Gardening

[doxie]

We finally fried our first green tomato and ate it earlier this week! Yum! We have a couple more little ones on the vine now.

Also finally got the Knockout Roses planted. The ones that we planted in April look a lot better and the two new ones are blooming!

[inthegarden]

We need RAIN. Please send RAIN. We are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years!

I've put down new seed on sections of my back and front lawn, as well as that Patch seed in places. And I water all my perrenials and annuals daily. Last fall I put some black wood chips around some of my perrenials, more for frost protection than anything.

Does anyone know if putting the black wood chips helps to keep in moisture at all? I did buy some more but haven't put it around all my plants yet. My water bill is going to be wicked this month!

Wood chips will help hold the moisture in. I have had trouble with the large bark chips washing away when it rains, so I prefer to use the shredded pinebark or hardwood mulch and pinestraw. If you have compost that works too. Be sure you spread the mulch 3"-4" deep and then water really good to settle the mulch down. I hope you get rain soon.

[hepcat]

In other news, my spearmint and chocolate mint are now planning world domination.

Someone gave me a chocolate mint plant last month and I had never heard of it before. What do you do with it? That plant just seems to love full sun.

[Critical]

Someone gave me a chocolate mint plant last month and I had never heard of it before. What do you do with it? That plant just seems to love full sun.

I'm sure it's probably good in tea or for baking - at least as a garnish - but I just like the look of it. I also like to break off leaves because they smell so good. I really just grow the mint because it reminds me of my grandmother - she had giant bushes of it in her yard.

[Gutmutter]

We need RAIN. Please send RAIN. We are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years!

I wish we could give you some of ours! I can't remember the last day we had without rain and the whole next week is forecast with rain. It is horrible for my son's painting business. I haven't been able to mow. Seriously, it's been at least 3 weeks. The garden is out of control.

[Gutmutter]

Double posting - they showed a calendar of the month of June on the weather report last night with the days in yellow that we didn't have rain - 3 of them in the entire month of June. They also did a story about how all the rain is affecting pools, street venders, tourist trade, and other businesses (like my son's) that rely on good weather. I hope July and August make up for it.

[Cootie]

Double posting - they showed a calendar of the month of June on the weather report last night with the days in yellow that we didn't have rain - 3 of them in the entire month of June. They also did a story about how all the rain is affecting pools, street venders, tourist trade, and other businesses (like my son's) that rely on good weather. I hope July and August make up for it.

I am sorry for you, that must be miserable. I do hope your weather shapes up. We have periods of rain like that much of the year, but not usually in June. We have had beautiful, beautiful weather, around 80-85 with light humidity and our garden has taken off! Beans, cucumbers, beets, tomatoes and onions are just a week away. Our snow peas and lettuce are still hanging in there and are a great addition to our table. Very few slugs as well. The flowers are lush and nothing has dried out in the neighborhood so it is green everywhere. The birds are singing and so am I! This is a wondrous time of year in the Northwest.

[Critical]

I went for it yesterday and bought two more types of tomatoes. I got some Early Girls, which I put in a planter, and some cherry tomatoes that I put in a Topsy Turvy. I'd heard so much about those planters that I thought I'd try one. Anyone have experience with the Topsy Turvy? It was tough getting the root ball through that little hole. If I'd known how small if was, I would have gotten a smaller plant. I really had to work to get it through there without destroying it. I hope I didn't damage the roots so much that it kills the plant - I don't think I did.

I'm sure I'll be swimming in tomatoes in a month or two, but I don't care!

[canuckinchile]

Hey Crit, I just planted a Topsy Turvy today. A bit late but I watered the root ball like crazy and crammed 2 plants in. I am dying to see if they work. I watered with some root transplant shock stuff and added tomato fertilizer to the earth. I'll probably kill it with kindness

[Critical]

I thought it might be a bit late to plant them here, but it stays hot (and I'm talking into the 90's) until the end of October, so I should be fine. I'll be interested to see if our Topsy Turvy "experiments" work!