Playing With Plants

I've been home since Saturday afternoon and have not recovered from my trip. I haven't done laundry, paid bills at all for the month of May or any number of household chores I usually handle. However, that hasn't stopped me from playing with plants. In fact, other than sleep--which hasn't been nearly as much as I want--that's about all I have done since I came back.

This was my Mother's Day present. Buckaroo put down these pavers for me so that I don't have to walk through the swampy muddy yard after the weekly rain to get to the garden. Why we didn't do this when we first moved in is a mystery. 

When I came home I found out the yellow squash plant took over 1/4 of this garden box. The yellow squash plant is that single huge plant in the far corner with leaves the size of bicycle tires. I had to move the zucchini and the pepper plants which were shaded under the yellow squash plant. 

That white stuff? Diatomaceous earth, spread out to keep the bugs from eating the leaves. Think of it like a natural pesticide.  

I also moved some of the pepper plants (I have several) to the potato patch. Actually, I thought this was a sweet potato plant until I did a bit of research. I vaguely recall burying one potato some time last summer just to "see what would happen."  Also in this particular garden bed are okra seeds because for some strange reason my husband thinks okra is wonderful. The seeds didn't sprout. Bummer. Hopefully Maybe they were eaten by the--I'm not making this up--rabbits, possums and moles. 

Though it may not look like it, I have six tomato plants in this bed. The two largest are more than five feet tall. so far the only plant giving me tomatoes is that teensy tiny one in the front of of this picture diatomaceous earth sprinkled on it. However, I have lots of flowers on the tomato plants.  

Protip: if you have flowering tomato plants, gently shake your plants to get the pollen in the flowers to fertilize. 

Protip 2: Once your tomato plants are at an acceptable maturity put a soda straw (or several depending upon the size) around the outside of the stalk to keep the hornworms off. 

This is Enid. I picked her up in Patagonia AZ two weeks ago on a road trip with Mrs. Meadows. She's hanging out in the onions with the intention of scaring the moles, rabbits and possums. 

Because I can't seem to play with enough plants at home, today I went to my community garden coalition meeting today at the health department where we planted marigolds and collard greens. Their garden is a few weeks behind mine. However, they have okra. If Marty wants any, he can go there and pick it himself. 

And finally, Suzy asked me a few weeks ago to help her start her garden. However, she was going on vacation and wouldn't be around to water it. Then I was going to Arizona. So, I planted some seedlings for her and put my SAD light on the patch of dirt in my kitchen, helping the plants grow until I got back. Tomorrow these cucumbers and yellow squash will be transplanted into her backyard garden.