garden update

I haven't posted about my garden much lately. I got a late start with some of my plants so my cherry tomatoes are just now really ripening up. My larger tomato plant is working hard to get some fruit out and the cukes are doing really well, along with the herbs and jalepenos. My beets were being over shadowed by my dahlias and zinnias so I transplanted them to the new box. They survived pretty well. That's the nice thing about this square foot gardening, since the soil is all the same 'recipe' you can move things around pretty easily without a lot of root shock. My zinnias wilted at first, but my garden mentor Lisa told me to cover the roots/base of the plant to keep them cool and it should be fine. And by the next morning they were.

About my zinnias. Let me first say, I really don't know much about gardening except from what I saw my dad do growing up (predominately tomatoes and squash) and what my friend Mel has taught me from his book.

A few summers ago on our way from CA to VA we stopped in Washington (the state) to visit my brother. My sister-in-law took us to a cutting garden that was the coolest thing I ever saw. This woman had a huge flower garden with rows on rows of flowers. She had a little bench with scissors and supplies for cutting your own bouquet and then you left money in a little ballot box type thing. I wish I'd taken pictures that day. It certainly inspired me to plant flowers.

So back to my zinnias - I just thought they looked pretty on the seed package. I thought maybe they'd grow into a small plant like a gerber daisy. I didn't know what color I would get, it was a multi-colored packet. I planted a lot of seeds just before we had terrible rain all weekend. Most of them washed away, but one took. And boy did it take. It's at least 5 feet tall and is blooming it's gorgeous head off! Here is AK posing for perspective (granted, she's short, 2 ft something). I didn't know she was winking until I downloaded the picture later that night. I laugh every time I see it. I smile every time I look out my back window. Who knew gardening could be so fulfilling!

That's my cherry tomato plant on the right. It's not bad either. Oh and the marigolds - I decided I like them! And that's lavender in front of them - I'm hoping to get some flowers to dry.