You Grow Girl™

This entry has been a long time coming. I neglected my community plot for a week and when I got to it last Saturday it had grown so much I was in shock. I was able to neglect it for so long because this July has been so atypical. Instead of warm and humid we've had lots of grey days, cool air and rain. There have been several days and nights where I was appalled to find myself wearing a sweater! That's not right. I WANT to sweat in summer so I can appreciate the cool fall air for at least a few minutes before freaking out about the impending winter.

Anyways, the positive I am trying to focus on amidst all of this is the fact that I can neglect the community garden plot for a week and know that everything will still be lush and green rather than wilted and brown. When I last visited my garden only a few tomato plants had flowers and the dill and basil seeds I had sown were tiny seedlings. On Saturday I was shocked to discover intermediate sized tomatoes and basil. All that growth had me a little teary-eyed. My babies are growing up and soon it will be fall and they'll be going away to college.... if college is defined as into the fry pan and down my gullet. The giant 6 foot stakes don't look so giant anymore. Some plants are actually starting to get close to the top.

My one and only complaint is that my plants aren't really as big as they should be. My plot isn't entirely what would be categorized as full sun. Many of my neighbours tomato plants are in more advanced stages of growth and my deck plants definitely have a huge edge. But at least they're healthy and happy and that's what counts.

Purple Tomatillo
And speaking of my deck plants.... Well I am proud to announce that I have grown the largest, healthiest tomatillo ever this year. It is insanely huge and just completely covered in flowers and developing fruit. Bees are constantly buzzing around it. I truly do not know exactly what I did differently this year but whatever it was it worked. I'm growing the same purple variety I grew last year. It is so big and lush and beautiful. The root system must be taking over the entire container because it dries out very quickly. I have to go out and check on it twice daily.

Ground Cherry
Another prize winner is my ground cherry, a tomatillo cousin. The leaves are bigger than my hands! It is incredible! Just the other day I was growing concerned that it was never going to flower and just as the words were uttered from my mouth I located a few buds forming. I have never seen such a healthy looking ground cherry. My only fear is that the plant has been putting too much into foliage production. This is my first time growing this plant and I haven't read anything in books so I'm going solely on instinct and experimentation.

Lemon Cucumber
Another successful plant has been the lemon cucumber. This is my first year growing cucumbers. I usually avoid plants with fuzzy leaves because I am highly allergic to the fuzz. I basically leave the real maintenance up to Davin because I literally break out in hives if I so much as slightly brush my bare arm against a leaf. This plant is so huge and is just covered in big, yellow blooms. The cucumbers that are forming have astonished me with their rapid growth. I swear I looked at it one day and saw some tiny cucs and literally a day later they had at least doubled in size. I am so excited for the final result. They're such an unusual cucumber being yellow and round! Take a look at Roxana's lemon cucumbers. Hers are more developed than mine.

Tomatoes
So far I am yet to harvest a ripe tomato. There are however many on the way. It's just a matter of time. Waiting for the first ripe tomato is like watching a pot of water boil. But once that first one is ready the rest seem to come so fast you can't keep up. I have a tendency to watch and wait and I become so fearful that a squirrel will get to it first, that I always end up picking it too early. Lately something, and I'm predicting it's a squirrel has been making a meal of some bulbs I had sitting in a pot and has been digging in a few of my pots so I'm extra paranoid. So far the most prolific tomato on the deck is the sunrise III by far. That plant is so loaded with fruit it can't hold itself up anymore. The silver fir trees are also doing well. They're a green variety and since I have never seen one, I am unsure about what they look like ripe. If anyone knows please commment.

Peppers
So far the fastest growing pepper has been the 'chervena chujski'. It already has lots of little peppers on it with more flowers in bloom. I find I have to restrain myself from picking one prematurely. I don't even eat peppers but I just so desperately want to pick one.

Pear Mint

Basil
As usual the basil has been doing well. It got off to a bad start with that cold, wet spring we had, and I did lose a lot of plants. However the plants I currently have are all doing well. I have 'siam queen' and Mrs. Burns lemon growing together in a wooden wine box my brother gave me. Both varieties are doing well. I highly recommend the Mrs. Burns variety over the regular lemon variety. It is a larger plant with larger leaves and seems less prone to bolting. It also seems to lack the fuzziness of the regular variety and I prefer the taste which is sharper and fresher if that makes any sense. Earlier this month I got concerned that I didn't have enough basil. I wasn't growing the 13 varieties I grew last year and in a moment of weakness I put in an order to Richters and had them delivered. I bought African Blue, West African, and Lesbos. I think that brings me up to around 11 varieties total. While I was at it I ordered some interesting mint varieties; pear and ginger. The ginger mint is pretty with variegated green and chartreuse leaves but it doesn't do much for me taste-wise. The pear mint is just kind of "whatever" all around in my opinion.