Since my last post about my little garden, which was about a month ago, things have progressed nicely. I’ve gotten some new additions and I thought I’d share them with you. I finally got my cilantro! You have no idea how happy that makes me. I’m a Mexican food fanatic, so having that on hand is a necessity. They were pretty pathetic looking, so I bought two just in case. And it’s a good thing I did, because we had a few really bad rainstorms and the poor little things got beaten to shit. But they’ll bounce back. My basil and parsley have long since been cut back, I use them often enough that the huge bushes they were got much smaller, which made me sad. But then I saw new growth starting… and I thought, “No doubt in no time they’ll be back to their incredible size” and holy shit, they already are! Same thing with my mint. I’ve been using it for mojitos and summer drinks so it was cut back pretty far, but new growth is everywhere! Other new garden additions are rosemary, chives, fringed lavender and catnip (which I’m not having much luck with, unfortunately, I thought I could dry some and make Arwyn her own homegrown catnip stash however it rapidly started deteriorating upon my replanting it). My squash isn’t doing well AT ALL- I suspect it’s flower abortion and I’m going to try and self-pollinate. Hopefully that will work, but if not, I’m pleased enough with the rest of my garden that it won’t bother me too much.

I’ve been really lucky so far- no pests. Even the rabbits have been really good to me, one of my peppers was partially eaten (the bright red one from my last garden post) but other than that, nothing. Not even a bug. *knocks on wood* I have discovered that the tried & true old home remedy of 1 gallon of water + 2 tablespoons dishwashing liquid (NOT laundry detergent, sprayed on the plants with a spray bottle) to keep pests away really does work. And it’s gentle on the leaves & plants, and isn’t toxic. I had a few small bug bites on my leaves in the first few days of my gardening, but I nipped it in the bud right away. No pun intended. Another easy one to make that both repels and kills bugs is 1 quart of water and add 1 tsp. of Ivory dish soap or Murphy’s Oil Soap and 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil. Just shake it all together, put it in a spray bottle, and use once every few days. I can’t vouch for that one personally, since I haven’t used it, but it’s basically the same principle.

So I’ve acquired another tomato plant- it’s called a patio tomato, specifically for container gardens. It’s grown incredibly since I’ve gotten it (again, I’m going by the three-day lapse- each photo is 3 days apart, except the last 2 which were taken on the same day, just from different angles:

I love how they look after it rains, all glossy and covered in droplets.

 

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Another plant I’ve acquired is a bell pepper! I was really excited for this, because these are supposed to be monsters. Excellent for stuffing, but I also like to take my peppers, cut them up and freeze the ones I won’t be using for another time. This little plant promises me many beautiful peppers. Like I said above, there are three days in between each of the first two photos, then in between photo 2 and 3 there’s just one day, then for the next photos it’s back to 3 days. Amazing, right?

 

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As far as the other plants go, things are coming along quite nicely with my Big Boy and Celebrity tomatoes. Specifically the Celebrity, which has a baby tomato starting… these photos are 4 days apart.

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Although the Big Boy is no slouch- it’s starting to catch up a bit. Lots of blossoms and some baby tomatoes. Can’t wait to eat these babies…

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Also, my eggplant is finally growing a little something… I can’t wait to see this get bigger. It’s supposed to be 8″ when fully grown. Once it is, it’s going to become eggplant parmigiana, with some homemade sauce, probably made from my own tomatoes. These pictures are just one day apart.

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Since then, I’ve lost the eggplant bud in one of those aforementioned bad rain/windstorms, however a new one took it’s place and it’s roughly at the same stage as these pictures, so I’m staying positive! I want that eggplant parmigiana dammit!

It’s incredibly gratifying and also just plain incredible to watch these things grow. Every day I’m amazed at the rapid rate they’ve changed, or the inches they’ve grown in height. Particularly the tomatoes. It’s something you just don’t understand unless you grow your own vegetables. I’ve seen it with my flowers & roses every year, and that’s always been interesting. But with vegetables, it’s just different. If you missed my last garden post, take a look. I think you’ll be surprised at the changes since then. I can’t wait to eat the fruits of my labor, literally.

I plan on continuing to update with photos and let you all know how it’s going, and then once they’re harvested I’ll be sure to show you pictures of them after they’ve been cooked, haha. Have any of you been inspired to have your own Victory Garden?