The Garden in Mold

Texas weather is a hoot. No rain all summer, now almost no days of sunshine. The result is a moldy garden. There is a black fungus growing on the eggplant's leaves. The tomato plants that made it through the summer have lost all the foliage on their summer growth. Only the tips of the plants have leaves. The okra is under siege from aphids.

The newly planted tomatoes do seem off to a good start. The plants have new growth and one has set some tomatoes. So far, the blight affecting the other tomatoes has not found them. I am harvesting onions and okra.

The one miracle is an artichoke. This died, I thought, in July, but new shoots and green leaves have appeared. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The birdhouse gourd has exploded with growth. Leaves the size of dinner plates cover the ground and shoots have reached the top of all the adjacent trees. However, I do not see any gourds growing.

My latest additions are cilantro and parsley which have settled in nicely, even though I stepped on the cilantro the day after I planted it. I need to do more planting, but it keeps raining. I will just have to wait.

Photo by hoeguk

The Garden in the Rain

We had gone for almost five months without significant rainfall. Most rain showers delivered just a tenth of an inch of rain. Plants and trees died from lack of water and 60+ days of 100 degree or more days.

This changed with almost a week of rain. My garden received close to three inches of rain. The temperatures were blessedly cool; days in the 80's and nights slipping into the 60's. The air conditioner was turned off and windows opened. How wonderful!

The basil I had just planted is flourishing as are the cactus and succulents recently added to the yard. The vegetable garden is not as happy. The first night of rain came with gusts of wind. Next morning, my healthiest tomato had blown over cage and all. One of the stakes holding the cage in place had broken and the other stake had bent under the load.

I made my way into the garden, sinking into the mud over my sandal's soles. Squishy, brown mud oozed up between my toes. With difficulty I straightened the cage and set it down with the one stake holding it in place. I found another stake and anchored the cage securely.

I checked for damage to the tomato plant. It seemed none the worse. No branches were broken although many had shifted location. Then I saw my bell pepper. I had planted it too close to the tomato anyway. Now, its main stem had been broken, but not torn. The top of the stem was now at right angles to the base. The only pepper on it was deep in the mud.

Gingerly, I picked the pepper. The base was cracked, but it will be usable sliced. The plant was another matter. I contemplated bringing the pepper upright and splinting the main stem. As I stared at the pepper, I suddenly realized that the top was bent out of the shade of the tomato and into the sunlight. Once more I examined the stem. There was no break in the skin. I decided to leave the pepper as it was. I'll see what happens. At least, it will get more sun.

As the rains continued, I noticed my eggplants' lower leaves yellow and fall off. A black fungus crept over the green ones. The aphids multiplied: light green ones and fuzzy white ones. Two of the tomatoes began to decline. The okra retained its top leaves, but looked more like a thin cane that a vegetable.

When the rains finally stopped, I squished aphids and cleaned out dead leaves. One eggplant listed to the south dramatically. I pulled it upright and pressed soil around it on the south side. There were two more fruits set on the eggplant. Whether from my pollinating efforts or the cool weather, I don't know.

After a day of sunshine, the garden is improving. The okra has more leaves and the eggplant is blooming. The toppled and restaked tomato plant shows no sign of damage. The bell pepper also seems to have improved with new leaves and blooms spouting. The odd 90 degree angle is hardly noticeable.

Soon, I will start my winter garden.

Photo by Bukowsky18

Gardeners Are Such Fools

The heat has broken. Now, we only have days in the nineties and nights dipping near seventy. Mornings are really lovely.

Last week we had the first real rain since early spring. I got an inch and a half of the wet stuff. The garden is so much happier.

The reprieve from the August heat and lack of rain has raised my hopes for a fall garden. I am removing dead plants and preparing the ground for new plants. A friend who gardens in one the community gardens is busily cleaning out his plot. He will plant for fall soon. Gardeners are such fools.

Another friend passed two basil branches (basil picture above), well rooted in water, on to me. I planted one under the bird bath in the front yard, far from past basil failures. The other plant went into the vegetable garden in back. This time in the flower bed at the edge of the garden where the sunburned remains of forget-me-nots still litter the ground. The only plant that survived from spring is a hybrid wandering Jew. This plant has produced a beautiful rosette of leaves that seems not to mind the heat and lack of water.

I have two tomato plants to be put in the ground, and I will try the Japanese shiso again. I think I will add mint to the circle under the bird bath and more herbs in back. Once it is cooler, I will add some leafy vegetables to the garden. I want to grow some catnip near the water faucet in front, but I fear the cats would soon eliminate it.

On the east side of my house there is an extremely dry area with poor soil. Nothing has grown there all year, not even weeds. Of course, I could not stand that bare soil. Now, I have planted a variegated, thornless prickly pear, an ordinary prickly pear (right), an echeveria (below), and a volunteer plant with bright pink flowers, rescued from a neighbor who was going to mow it. My struggling kalanchoe and some rooted sanseveria leaves complete my attempt to bring life to that dead area. I will see what happens.

Gardeners are such fools.

P.S. My eggplant has set fruit.

The Garden in August

The battle is on to keep the plants alive until September and cooler weather. We are heading toward a new record for the number of 100 degrees or more days. Great! On top of that a drought has lowered our water supply to a very low level although not as low as when I was a child. With the water level dropping, new more stringent watering rules are going into effect.

As of August 24, 2009, we can only water once a week and not during the heat of the day. The police will be handing out tickets, no warnings. The tickets will be at least $400.00. I can't help but think that a cash-strapped city has discovered a new revenue source. Other cities and towns are only now going to mandatory conservation and twice a week watering.

Unless the weather changes and rain comes, I don't think I will have a fall garden. The problem is that I need to be planting now for the fall and it is too hot and too dry.

I lost my last artichoke and my lavender. The tomatoes are still alive but producing smaller fruit. The cherry tomatoes are now pea-sized. The yellow pear tomato is not producing at all. It looks to be on its last legs suffering from heat and disease. Even the native black nightshade is having problems. This plant has grown at the edge of the garden since spring. The white wing doves love its fruit so I have let it grow. Something is eating the leaves. The plant was already weakened by the heat, so it has a very straggly appearance.

My okra continues to flourish with pods harvested every day. The first eggplant has been picked and eaten. With the dearth of insects including bees, I am now pollinating the eggplant by hand using a paint brush.

The weather forecast is for another week of heat and dryness. We may break the all time record for days in three digits. Oh well, I am going swimming with my cousin.

Photo by faul