Categories
Gardening

Squash Update

>Well, three weeks later, and there’s been definite change in how the garden looks!  I went out this morning to check how it’s growing, and WOW my squash plants not only have squash, they are cute and chubby, and more are on the way!  So, on with the pictures.

So, I know the picture isn’t the greatest; I’ll get out there later and take a better picture; as well as update on the tomatoes and bell peppers.  But there’s a definite change since I took pictures three weeks ago!  If you have to refresh your memory; click here.

Here are the cute and chubby squash.  As far as I can tell, these are the only three that are this size, so I’m geeked!  I’ve decided I need to name them, but I can’t think of any names right now.  And if you’re wondering what ‘this size is’, here’s a comparision with my hand.

Well, roughly anyway.  I don’t have very large hands, so this ought to give you some idea.  They are all roughly the same size; however I think this one is the largest of the three.  I do plan on being a nerd and going out there and measuring them to see how long they are and find out their girths.  And there’s a few more starting that are roughly the size of my thumb; but a little skinnier.

And I can HONESTLY say that’s how big these squash were last time I checked on Tuesday!  And yes, squash are flowering plants.  I hear squash flowers are actually quite delicious with cheese; however I believe you’re actually supposed to do this with zucchini blossoms.

Categories
Gardening

How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

>Well, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged about my garden.. or blogged period.  So I figured I would write up a quick blog about the garden.  You’ve probably seen my last post about the garden on May 30th.  Well, we had nothing but rainstorms last month, and unfortunately got hit by hail on June 11th.  Here’s some pictures from that.

Firstly, let me show you what the hail around my downspout off of my gutters looked like.

 
 As you can see, that’s A TON OF HAIL.  And it’s no surprise that it’s not very gentle on gardens.

As you can tell (or you may not) the leaves on my plants got ripped to shreds.  BTW, it’s Tomatoes, Squash, Bell Peppers and the Strawberry plant in that order.  I had to prune the heck out of them, and in some cases, I had to leave the shredded leaves otherwise they wouldn’t be able to photosynthesize and grow.

And then, on top of everything else, my tomatoes ended up getting sunburned. 

But at least one of my lemon boys grew a tomato!

 
Ain’t he cute!  These two pictures were taken on June 23.
And I went outside today to inspect the garden, and WOW it’s definitely exploding!  The tomatoes are bouncing back from the sunburn… I had to prune one of them almost completely bare, but the branches are growing back nicely.

As you can see, the tomatoes are doing very well, as well as the squash.  However, I’m not too sure about the bell peppers, I was told they take a bit longer to grow than most other plants.  And sadly, my Strawberry plant died.  I’m not sure what killed it, but it never quite recovered after the hailstorm.  Oh well, maybe next year in a different way.

Anyway, that’s the update on my garden!  On other news, I finally updated my website after aproximately 13 months of not doing anything with it.  Check it out!

And hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th.  Don’t blow yourselves up okay?

Categories
Gardening

The Great Outside

>We’ve got a bit of a garden growing outside now.  I’ve always had some interest in gardening, however it wasn’t something I was able to pursue until we got our house this year.  We’ve got Tomatoes growing, some Spaghetti Squash and some Bell Peppers, and in a pot, I’ve got a Strawberry plant growing.

 
I know, my yard isn’t in the greatest shape, and that I need to prune the grass down on the edge of the garden, but my goal is to get this garden through the summer, and then next year I plan on doing a raised bed garden, that way it’ll be easier to manage, and hopefully I won’t have issues with weeds and such.  I just hope my garden makes it because I’ve been having a difficult time watering them.  It’s so hot here, that the water evaporates in a matter of minutes, and I didn’t have the foresight to enrich the soil before putting my plants in, so hopefully I can help them thrive with watering them and getting some food for them.  Anyways, next to my garden I’ve also got a very large rosebush.  I didn’t think it was going to bloom, but last weekend we had rain, and it looks like that did the trick; since it bloomed and still has buds forming and getting ready to bloom themselves.
 

 It’s kind of large and wild; and I knew it was pruned before, but they didn’t prune it back enough!  I kind of like it though all wild looking the way it is.  And yes, I know the lawn needs to be mowed, something Jeff will be doing tomorrow.