Amanda Takes Off...

I can't wait to try these peppers. They're so big and they're just starting to turn red.

Turning

These plants were some of the last to flower, and now they're out of control!

A Peck of Peppers

We've also been getting a lot of peppers from my CSA, so I strung them up (along with a few of my peppers) to dry.

Drying

Since my Thai basil was flowering, I decided to whack it all down and make some Thai basil pesto. I cut down the flowers and brightened up our kitchen, using a recycled spaghetti sauce jar as a vase. Simple, indeed, but free!

Thai Basil

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

While we were out of town, a coworker came and watered my plants. In exchange, she took my CSA off of my hands. She only came over twice, so the rest of the time the plants were being watered by the bottles or in a big plastic bin, soaking up water from the bottom of their pots.

In the two weeks since my last garden update, the weather has been crazy. It was over 80 degrees every day, and two days in a row the max hit 102. We also had really strong thunderstorms. When I got back the plants looks pretty good, except the peppers were nearly flat from a strong thunderstorm. I tied them up and onward we go.

While I was gone, the water in some of the bottles took on a green tint. I haven't seen it before. I wonder if it's some sort of an algae? I've since removed the bottles and I'm leaving them off for a few days to let everything (the bottles and the plants, since the soil's still damp from the last thunderstorm) dry out a bit.

Algae?

The cosmos? Eh, we'll see what happens.

Cosmos

The sesame leaves are doing well. Even the runt in the upper left corner is doing better.

Sesame Leaves

I whacked down most of the dill before we left, leaving some to go to seed. Two of the stalks weren't whacked down enough since they just started producing more dill.

Dill

The hitchhiker plant is doing well, and indeed, I think it's jewelweed. (Thanks, Jonathan!) The poppies? I don't think they're going to bloom. I got the poppies from someone, and I wonder if they were a hybrid and she didn't know that the seeds from the hybrid probably wouldn't bloom.

Poppies and a Hitchhiker

Peppers, Basil, Marigolds

The peppers have grown very tall and the tallest ones are starting to flower. Still, I'm concerned that (as Donna pointed out) the hot, hot heat is harming them.

I also discovered two peppers with blossom-end rot. I pulled those off and ate the good parts.

At this point, the weather is so hot this season that I've sort of thrown up my hands. If I get fruit, great. If not, oh well. At least the garden has given me something more interesting to look at than a parking lot!

Tallest Peppers

Average Peppers

Peppers without Blossom-End Rot

This week we had a really heavy rainstorm. I was at a class for work and Good Man called to ask if he should drag the plants inside. I scoffed and said no, and when I got home I found all of my pepper plants laid out flat. Hmm.

I did, however, get some nice post-rain shots.

Pepper Leaves

First Pepper

The marigolds looked especially nice. If you roll over this image, you'll see it in B&W. I think the texture actually "pops" better in B&W.

Marigold

***

I usually update my garden every two weeks, but we were out of town last Saturday, so it's been three weeks since my last update.

I do these updates to convince myself that things are actually growing. It's amazing, comparing photos, to see how quickly things grow. Every herb has been harvested (often multiple times) since the photos from three weeks ago.

The dill just wants to go to seed. I'm doing one more harvest and then letting it go to seed. If it doesn't reseed itself, I'll plant some more. I've deadheaded (snipped off the flowers) multiple times, but it's time to let it seed on.

Dill

The sesame leaves...something's been chowing down on them. Cutting off the damaged leaves has encouraged a lot of new growth. One of the six plants is just a runt. I'm amazed it's still living and growing, it's so sad looking.

Korean Sesame Leaves

Cosmos, Basil, Marigolds

I've been harvesting some of my basil from the top (encourages shorter, shrubbier growth) and some from the side (encourages taller, sparser growth). This one has been harvested mostly from the sides and I'm surprised at how tall it's grown.

Peppermint and Basil

I still think this Thai basil was planted too closely together by the nursery, but it seems to be doing fine.

Thai Basil

I don't know that these poppies will ever flower. And I still don't know what the hitchhiker plant is.

Poppies and Unknown Hitchhiker

I do like using the plant nannies, but they occasionally lead to sun scald (sun burnt leaves) like on my tallest basil plant.

Sun Scalded Basil

This is an overall view of my porch garden. You can see how tall some of the pepper plants have gotten.

I label my pepper plants 1 (Hybrid Kimchi), 2 (Hybrid Korea Winner), and 3 (Hybrid Long Green).

Overall, the Hybrid Kimchi plants are the tallest and the Long Greens are the shortest. The Winners flowered and set fruit earliest, the Long Greens are starting to flower and the Kimchi ones are so far blossom-less. I hope I didn't get a bad batch of Kimchi seeds.

I know too much nitrogen can cause large, fruitless pepper plants, but all of these have been grown with the same soil/vermicompost and conditions (I mean, as similar as they can be), so I suspect it's a variety thing.

The property management office lady came by to tell me if people seem to be driving slowly past my house, it was because she sent them there. We're not allowed to put food plants directly into the ground and she's been finding corn, tomatoes, and mint all over the property. "So I'm sending them to see how it's supposed to be done!"

She also asked where I got the plant nannies. I was afraid she'd tell me they were too ugly to stick around, but she said they're fine. I told her I like them because I no longer accidentally water the neighbors below (which is true, but they're jerks, so it's not like I really care about that side effect).

Another neighbor passes by often when I'm out there admiring my plants and comments on how beautiful they look each time.

I do enjoy my porch garden. In actuality, buying the peppers would probably be cheaper in the long run than growing them, but everything tastes better homegrown!

Summer Nights

It's been so hot lately. We've been above 90 F each day, hitting 100 F with the heat index. We keep getting promised thunderstorms that don't appear. Tuesday night it rained for all of 30 seconds. It didn't cool down the temperature, but it did cause for some nice sunset shots.

06/22/2010 Sunset

06/22/2010 Sunset

Trees

The county cut down some diseased and dead trees near the property.

Diseased

Summer Eating

I love summer foods.

I also love the chopsticks-as-any-kitchen-cooking-tool trick I learned from Mother. And Mother seemed rather happy to have access to my cooking chopsticks when she stayed with us.

Long Cooking Chopsticks

We ate some delicious, fresh-off-the-stem sesame leaves with dinner last night. When we buy sesame leaves from the store, they come in a big pack and go bad in two days. I'm so happy I chose to plant six plants, because I can pick just the right number of leaves off as I want them.

Unfortunately, the taste isn't quite as strong as I'm used to. But they're also not as hairy as I'm used to, so that's a trade off I can appreciate.

Sesame Leaves

Dinner was brown rice and barley steamed in homemade veggie broth, fresh sesame leaves, sauteed summer squash (from my CSA), and grilled pork belly. Not pictured? Bright red gochujang.

Dinner

Successful Growing

The sesame leaves are almost as big as my face. I can't believe how well my lazy gardening is turning out. Even that grasshopper nymph I photographed enjoyed my sesame leaves. (Said nymph was chased around my porch until he finally jumped off the edge.)

As Big as My Face

Fan Dancing with a Sesame Leaf