August 19, 2011 - The August Garden, Part 1


It's been a while since I've posted garden pictures, so I'll break this down into several posts because there are so many of them.

First, let me get the complaints off my chest. The neighbor's weeds. I can't get good pictures of the "East Garden", with all those weeds in the background!




Ugly, huh? You can see, in the bottom photo, how they are coming through into my pathway. Some of the weeds are taller than I am. Would I dare reach over the fence with a weed eater and whack them down?


My son Scott and I did cut back her hedge, but only where it came onto our property. It had grown so huge and wide, we could no longer get our lawnmower into the back yard! This narrow strip is the only path for the riding mower. Oh, how I miss my old neighbor Pat. she had the hedge professionally trimmed three times a year.

Oh, well. I'll just have to learn to live with it :-(


The East Garden



This side of the kennel, the entry to the East Garden, has been planted with Fortex pole beans, a pot of Bush Champion slicing cucumbers (not doing nearly as well as the Spacemaster I've planted in previous years), a Russian Baby tomato and some zinnias. There is also a pot of slicing cucumbers next to the fence on the left, moved from it's former location next to the weedy fence.



From left, a few late beets and onions, Topcrop bush beans are beginning to blossom, and Burpee A #1 Hybrid carrots are growing well.


In this bed the Rutgers tomatoes are struggling, and the one in the foreground really needs to be removed. I keep hoping it will come back, but it really won't and it's never going to get any tomatoes. The other two have set some fruits, and might yet have a chance. The carrots are being harvested on an 'as needed' basis, and any time granddaughter Alicyn is visiting. She knows exactly where the big carrots are!


These are the earliest planted bush beans, Gourmet Green French, which are still producing. This variety performs more like pole beans, it just keeps blossoming and producing non-stop. The leaves are beginning to rust badly, so I'll probably pull all the plants as soon as the other bush beans begin producing. Next to the beans are the Quadrato Rosso D' Asti sweet peppers.


The peppers are looking much better, but unfortunately a few are showing some sunburn. They got off to such a late start, they are just now developing a good shade canopy of foliage. Later fruits should be better protected.


This bed has newly seeded Little Gem lettuce. I decided to chance putting it here, as I thought the sparrows had moved on. It turns out they haven't, so we'll see if they can resist these tender morsels. Next to the lettuce, Ruby Queen beets have germinated. The peppers in this bed are Red Marconi. The fruits are getting huge, I hope they have time to turn red. Several of these also suffer from sunburn, and will have to be picked early.


Another new bed of Topcrop bush beans that are blossoming. Next to them is a triple row of Burpee A #1 Hybrid carrots, the final planting of the season. In the foreground is the volunteer Minigold tomato plant,, which has been pumping out a seemingly endless supply of good sized cherry tomatoes. What a work horse for such a small plant! I do wish I had stuck it in a pot, as it probably could have been moved to Arizona for the winter. I still have some seeds, maybe I should start another one.


The south end of the East Garden has a hill of yellow crookneck squash, which has a few male blossoms, and the cantaloupe that's growing from seed from one we ate earlier this year. I also moved this (and one more) pot of cucumbers from path next to the neighbor's fence, as they were tangling their tendrils in the jungle of weeds.



17 comments:

  1. Hey it looks like I could be your neighbour! Or my neighbour could be yours..since my father sprayed my side of the fence with round up..lol

    Great pictures of the garden. Everything looks so lush and yummy!

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  2. If I were you, I would just go over on your neighbors property and wack those weeds down! That is horrible!

    Your garden looks green and healthy with the exception of that one tomato plant.

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  3. I know that anguish of having thoughtless neighbors :o(
    Since we moved here (12 years ago) we had had about 6 new neighbors in the same house :o(...one put up a fence so we couldn't see what or how they were doing food for their restaurant..and hanging out clothes which here is a no no..Now the new one put up a line in the corner where he thinks it can't be seen...it shows over here like a sore thumb. We hate complaining, but we do.

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  4. I'd hack her weeds! ;) I'd politely say, "I noticed you don't have a weed wacker, can I wack those weeds for you?"
    You could always take a cutting from your minigold and start a new plant from it!

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  5. So sorry about the neighbor! Are they renters? Usually home owners are a bit more proud of their yards.

    The garden looks fantastic, as usual!

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  6. Mrs. Pickles, I actually have Roundup on my shopping list. That's the only way I'll be able to keep her Bermuda grass out!

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    Robin, Mr. Granny says keep my hands off her weeds. I'll call Frank ;-)

    Yes, the garden is beginning to look better, like a June garden in August.

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    Ginny, even if I put strips in the fence to hide some of it, the weeds are much taller than the fence. And it would shade the garden i the mornings, it barely gets enough sun now. I'll just have to deal with it, while I complain to you guys.

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    Shawn Ann, I did just that....I dug up a volunteer and potted it, then wondered if it was a Minigold or a Juliet, so I clipped off a branch and stuck it in water. I didn't have any rooting hormone, but maybe I should have put it in some damp vermiculite instead? Maybe I'll snip off another one and try it both ways.

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    Lynda, no. She bought the house from my old friend, Pat. I heard she bought it cheap, as an investment, but so far she's done no renovations. She really seems nice, the few times I've spoken to her, and she keeps the rest of the yard up, just not this one strip. I don't know why she doesn't at least run the mower along the fence. Maybe she thinks it's my property! I was telling her about the tomato plants I planted there last year, maybe she didn't realize I'd planted them for Pat. I hate to ask her, how do you approach someone about a weed their patch?

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  7. Granny, If I were you, I would just say to her, "I noticed that you aren't using that area of your yard, would you mind if I planted a few things there?" That way you can keep it tidy and grow somemore wonderful veggies.

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  8. Heather, that's a good idea for next year. It's too late to plant anything there this year (and it's in the 90s during the daytime, too hot do work there). I really do think I'll try to pull or cut some of the weeds that are right up against the fence for now. I have to do something, or they'll overtake that entire gardening space!

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  9. The garden is looking good now that you have some decent weather. I can't wait to see the followup posts. The neighbor's weeds are making me cringe. Some of those seeds are going to end up in your garden.

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  10. Granny, I'd do exactly what Heather suggested. Just go up and say something like, "This part of your fence gets great sun, could I plant a few things here?" Really, how could she resist? I actually HAVE gone and trimmed the neighbor's weeds down. I make no bones about it. I work too hard to let uncontrolled weeds ruin MY yard.

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  11. Looking good 'cept for that there weed forest. I've just gone into my neighbors yard and pulled weeds that were encroaching on my garden, he did not complain.

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  12. Rachel, no doubt many of the seeds have already blown over here. I should have reached over and at least clipped that huge weed down before it went to seed. I have lopped off numerous tree saplings that have sprouted up and pushed through the fence. All I need are trees growing there.

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    Dorothy and David, I do think I'll at least try to remove what I can reach from my side of the fence. I really need some Roundup, as she has one noxious weed clump growing that can't be eradicated by digging, as well as the Bermuda Grass. The noxious weed has already found its way into my chives and flowers, so I might end up having to move them to another location.

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  13. Tough situation with the neighbor. I would talk to her before you do weed removal though. Even though they are weeds and have an impact on your yard and garden, it is still their property. However, where they are actually ON your property (overhanging) that is fair game. I bet if you asked though she would be delighted to let you tidy it up - OR - be shamed into taking some action herself.

    Your garden is coming along nicely albeit later than normal. I would hope for a late warm fall for you but I know that you will soon be packing it up and putting the garden to bed to go to Arizona for the winter - so that won't help you much.

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  14. I enjoyed the garden tour and am looking forward to part 2...those are some nice peppers you have growing there.

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  15. Granny, I have never used rooting hormone for tomato cuttings, and it usually only takes a couple of days. They are quick and easy!
    Do you have some hedging shears that will fit under your fence, you could just lop em off at the bottom!

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  16. Kitsap, short of having the place surveyed, I guess I could assume the fence isn't exactly on the property line. I always thought it was Pat's fence, but actually, our big gar attaches to it, as does our cedar fence in the back, so maybe it has always been our fence! It was originally made of the same wire as Pat's fence that also attached to it. Anyway, one way or the other, I'm going to try to clear out at least a few inches next to the fence.

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    Mr. H., it looks as though I'll get a few peppers after all, but certainly not the 50-plus pounds I normally harvest!

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    Shawn Ann, the fence pretty much goes right down to the ground. I do have a weedeater that could cut a foot-wide swath though ;-)

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  17. Looks fantastic. Can't believe how much you manage to put together in your space.

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