~Day 52

Show me your best rain dance. Seriously.

We are lucky to have irrigation on our deck and to only be growing for fun. If we hope to put anything up, from the farmers’ markets, this year, the local farmers are going to need some serious rain.

Instead of spending money on flowers, this year, we opted to try container gardening, in pots. Something we’ve done on a smaller scale, for years, but stepping it up a bit, this year. I previously talked about our container gardening experiment here and here.

The garden is out of control in seven weeks! Pictures can’t do it justice so Amanda’s artistic photos will have to suffice.

Looks like it is past time to tie the cauliflower leaves over the heads. Three of the four have heads, one is missing?

This is the second planting on all the lettuces, including this arugula. Each planter/planting has made 12 good-sized salads. Not too shabby for a couple of bucks worth of seeds. We have five planters of salad greens, arugula and spinach.

The broccoli has not been a success. It looks more like broccolini. It is very sweet and tender. But it has not made much more than a little snack while watering. The dill is doing great. Should have planted more because we *love* to cook with it!

These are the little yellow pear tomatoes that we picked up at Grow Benzie. Aren’t they sweet??? My photographer, sure makes them look good!

And the tomatillo plant is HUGE! It has taken over everything near it! It has developed it’s little paper pouches. Can’t wait to make salsa verde. Last years was a learning experience and still a hit!

Peppers, peppers and more peppers. It is time to start harvesting the jalapeno. The sweet bell pepper and red hot chili peppers need a little more time. We’ve eaten several zucchini, maybe six or so. Not bad for a single plant, in a container, I say. There are several zukes that have totally turned yellow but are still quite small. I now see where something has burrowed into the soil near its base. I wonder if it has damaged the roots? Darn chipmunks…

Carrots have now been planted.

Radishes are long gone, a big hit.

Eggplants are covered in blooms.

Snap peas need pulled up, they have finished putting on. Peter has requested three times as many next year. Coming from a self-proclaimed pea hater, they were a big winner!

The beets and beet greens have been removed. Neither seemed to thrive. Really pitiful looking. They must not like being *contained*….

The celery and shallot experiments, with planting the kitchen leftover *trimmings*, are still growing and looking great.

The tomatoes are all coming on strong and looking like we’ll have a bumper crop of many varieties.

The green onions still look pitiful. Barely more than strings, but the shallots are busting out of the ground. I think we could plant a planter full of those and garlic, next year.

Eating our first two cucumbers tonight! They smell fresh and dee-licious!

The parsley and cilantro have both done poorly this year, barely keeping us in enough herbs to cook with. It must have to do with the heat. The basil is just now starting to go crazy. The mint, chives and thyme are definitely thriving and healthy!

So all in all it has worked out well to photograph and blog about the containers. I feel like I have a handle on next years plantings.

Now all we need is a good dance and some rain….