The Gibson Garden IV

You are way overdue for a garden update! I've meant to post things here and there, but just haven't gotten around to it. Since last time, things have changed quite a bit. We've had a near death experience, a revival, and a shift in health. Basically, when we left to go to the lake for July 4th, the garden looked like this:


When we got back, it looked like this:

A few weeks later and still no rain, it looked like this:

See the gaps where squash plants used to be? I thought they were all goners. Yes, I try to water as much as I can by hand, but that's not an easy task or a cheap one. I'll have to find some time to explain the water tank story. I don't feel like it right now. Suffice it to say that we no longer have our nifty little water tank that was supplied by our sump pumps. So if I water, I have to either use our water hose or haul 5 gallon buckets full of rain water and water each plant individually. I did the best I could, but without rain, it was hard to keep everything happy.

But, my lovely little plants hung in there and after a few welcome showers, they brigthened back up. Of course, we did have a few casualties, but we were able to continue our squash consumption without too much of an interruption.

The okra started coming in too, and now that's what we're eating all the time.

The jalapenos are doing well; we just don't have a whole lot of use for them. Anybody want some?

This is our broccoli! I'm surprised it actually bloomed. I don't really know why, I just kind of didn't expect it to. Now I can't decide when you're supposed to cut it and eat it. Probably about now (for the one on the right).

The cauliflower.... yeah. I think the bugs won that battle. And the weeds. I got kind of lazy in a few parts of the garden.

These are Josh's hops (for beer brewing). They are doing so, so well. We were told not to expect the plants to get taller than 6 feet in the first year (which this is) and definitely don't expect them to bloom in the first year. Um, well, they're about 12 feet tall (maybe taller) and are covered UP in blooms. It's pretty awesome.

"One of these things is not like the other ones, One of these things just doesn't belong... doo dee doo doo, doo doo dee doo dee doo..."

So, when the okra first started coming up, we noticed that one came up on the very edge of the garden, away from the rest. I figured a seed just blew over there in the wind, maybe a squirrel carried it over, I don't know. Anyway, we dug up the small plant and stuck it in with the rest of the okra. Looked just like the others. Well, as soon as it grew just a bit more, we began to realize that it was not quite the same. And it grew, and grew, and grew. Don't ask me why I didn't remove it immediately after realizing it wasn't okra. I guess I was just curious to see what it would turn into.

We thought it might be a sweetgum tree, because it has spiky green balls growing on the stem. Josh, Clay and Dustin looked it up last weekend while they were brewing, and confirmed that it is a Castor Bean. According to this website, it is one of the ten most toxic plants known to animals.

Shovel, please!

Lastly, I want to talk about my tomatoes. Remember how I was boasting about how many plants we had? I just thought we were going to be overrun with tomatoes and giving them away left and right.

Well, they never came, never came, never came. Finally, I started seeing the blooms and then tiny little green fruits starting to come. They stayed green and small for a loooong time. Then some of them turned red, but they were still quite small. I thought, man, I've got a bunch of duds! Well, I knew the plants weren't duds, but I thought because of where I placed them in the garden that I had made them duds.

Finally! They're here. And although some of them are lying on the ground due to weak cages that I got from behind "the green house" and a couple hard rains,

they're here! Now that's what I'm talking about! I picked these a few days ago, and the ones in the bucket yesterday morning. I walked out just a few minutes ago and there are more that are ready.

They're still not quite as nice as the tomatoes we had last year because the placement in the garden isn't ideal, but at least we've got some.

I've definitely taken some notes this year and will be ready next year and can hopefully improve the process.