Garden update

I still don't know what I'm doing, really.  This is my second year, and I'm still having a hard time figuring out what decimates my smaller plants every time.  Two peppers down and two eggplants destroyed.  Also, cucumbers baffle me.  I can't seem to get them going from seed.  Here's the bed of peps, eggplants, and cukes:

You can kind of see, that I tried a barrier method of chopsticks and bamboo skewers, to help with what I thought were birds picking off leaves.  I still don't know if it's birds, squirrels, or something else....but somehow, my small plants keep dying when I put them out.  I've fertilized with a liquid seaweed fertilizer, and an organic slow release.  We've had a lot of rain lately, so I'm not sure if they're over watered.  But on a more positive note, other things are doing well.

Tomatoes are growing like gangbusters.  I have a bunch of flowers on the cherry and the beefsteak.

I honestly didn't realize how much space a pumpkin plant would need (in the back), and I've definitely got to figure something out so I can keep it till it produces something.  The bush type zucchini is doing well though.

And the last bunch of stuff I've been growing is herbs.  So far, they are mostly in pots.  I'm going to need to transplant the more hardy plants in an herb bed in front of the shed.  The rosemary, lavender and thyme will move there this fall (probably...if I have time and energy).  Then warm weather herbs will get planted in between when the weather gets nice again.  I also bought a cute little bay tree, but he's so small right now that he's staying on the kitchen window sill for a while.  I've been drying lavender for the last two years, and I'm now working on drying some thyme and chocolate mint.  I hope they store well!

Chocolate mint, rosemary, and empty strawberry pot.  My wild wonder strawberries died early.  The chocolate mint has a great flavor.  Much more mild than a peppermint.  I think it will make a great tea.  If you grow mint, be careful.  It is very invasive and best left in pots instead of the ground.

Snap dragons that are looking ragged! English lavender on the left, lemon thyme on the right.  The lemon thyme is awesome...very lemony and a yellow trim on the green leaves.

Dill, basil, and cilantro (coriander). They were getting a little scorched when I had them out by the rosemary and mint, so I moved them to a slightly shadier location (the benefit of pots for annuals). The basil and cilantro keep trying to bolt, but I have been cutting them down so I hope to get some more leaves.

The bain of my gardening existence has been crepe myrtle suckers.  The rosemary/mint pic shows the sheer magnitude of growth on a stump that hasn't been weed whacked recently.  We had a big mess of crepe myrtle, intertwined with some other mystery plants in that area of the yard.  My husband is industrious in his demolition of things, including some of the front bushes, an old dead dogwood, and a row of bushes on the side of the house.  Here's a "during demolition" pic:

As great now that the mess is gone, but there's still a stump, AND I did not get all the roots out when I dug my beds.  Now there are crepe myrtle suckers growing everywhere in the beds, and they are making me crazy.  You can pull them out as much as you want, and they will be back a few days later.  In the fall, I will probably have to re-do the old beds anyway, with different boards...I guess I'll be digging deep for roots too.  The projects never end!