Nature and Gardening

Tacked together some scrap wood to un-squash my squash arch - turns out 12 gauge wire fencing is not rigid enough to support full grown butternut squashes! I like how it looks with the wood, though.

You can see my sunflowers too in the right of the image, just starting to form their flowers. I'm hoping they'll open in time for the visitors I have this weekend to see them.

The cucumbers are slowing down now but it's the tomatoes' turn to go absolutely wild. I bet I could start harvesting some of these squash and pumpkins soon as well.

The elderberries are finally starting to ripen and the beautyberries are starting to fruit. The box huckleberry seems to be very happy this year, I dunno why though. The maypops and creeping cucumbers have finally come out, late as they usually do, and are climbing everything. Unfortunately so are the invasive morning glories that I have to keep rescuing everything else from. The young pricklyash is finally starting to look more like a tree than a rose bush. The ostrich and maidenhair ferns are having their second terrible year in a row, not sure what's going on there. Mayapples are very nearly ripe. Finally, the neighbor and landlord have murdered an even greater chunk of the garden. Nearly a third dead to poison...

Hello Lally! I'm pleased to report that my peppers are mostly going strong, and wife was able to make the most delicious enchilada sauce with poblanos, cayennes, and anaheims mixed in. It was so rewarding to get to eat something made from scratch that was covered in sauce (also made from scratch!) from stuff I grew myself! Unfortunately, some have succumbed to what appears to be blossom end rot, but I've saved a lot of egg shells and am going to get to work on that. Even more unfortunate, my bell pepper plant seems to have shirked its mortal coil. I'm not sure if it was due to the heat or lack of watering, but I came out one day and it was gone. Pour one out for my bell pepper, that thing lived a few years and survived a move. Life is but a dream, we shall have more peppers <3

I'm not 100% what's going on with my pumpkins, but the remaining two that haven't succumbed to the heat are doing great. One has really taken off and is making friends with my asparagus fern I saved from Kroger last year. However, it seems that with both, the male flowers open up but I never see the female do her thing, so I haven't been able to pollinate them. But, like I say every time I post these updates, I'm just along for the ride and am having fun on my balcony. But a teeny pumpkin would be neat!

Herbs are looking pretty good! My two potted mint plants are still kicking ass, though that's not really anything to shake a stick at lol they grow like weeds. The oregano got a little heat damaged, but it's not in direct sunlight for very long now that I've moved it. Rosemary's looking good too, nothing much to say there. Can't say the same about her baby though, that kid's the end of the world (ba-dum-tiss). My basil is a bit meh, but it's just a starter, and I've heard they're not necessarily intended to last long, so I'm not too caught up in that.

I'm pleased that the kale and microgreens I sowed are doing well too. Most of the things I planted from seed didn't last due to the heat, due to me being an amateur and doing it outside, but I'm able to add fresh kale and who-knows-what to salads and wraps, and that's awesome. I also have one catnip that managed to make it, and one day it could be a huge catnip bush like its older sibling. That one's just a starter plant, but it's really taken off, and my cats love it. I decorate the kitchen with the flowers :)