plants

The first little green Pumpkin is forming below a faded flower. Hugest flowers ever, those pumpkins make. Found the first beefsteak Tomato forming, too- and little rows of cherry Tomatoes on the other plants. Can't wait until they ripen!

I found one Marigold growing on the edge of the cantaloupe plot- I knew it instantly by its smell (like I recognized the volunteer tomatoes by theirs). So all those plants I moved around thinking they were marigolds, that grew tall and leggy by the sunflowers, and are thriving on their own above the zucchini? Some kinda weed. I yanked the ones in the veggie plot out, but left the ones lined up against the small patio alone- at least they're filling the space. I won't let them go to seed, though.

Part of my yard-improvement plan is working- the side of house by driveway where I was constantly battling weeds last year is now full and bushy with just one type of plant- Purslane. It looks very nice! And among the orange daylilies- now faded- and Nasturtiums at other end, I pull out a few weeds here and there, knowing it will be more filled in next year. All I did was encourage the Purslane to grow, by removing its competition and tossing in there any plants that I found growing elsewhere. The application of my first batch of homemade compost from last year probably helped, too.

Hadn't touched the compost pile in weeks, maybe more than a month, so when I turned it over yesterday to add the bucket of kitchen scraps and heaps of weeds, I thought for sure nothing would be happening there. It wasn't hot or steaming, but the bottom under a dried layer of cut grass, was dark, and starting to turn crumbly. It actually looked like dirt- not the rough stuff I leveled the lettuce patch with this spring. Real compost! Silly to get happy over a pile of dirt, but I did. Tossed it all back in with the new stuff, confident now that next year's garden will thrive even more.

Picked striped cucumber beetles off the cucumbers this morning- only four today. Squashed them all. I am still thinking of making a basil spray, but so far the hand picking seems to be working effectively.