Garden Casualties

Curling pea plants climbing gracefully up my wooden fence, colorful leaves of Swiss Chard bordering the garden bed, pumpkin vines stretching around the mounted bird feeders with mini pumpkins beginning to grow, big red onions being pulled from the rich soil, bountiful squash and tomato plants, the smell of herbs wafting from my brimming herb garden...me relaxing in my little private garden surrounded by the colors of my labors.

or not.

We've had some garden casualties. A lot in fact.

1. birds ate my tiny lettuce plants
2. peas think it is too hot, therefore only two wee plants have sprouted and are pecked by birds
3. topsy turvy tomato planter hanging from a shepherd's hook is so heavy, it crashed overnight; cherry tomato plant is still intact, but the bent pole is now duct-tape-roped to a crepe myrtle tree
4. squash disintegrated due to some disease/pest I am unaware of
5. big pumpkin plant now taking its turn to shrivel
6. red onion above-ground growth has now collapsed...not sure what's going on there. I found the little onion under the ground and he seems fine, but only time will tell
7. only 3 carrots grew out of the 15 or so
8. basil looks like sticks (now being salvaged) because I didn't know you are supposed to pinch it off to make it grow...oops. thanks to my smart neighbor, we're back on track.


the sad half-empty garden


no more squash


what happened to the onions?


ah, the duct-tape rope...still hanging on

On the bright side, so as not to be a glass-half-empty kind of girl, I have a lot of radishes. (wait, is this a bright side? do I eat the radishes? not so much. turns out, they do sort of taste like poo) My tomato plants are happy and I have two ripening tomatoes, lovely and unpecked. My beans are also happy (I even have some to eat!), as are my bell pepper plants and other herbs. Tons of oregano, but don't know what to do with it except smell it; lots of mint, blooming lavender, flat leaf parsley, chives and thyme. Half the garden is now empty due to the above casualties, but to reclaim this lost land, I think I will plant something easy, like flowers. They should cheer me up. And maybe the birds won't eat them.


abundance of radishes...any takers?


my herbs (hhhherbs as Mel might say)


happy bean plants


and beans!!!