them out some more.  When I say "thin out" I don't mean pulling the plants out of the ground - I just pick the leaves so new ones can grow back.  Because...

They will!

After I thinned out what I could eat for dinner, I moved some plants to a bigger space so I wouldn't have to thin out as frequently and they'd be able to grow a little bigger - although I tend to prefer baby greens for their tenderness, I love the nutty flavor of adult arugula because it's more pronounced.  Also I wanted the leaves to look more arugula-ish.

I stuck the little arugulas in wherever possible (like with my chard and kale from last winter that were basically just bird food by now) but they grew big with lots of space.

The ones I left in the original pot grew lots too.

Four days later they were enjoying their new home and steadier photography!

And I was eating as much arugula as possible.  Don't knock arugula and cream cheese on a bagel until you've tried it.

This might be the last harvest since tender greens like these don't like it really hot (I've already gotten rid of the spinach and lettuce.)  And I've eaten enough arugula to satisfy my springtime arugula craving, but I'll probably plant more in the fall when it cools down.

As for the rest of the garden ("garden"), I'm getting lots of these:

which is always exciting!  But more on that next time.