June-July 2014 in the garden

These two months mark the beginning of the end of blooming season for the edibles I have in the garden. From what I have read they will restart in September. I cannot wait.

But I have a few updates for these months, yes I do.

The thing about new gardeners, we are enthusiastic, but we are also greedy. I ended planting a few more plants in my little patio and am happy to say that none have died...yet.

I bought two raised garden beds (2.5X1.5 ft) from Lowes and a few more pots and Everything including my heart is in full bloom. The raised garden beds have only edibles and a few of the other pots have more colored roses.

Here is a list of plants in my Green -little greedy- garden:
The Edibles:
2 Okra plants
3 Tomato plants - two patio/pot varieties, one Sun Gold cherry tomato
2 cucumbers
1 Bell Pepper
1 Jalapeno
1 Habanero
1 Orange - A variety that grows in a pot. These are generally trees grown in tropical regions.

The non Edibles:
2 Yellow roses: One Julia Child and one Grandma's yellow. the 2nd one had a 3 month wait list at my nearby garden store !!)
1 wild red rose
1 Pink Rose
1 Pink Jasmine

Raised beds:

My Bell pepper has decided to sprout out one baby:
If you leave the bell pepper long enough on the plant before harvesting, it changes color to red/orange/yellow. That would be interesting to see. Of course the coloured varieties are sweeter than the green bell pepper and just as tasty.

My husband and I came to the conclusion that the blooming season for the roses was done and pruned all our shrubs down to a foot in height. And were we taught our place or what. The roses have decided to grow back crazy fast and bloom like never before. I park right outside my patio and it is a pleasure to come home everyday to this sight.

The potting bed layers:
Potting soil + organic slow release dry fertilizer + more potting soil + top off with very thin layer of calcium&magnesium and just ruffle the soil so the layer is just below the top.
For the Orange: potting soil + Compost in a 60X40 mix + 1cup of organic fertilizer 5 inches below top + 1/4 cup of cal&magnesium mixed as top layer.


Now to wait for September for further garden exploits.

2014 The year of the horse? - Part 2

May 2014

Now the plants have a pretty good hold of the soil. Blooming season is almost come to an end, but the plants are beautiful nonetheless. I live in Texas and I have to make sure the plants do not die in this martian heat.Over spring and immediately after I have to ensure the plants are pruned to a more manageable growth. I will remove any brown laves or sections of the plant which look like they are eating up nutrition without really showing much growth.

What I have been doing: 

1. Pink Jasmine - I removed all the flower stems and brown-ish leaves. This plant has entirely given up on blooming, but is healthy. I will keep it well watered and pray it blooms again next Spring. The Jasmine plant is more like a creeper. I have simply gathered all the stems close to a central support stick. I prune it if any stem gets too long for the central stick.
Update: A tomato cage works wonders in keeping this one from reaching out to any nearby hold.

2. Lily: the Lily plant has also stopped blooming, but it has a strong stem and i'm not very worried about it's survival chances in the strong winds here. (but fingers crossed anyways)
Update: Oh well, Lily is no more :( The lily probably could not absorb the water everyday. Or maybe the soil wasn't firm enough, Or maybe the plant only lives a small amount of time. Either way, I do not have a perfect explanation of why this didn't work.

3. Tomato: This one grows like a weed. I will buy one of those tomato plant weed barriers called tomato cages. This will not only keep the plant growing in a controlled area, it will also prevent anyone from constantly brushing against the plant (I feel this might damage the plant)

4. Jalapeno and Habanero: These plants are finally blooming and I am hoping I will see a few fruits in a couple of weeks.
Update: It didn't take very long for the first yield :) this is what the plant looked like by the end of May.

Update: My first Tomato and Jalapeno yield that actually went into cooking :) (One of the jalapenos in the picture is frozen and this holds for several months in the freezer)

5. Rose: This one has been blooming wonderfully. I clip the rose once it has bloomed. Now that spring is at a close, I also prune out the stem to a shorten the height once I remove the flower. My hope is that the other remaining stems with Rose buds get a little more nutrition.

As a last rite to the roses, once droopy I pull out the petals and am building a little rose petal potpourri.