I thought I’d do a quick little update on the garden while things were a bit slow around here due to today’s excessive heat & sunshine that’ll blind you.
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(Alright, I’m lying. It’s not that slow around here, nor is it that hot – it’s around 91° F, which compared to our 101° temps last week is nothing. I just wanted to do a garden update. Whatever.)
And so I’ll begin this written portion of the program by saying that while every other woman in the country (seemingly) is squealing in excitement for the final film installment of The Twilight Saga and/or reading Fifty Shades of Grey, I’ve been gardening, cooking, baking, canning, beaching, grilling, strolling, sunbathing, and generally enjoying the outdoors. Not that there’s anything wrong with the aforementioned activities. I’m just saying. Summer goes by quickly, folks. Enjoy it while it’s here! The winter is loooong.
But right now, it’s pretty much hotter than hell most days. That sun I photographed above beats down relentlessly (when it’s not pouring rain & thundering, oh the joys of high humidity!) on everything making the sidewalk so hot I could fry my peppers outdoors. This poor little guy was one of the (probably many) casualties of the heat. I call him The Jesus Lizard, because a few weeks prior, I found a lizard laying in quite the same position, and assumed him dead. Yet when I went to brush him off the walkway into the flowerbed (I don’t know why, my version of a lizard burial I suppose) he flipped over and scooted away. This time… however… he was 100% definitely dead. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is that very same lizard. So of course, what else would I call him but the Jesus Lizard? Somewhere, many other lizards are awaiting his second coming. Until then, rest in peace little dude.
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The heat is no joke. This is why they tell you to check on the elderly & young’ns and make sure your pets have plenty of cold fresh water. Anyway… let’s get back to something pleasant: my container garden! Prepare for lots of photos.
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Cajun Belle pepper
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Green Zebra heirloom tomato
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SuperTasty Hybrid tomato
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Herbs; dill, cilantro, rosemary
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Oregano
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Variegated oregano
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Mint
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Rosemary
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Lavender (not edible)
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Basil
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The “Mystery Plant”
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So yeah. That’s pretty much that.
The interesting thing is that “Mystery Plant” there. Whatever it is, it’s a plant from last year that I thought was just dead wood. However, I failed to remove it from the pot at the end of the season in October, and the tag that told me what it was went missing over the winter. So I was surprised to see that there was green life coming from the dead-looking brown stalk a month ago, and I decided to leave it and see what came of it. It’s gotten bigger, with more green growing, but I’m not 100% sure what it is. It’s possible it’s my Habanero plant, or it could be a Bell pepper. It’s definitely not a tomato, and I doubt it’s an eggplant. But I guess we’ll see, right?! Whatever it is, it’s a pleasant surprise, and a testament to life and nature. It’s so true what my grandma used to say: where there’s life- there’s hope! Except for Jesus Lizard, that is.
I did have one little casualty. A Cajun Belle fell off the vine prematurely. It was so cute, and so perfectly formed… but so tiny! So I tossed it into the grass for the local bunnies or my friendly raccoon family to nibble on.
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My mint is struggling to come back full force, which kinda sucks- I have a feeling by the time it’s huge the season will be over and it’ll be time for me to cut it down and dry it. It’s turning brown slightly on the edges. Blah. I’ll update again once more things start to come around. Basil? For a while it wasn’t doing too well- it seemed to be shrinking. But now it’s better. My cilantro took a nose dive, though. My tomatoes are taking an extra long time, trying my patience, for sure. I lost two buds (one from each) in a bad thunderstorm that lasted over 12+ hours and it took forever for the other teeny buds to catch up. Ugh. Hurry up tomatoes!
At least I hope they get here before Breaking Dawn pt. 2.
Kidding.
I'm Marilla. A 30-something artist, hobby baker, home canning enthusiast, gardener, DIY-er, wife, mommy of a baby boy and dog mom (to another baby boy) from New York. 
you’re not 100% kidding, I just know it lol you may not want to see it as bad as some but you are curious aren’t you?! LOL that little belle made me happy and sad at the same time but I’m glad you thought of your furry neighbors! Houston has been getting a lot of heat and rain which makes this fantastical humidity we houstonians love. NOT!! I totally feel your pain!!
jesus lizard, turn away from the liiiight!!
No you’re right. I’m not really 100% kidding. I’ll see it… for $1.50 from a Redbox machine a year from now! LOL 😉
The bunnies & raccoons here have been eating the crap out of some of my flowers. I figure, if I throw them a pepper or some stale bread here & there they’ll leave me be, haha. We had a whole late-night raccoon watching thing going on a week or two ago… three of us on the porch with flashlights watching the mama & her four babies. It was some National Geographic type shit! I felt like I should’ve been narrating it for Animal Planet.
HAHA @ “turn away from the light!” That poor little dude. There’s another one that’s hanging around now, he’s always out there whenever I water my plants. I hope he takes a dip in the bowl of water I have outside every now & then ’cause it has been super hot. And I don’t wanna keep finding little dead lizards everywhere 🙁
I love that you grow your peppers and spice plants! The heat in GA has been ridiculous as well. I hope we can get a cool winter for this horrid heat.
It’s so convenient to have ’em right outside, I can just snip off what I need. Plus I dry them in late Sept. and use them all winter as dried spices (except the cilantro- I have frozen it before but it’s never quite the same). We had such a mild winter here, and such a hot summer that got hot so quick, I’m hoping that we don’t have an EARLY winter.
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