Meandering through the garden, and a sweet ending

My garden is coming along in leaps and bounds, but it is all a precarious balance. I have some plants that are always on the brink of dying off, and some that are under attack. I've got plants that need different types of fertilizers all in the same container, as well as plants that like less water in with deep water types. Needless to say, if this garden does well, I will consider this year a MAJOR learning success. As I type this up, I am waiting for yesterday's pictures of the garden to upload.

I mentioned that I have plants under attack. The invaders are so tiny and light green, that I can't see them unless I put on my glasses. I've taken to petting each leaf on each tomato plant to kill off any egg sacs and whatever invader hiding there. This is helping some, but I can't always get to it 3 times a day. I did some research online, and found a simple, homemade recipe that doesn't kill off beneficial bugs, just the ones attacking the tomato plants. Yesterday, I bit the bullet, and harvested a handful of leaves off of my poor plants. Now that I have more plants, this is a bit easier to do. I brought them in, chopped them up and then threw them in the blender with an equal amount of water. I then liquified them for a full minute, until they were pulverized. They've now sat for 24 hours, and are almost ready for stage 2: Straining. Once I get the fibers out, I will add another equal amount of water, and 1 drop of dish soap. Then I can pour it into the spray bottle, and start spraying down my plants. I am excited to see if this works.

DIY Insecticide for my tomato plants. (photo during 24 hour sitting stage)

This is an overall look at the garden. If you have been following my progress, you will notice some things are different.

I had been having problems with my red bell pepper plant. It was not getting enough fertilizer, and seemed to dislike full sun. I was able to shade it for a little while with my cabana, but the unusually crazy weather flipped the cabana and tore up the cover. I've given it more fertilizer, and then top dressed it with the compost to help protect the roots. I am seeing good results!!



The 10 year old's kiddie pool garden is starting to thrive. I suspect that the Lemon Cucumber would rather be in a different container all together, but I am hoping that it will green up and thrive. It's in flower already, so I am encouraged! (maybe it's supposed to be yellow?) Strawberries are getting ready to produce fruit again, the little hot pepper plants are finally starting to grow more leaves, and the carrots are much happier since I top dressed them with boosted soil and fertilizers. Her tomato plant is one of my sickly ones under attack. It has 1 giant tomato at the base, and then 2-3 starting up at the top! This is encouraging, as it means that changes I've made are helping!






The chives and the one lonely onion I have, I think they are straggly looking, but am hoping that they will keep going. The onion looks like something small has nibbled on it.



The black pond form I used for my 6 year old's plants is both good and bad. It gives me multiple layers of soil depth, but it might get too hot in the summer heat. I may have to rethink how I use this, or how I protect it fom the high temps and scorching sun. That said, her strawberries are also getting ready to fruit again (surprise me, I thought it was one and done!) and her volunteer is starting to perk up. I should be able to identify it here soon.


Her (second) tomato plant is doing AWESOME!! (can you hear me singing that??) She is blessed that she has no invaders, and has at LEAST 6 baby tomatoes starting to grow!!



The other side of her pond form is the potato bin. This is not looking as flourishing as other areas.



Of course, the one that I need to add more dirt to, is thriving like crazy! I will be trying to move this over to a rubber maid tub here soon, as I need to bury them for more potatoes. It might be too late though, as the plants are starting to flower.



This tomato plant is doing great, but I have already seen it invaded. Treatment will commence today! The 2 tomatoes are starting to color up, and more have started forming higher up.



My 14 year old's pool garden is perking up. For a while, the corn and the pumpkin plants were looking pale and less than lush. I did some research and discovered that it prefers a different fertilizer, and I had not boosted my hand mixed soils with those nutrients. I've started using a commercial fertilizer and it has recovered well. (I need more of that stuff!) Her strawberries are ready to go again also. We have one tiny volunteer in her garden too, I can't wait to figure out WHAT it is. *grin* She might be rather disenchanted with all of her late season harvest choices right now, but she is going to be THRILLED when the other gardens are done, and her's is just starting up.



The cauliflower is going well. The larger (twinned) plant is doing GREAT, and had a visible head growing now. The other 2 plants are more puny, but they are sharing their nutrients with the thriving Garlic and the smaller patch of chives.




My poor tomato plant. This one is very much under attack, and while the trunk is strong and thick, this poor plant has no leaves worth mentioning. I am very excited to see the baby tomatoes at the tip tops, and I hope I can make this poor plant happy.



The 4 self watering buckets, and their mixed up vine plants. At least now I can tell that they are 4 different types of plants. If I had more experience with them, I could figure them out, but I will resort to looking up the leaves of what I KNOW I planted, and then label the containers. While the buckets are self watering, the plants need me to top water daily.




I planted the Topsy Turvy Tomato plant. I am not sure if I am happy with this set up or not, as it has it's issues. I might have to set it up to slow drip water, as rapid watering is killing off the plant where it drips down it. Slight design flaw, that could have been easily remedied at manufacture.



I had a strawberry pot, that I planted Marigold as a potato in. I noticed last week that it was dying off, and figured that it was probably root bound. I broke part the pot, and pulled the Marigolds off and set them aside. I moved the lump of soil and placed it into my newly created crate planter, and started burying it. I found a fully grown potato in there!! I pulled the one out, but didn't look for more. Either it will start to thrive again, or perhaps the other potatoes can sprout and make more... I dunno, it may have been too late for that plant, but I had to try.



I put the Marigolds in with my 4 year old's carrots. I also set the last tomato plant in with them for now, so that I wasn't tripping over it in the tiny walking area in my micro garden.



So, there you go. My garden is growing and fighting for survival quite well. My side projects are coming along wonderfully, and I have already gotten to use the first batch of horse manure compost.

Ah, I forgot. Th e little sounds of thumping and crashing bodies, and the prickly sounds of tiny claws catching on the bed quilt reminds me. The 3 abandoned kittens have found their forever home. Their names are Spot (stripey one), Snow (black one, think NYC Snow), and Miss Cuddlebug Grey Grey. The children are very excited and happy.

Anyone with a caring heart towards animals is welcome to donate to fund for the vaccinations and "fixing" of these adorable fur babies. I hadn't put aside vet funds for baby kittens, as I had no intention of getting any for a pet. =) I believe we will be having Lemonade Stands and car washes this summer, to help cover the added expenses!

Thank you for visiting, have a Blessedly good day!