Amanda Takes Off...

So it's been four weeks since my last garden update.

The same coworker took care of my plants while we were in Florida and did a good job. However, before we left, the cosmos, marigolds, and poppies up and died. I staked my pepper plants before I left, which helped them when we had some strong storms.

I also realized that my biggest pepper plants were getting just a fraction more of light each day, so I rearranged things to move the smaller plants. They shot up in size. Next year, the peppers will all go on the brightest side of the deck and the herbs will all go on the other side.

Before we get to the mostly good, let's go over the "What the Heck Is That?" portion of our garden tour.

The hitchhiker plant became covered overnight in some whitish covering. It looked like bird poop with black lines in it. Seen from the underside of the leaves, they looked almost like seeds or eggs. I did find what appears to be a spider, as well.

What the Heck Is That?

About a third of the leaves were covered. Since it looked ugly (as in these-things-will-hatch-and-destroy-your-garden-in-minutes ugly), I whacked them all off and trashed them.

The basil is mostly doing fine, as is the sesame.

Basil

Sesame Leaves

The dill is happily seeding along.

Dill

The peppers are doing OK. Most appear to be doing fine, but there's a tiny whitish spot near the stem of several. If I take them off the plant when they're firm but not red, they seem fine. If I leave them to ripen, they rot.

The peppers are really spicy. We had one with a samgyeopsal dinner several nights ago and Good Man yelled, "Ah! A-bomb!"

Peppers

Long Greens

The mint is flowering and I really need to whack it down.

Mint

The basils are out of control. I have got to make a huge batch of pesto and freeze it, because they're all flowering and the leaves are going to taste bitter soon.

Sweet Basil

Thai Basil