News from the garden

[osprey_archer]

Look look! We have successfully grown two strawberries!







And what's more, I actually managed to eat one of them before the squirrels got to it. That's the first one I've won all year. I think next year we need a better strawberry protection program...

But although we haven't had much luck getting to the strawberries, the tomatoes are BOUNTIFUL and delicious. My new favorite snack is melba toast with goat cheese and garden tomatoes on top; in fact just writing about it makes me want to go fix one right now. No matter how many I eat, I never make a dent in the sea of cherry tomatoes on the counter!

Other garden news: I think we've killed the poor basil plant. It was looking positively peaky in its pot, so I decided to transplant it - only to discover when I removed it that its roots had pretty much grown to fill the pot... I went ahead and transplanted it anyway, but it doesn't seem to be perking up. Perhaps it's time to get a new one?

The transplanted rosemary, on the other hand, seems to be doing all right, although it has not burst forth in bounteous rosemary stalks. My mother warned me that it's easy to love rosemary to death, so I am mostly resisting the urge to water it and hoping that this string of hot days don't parch it to death. I have chicken salad plans for you, rosemary! Stay strong!

Comments

[sovay]

And what's more, I actually managed to eat one of them before the squirrels got to it.

MAZEL TOV.

[osprey_archer]

It was a minor miracle!

[evelyn_b]

THAT'S AMAZING!

Strawberries are amazing. I don't blame the squirrels for wanting a piece of that action, but I'm glad you snagged one for yourself!

We have basil, a pot full of random wildflowers, and two giant sunflowers, which I was very proud of until I got home today after a hot afternoon and found them looking suddenly and horribly sad. I poured on the water, but I don't know if it'll help.

Tomatoes are profuse, like zucchini. If you like both those things and can get some dirt together, you'll never want for food!

So glad your garden is full of good things!

[osprey_archer]

I hope the sunflowers perk up! There's nothing sadder than a sad sunflower.

I do have a good recipe for zucchini fritters. Perhaps I should plant a zucchini plant next year - one zucchini plant really ought to suffice - and bask in fritters all summer long.

[thisbluespirit]

Congratulations!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[littlerhymes]

Oooh, strawberries! (Have you considered strawberry nets? Then again this might just teach your local squirrels how to un-do strawberry nets...)

[osprey_archer]

Strawberry nets might be in order next year. This year, I am afraid the tomatoes might somehow destroy them. They have already pulled up their own stakes. What mayhem are they plotting??

[brigdh]

Go you! I also tried to grow strawberries this year and only managed to eat one. :( Though I think my main problem might have been trying to grow them on my windowsill rather than down in the full sunlight of the garden. I thought they'd still get enough light up here (plus be much more convenient to water), but it seems that was not the case, alas.

But the tomatoes! There are so many tomatoes I've begun giving them away, despite how much I love to eat them.

[osprey_archer]

Strawberries I think might be one of those things that are only worth growing for an expert gardener. They're so tricky! They don't produce, or if they do something eats it!

The tomatoes are far heartier. I may have to take some in to work and give them to my coworkers, under the guise of generosity, but really because otherwise the tomatoes will take total control of the kitchen and possibly set out to conquer the rest of the house.