Epsom Salt Craziness

Finally got my hands on some epsom salt and I basically went a little cuckoo in the garden this afternoon.

Okay, so not everyone got epsom salt. I skipped the zucchini and herbs. The zucchini because I am not sure if they are on the tail-end of the season. In fact, those little buggers are still producing fresh leaves and new flower bulbs, I mean. What the heck? I thought it was supposed to die by now. I guess I will go ahead and remove the dead leaves to make room for the new stuff tomorrow. As for the herbs, the epsom salt package did not really say anything about herbs so maybe it might kill the herbs if I give it to them?

Now I just hope my mini roses are just dormant and not dead for the winter... I've got mixed feelings about the seasons right now. I want Spring to get here already but I'm not ready yet. I still need to prepare the soil for new plants. Bah.. Tomorrow (Thursday) and this weekend will be my gardening prep days.

Oh, and I've got a baby apricot tree growing at the moment. More on that later! Here's a teaser:

Squeeee! Isn't it cuuuute!?

Incoming Tomatoes

I have had a pretty rough time this week. I don't really have any major updates this time around and I do not feel well enough to come up with some long and creative post for myself and others to enjoy at the moment. Here is a lovely set of pictures of my incoming tomatoes. Gotta count every little blessing even during hard times. I really am thankful that at least my garden is still holding up. I have been making an effort to still get up in time to water my garden before I really start my day each morning.

Roma Tomatoes

Large Red Cherry Tomatoes

The Sunflower

When I was a child, my mom had this brother named Jimmy. I do not really remember much about him. However, there is one memory that has always stood out to me.

I was in the hallway and my Uncle Jimmy came over to visit. He knelt down and gave me a packet of sunflower seeds. He urged me to plant them and grow nice, big sunflowers. Large sunflowers that can touch the sky. I promised him I would do my best.

I do not know where that packet of seeds went. However, once in awhile, I did think about planting sunflowers. I want to hold up to that promise I made nearly two decades ago. For awhile, I thought I just had a weird occasional obsession in wanting to grow sunflowers. Then I remembered my Uncle Jimmy.

Since I have decided to pick up gardening this summer, I already tried to grow sunflowers once. I tossed a few seeds into the ground back in June. I am pretty sure the birds ate them though. Then I tried again last week. This time, I germinated four sunflower seeds in egg carton cups covered with some Press N Seal to keep the birds away.

Lo, and behold! I finally got my very first sunflower sprout! I moved the sprout into the container I brought one of the herbs home in. I am determined to nurse this little fella until it is big enough to fend for itself in my garden. My plan is to move it into the ground very soon. Once I get some eggs, I will create a crushed egg barrier around the sunflower to keep the rollie pollies away. They already ate my first pumpkin plant. It took a lot of work, eggshells, and bug traps to save my second pumpkin plant until it was big enough to handle an occasional nibble from the rollie pollies.

I will most definitely keep you folks updated on the progression of my sunflowers. I really do hope they grow. You see, I got Grey-Striped Sunflower seeds and I read they can grow up to six feet tall! Maybe even bigger. It will be great to have a few sunflowers in the backyard in memory of my Uncle Jimmy.

Also, I am very sorry for not posting anything the past couple of weeks. I got sidetracked with a few things in life and I also had writer's block. I was not sure what to really talk about. I felt self-conscious and figured maybe my gardening tales might be too boring or redundant. After a few days, I decided, "Forget it. Who cares what other people might think! If anything, I should be doing this blog for myself!" Being able to share my ventures with you all is just an added bonus.

Buzzing bees

A few weeks ago I saw a couple of bees doing their thing in person for the first time in my life. Well, the first time that I can recall. I was tending to my zucchini plants and saw the usual tiny flies, or whatever those flying critters were, just feasting upon the sweet nectar my plants create. That is when I noticed a particularly large critter. Instantly, I recognized it as a bee. My first thought was to run away but my body kept me in place. I watched in awe as the fuzzy little black and yellow insect cruised around the depths of the large zucchini flower. Carefully, I snapped a few pictures with my phone but as soon as the bee took flight, I ran halfway across the yard, away from the garden.

Now, I am well aware that bees do not go out of their way to sting a person. It's the wasps that do it. Wasps are nothing but jerks that sting multiple times. Over the years, I have learned that bees are precious and a necessity to life on Earth. They only sting once, then their stinger falls off their body and the bee dies shortly thereafter.

Until recent years, I never got stung by a bee so I did not know if I was allergic to them or not. Therefore, I was deathly terrified of bees. Then one night, I went to bed and felt a sharp sting in my arm. I moved my hand to my arm, pulled something tiny and pointy from the skin, then noticed something very tiny and fuzzy laying in my bed under the sheets. Somehow a bee flew into my home and found its way under the covers in my room. I sat there in horror. I took a few deep breaths, braced for any possible reaction. Throat closing up? Nope. Any rash or hives on the skin? Nope. So far, so good. I let my mom know so she could occasionally check on me through the night just in case I had a delayed allergic reaction. By morning, I finally knew. I am not allergic to bees!!!

So, yeah, despite my newfound knowledge of not being allergic to these helpful little critters and I knew that bee wasn't really going to try to get me, I still ran. Somehow, I am still a bit afraid of bees. But really, there is no need to fear. As the weeks progressed, I saw an occasional bee and I stopped running from them. I let them do their thing as I did my thing. I watered the plants and they help pollinate. So far, I have been getting some magnificent zucchini, all thanks to the little but powerful bee.

When I reviewed the pictures inside the house, I realized there were actually two bees on the flower. Cool, eh?

Tomato plants are getting flowers!

When I decided to give gardening another try earlier this year, one of the first things I have started from seed were tomatoes. I went to my local library which has a cool tiny section where you can get three packets of seeds for free per month. The library does highly encourage people to reach out to the companies that donated the seeds if you would like to purchase more, of course. The seeds are organized inside an index dresser. I've selected Roma tomato seeds, Large Red Cherry Tomato seeds, and Grey-Striped Sunflower seeds as my first choices.

When I got home, I prepared a few containers. These containers used to hold the Greek Oregano, Flat-Leafed Italian Parsley, Sweet Mint, and Black Beauty Zucchinis. Instead of tossing the containers, I have decided to recycle them as my seed-starters and temporary homes for the sprouts. So, I prepared the containers for the tomato seeds. Then I dug a shallow hole, about two inches deep, in each container, dropped about ten seeds in each hole, then lightly covered them. I watered each container then covered them with saran wrap to create a Greenhouse effect of sorts. Later on, I switched to Press-N-Seal because it was more secure. Eventually I found out with other seeds that covering them has another benefit, it keeps the birds from eating the seeds. The seeds I planted without covering never came to be due to said birds.

The following progressive photos might be slightly out of order.

As the days went by, I occasionally checked the containers, added more water when necessary (which was actually rare due to the Press-N-Seal that kept in most of the moisture, and I also had to occasionally scrape away any moss that began to develop. When I first saw the moss, I was fascinated by it. I did some research but got some mixed answers on it being harmful or helpful with my tomatoes. I settled on harmful just to be safe and did away with the moss. Once I saw some tiny sprouts, I removed the cover and let the little tomato sprouts get some much-needed oxygen. Soon, I had multiples of each tomato plant. Then I had to widdle them down to the two or three biggest and strongest of them all. I separated them into bigger containers.

Then I moved a couple of the strongest into the ground. My first Roma tomato plant loved the ground immediately. As for my Cherry tomato plant, eh, not so much. Poor thing got shocked and wilted immediately. It did not like the ground right away. However, I continued to water both plants and vocally encouraged the Cherry tomato plant to keep trying. Some say talking to plants is pointless. However, I think they are wrong. I believe talking to my plants really does help them grow big and strong. After a few weeks in the ground, my Cherry tomato plant finally acclimated and began to gain some height. These two tomato plants both got their very own tomato cages to sit in.

Meanwhile, the other tomato plants got more sprouts in the containers. Instead of plucking them, I decided to let them grow. I have transferred a few sprouts into their own containers. As the weeks went by, I moved a second Cherry tomato plant into the ground with a small trellis then put a second Roma tomato plant into a large container on the patio with a large trellis.

So, in total, I am currently growing six tomato plants. Two of them are Roma tomatoes while the rest are Large Red Cherry tomatoes. One Roma is in the ground with a cage. The other Roma is still in the large container on the back patio leaning against a large trellis.  One cherry tomato plant is loving the cage, the other cherry tomato plant is still in the adjustment period in the ground with the trellis, the rest of them are still in small containers on the patio. I consider the ones in the small containers a form of insurance in case the others do not make it.

Here are the latest pictures of my lovely tomato plants. Several have sprouted little flower buds. I have been snipping away at the buds for a week or so because I want my plants to focus their energy on getting bigger before producing fruit. I heard bigger plants create bigger fruit.

My two Large Red Cherry tomato plants in starter containers

Caged Roma tomato plant

Large Red Cherry tomato with a trellis

Caged Large Red Cherry tomato plant

Roma with a trellis

Zucchini Pizza

For the past week, I got to observe a zucchini as it grew and developed. My mom thought it would take a couple of weeks for this zucchini to grow into a sufficient size.

Saturday, July 27

Sunday, July 28

Monday, July 29

Tuesday, July 31

Wednesday, August 1

Thursday, August 2nd aka harvest day. .8 lb of glorious fruit!

In the background are my rosemary, Roma tomato plant, and experimental pumpkin.

I brought the zucchini into the house then turned it into a deeelicious zucchini pizza. I followed a recipe someone shared with me online but I tweaked it a little here and there. Click here if you would like to check out the original recipe. Keep scrolling if you want a basic idea of what I did to create this masterpiece. Oh, and yes, this is indeed my first official recipe post. The parsley, oregano, and basil came straight from my herb garden.

Shannon's Kicking Zucchini Pizza

Ingredients

Sauce

1 8 oz Can of No Salt Added Tomato Sauce

a small handful fresh oregano, minced

a small handful fresh parsley, chiffonade and minced

3 leafs fresh basil, chiffonade and minced

Approx. 1 1/2 Tbsp of garlic powder

Approx. 1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning

Approx. 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

3 drops Tabasco®

a dash of salt 

Pizza

1 Large Zucchini, sliced

1 Can Vegetable Oil 

1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1 tsp salt

Toppings

4 Sticks Mozzarella String Cheese, sliced moderately thin

1 clove garlic, finely sliced  

Recipe

1) Set oven broil to high.

2) Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Add to preferred taste with each ingredient. For instance, it will not be necessary to add the entire handful of oregano. Set aside to marry.

3) Lay out zucchini on a baking sheet.

4) Spray both sides with olive oil.

5) Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of zucchini.

6) Place into oven for two minutes. Remove. Flip zucchini. Put back into oven for another two minutes.

7) Remove from oven, add sauce and toppings.

8) Place back into oven for another minute. Watch cheese closely, do not let it burn.

9) Remove from oven and enjoy.

Honorary mention: here is my first actual harvest. On Monday, July 29, I decided to see what a small zucchini tastes like. I know, I cut it a little too early. It was awfully tiny but it certainly packed a lot of flavor in my opinion.

For this little fella, all I did was sliced, added a dash of salt and pepper, then steamed for about five minutes. It was cooked but still had a slight crunch to it. My mom and I both enjoyed it.

The Inch Worm

My first encounter with an inch worm made my skin crawl for a few seconds.

I've put two tomato plants in the ground. I have a few more leftover plants still in their containers. For back-up. You know, just in case the plants in the ground... die...Yup. It is good to have back-up. So, I was doing my usual morning check-up on each plant. That is when I noticed one leaf was starting to wilt. I quickly picked up the container and got a closer look. What? This particular plant has always been a real trooper. Not once has it ever drooped or wilted during the early morning. Slowly, I looked under a leaf and there it was. All in its green and wiggly splendor. 

My first thought was, "Yikes! I don't want it to touch me!" Then my second thought was, "Awesome! My first tomato pest! Ooooo. Could this be a hornworm??" I took a closer look. Nope. I didn't think it was a hornworm. I took this query to the internet and asked some folks in a gardening group what their thoughts were. Some said it was a type of caterpillar and to annihilate it on the spot.

So, that's just what I did. Okay, first I used a basil leaf to remove it from the plant. Then I dropped it n the patio. I sprayed it with lemon scented soapy water. Finally, I whacked it with a spade.

...

Okay, so maybe I had a little too much fun annihilating my first tomato pest. But it's gone and dead! Extra dead! Muahahaha!

A couple of weeks later, I showed a picture of this critter to my Gramma. She told me it was an inch worm.

I think all of this could have been prevented if I just kept on dropping fresh basil leaves at the base of each tomato plant. I stopped for a couple of days then this fella showed up. Now I know! Basil seems to work for me.

Breaking Ground

I have started my garden out in containers on the patio then as the weeks progressed, I've changed my mind and tackled the ground instead.

I went in the backyard and looked for a good spot. My mom suggested this particular area. Plenty of sun, enough shade in the morning and late afternoon, just right. 

The first thing I did was hit the ground with a shovel. A cloud of dirt rose up to my face and made me nearly sneeze. Then a thought occurred to me. I watched this one movie a few weeks ago called The War Horse. In this fictional movie, the horse grew up on a farm then eventually ended up on the battlefield in World War I. While it was on the farm, it had to help plow some soil. Poor thing tried with all its might but the ground was very hard and dry. Then a rainstorm occurred. This particular scene inspired me to hose down the plot. Next, I searched the shed for some useful tools. That is when I discovered the cultivator. I also found an old fashioned lawn mower, a push mower. Just for the heck of it, I used the mower on some wet grass. Yeah, I should have known it wouldn't work but I was curious. I set the mower aside then finally used the cultivator. It went pretty well. However, it was still really hard work. A friend of mine reminded me that it is okay to ask for help. So, I humbled myself by the end of the first week and asked a friend.

That friend was able to get this much done in just an hour and a half.

The very next day I moved my zucchini squash from a large container and into the ground.

Then the Large Red Cherry tomato on the left and the Roma tomato plants joined the party.

My three zucchini plants loved their new home so much that it began to bloom!

As of Friday, July 19th, 2019, this is my garden. From left to right back to front are the following:

basil, cherry tomato, corn, corn, roma tomato, basil

corn, corn

pumpkin, zucchini, pumpkin

I learned a little too late through the internet that maybe I shouldn't have planted corn and tomato together. Corn loves nitrogen. However, if tomatoes get too much nitrogen then they grow lots of leaves but little fruit. I guess only time will tell if I can still get some tomatoes out of this garden.

Brief side note: EEEE!!! I've grown my first corn and pumpkin sprouts this week!!! I'm so excited!