Still ill - new zucchini and cucumber

I'm still sick but I managed to get outside and take a few new pics. 

First the best butterfly EVER! It was actually blue inside the wings and apparently it loves the zinnias. 

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I've got some weirdo bugs in my garden. Brown ones, ladybugs, bees, wasps and then this really weird orange and black bug. I dont know its purpose but it is all over the cucumbers and has moved on to the peppers. I hope it is a beneficial.

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Brown Bug?

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Here is a JERKY vine borer! I hate these guys - they have infested all of the squash and even the cucumbers this year. 

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The peppers have grown in great there are so many of them now too.

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The squash I put in the box is looking healthy and great. The spinach in the box - not so much. I will probably rip that out soon.

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The Cantaloupe is doing well - despite the fact that it has to vine around a stick to get some sun since the monster zucchini owns that box.

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Monster zucchini!

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And this is what the monster zucchini babies look like!

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Pepper plants - still doing well and some are even flowering - even though they have very little soil and are tightly planted.

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Morning glories

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Culantro just keeps flowering thistles - I thought this plant would survive the summer months better.

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Gandules are getting bigger - still no flowers - although the soil here was lousy.

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I'm surprised I am still getting these Beefsteak Tomatoes - but they are coming in - here are 3 out of the 15.

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and......The Creamy Amish Tomatoes are actually Creamy Sausage Tomatoes - that's what happens when you garden - STILL I am so glad to see them coming in at such a late date!

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Royal burgundy beans are growing fast and flowering already.

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Blue Lake Bush beans are also starting to fruit - or bean?

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And finally - the pomegranate opened up into a FLOWER! I was not expecting that at all! Plants are awesome. 

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Pics from Guate FIRST!

So while off in Guatemala - of course I had to check out the indigenous plants. The great volcanic soil makes sure EVERYTHING grows and grows big. The trip was alot of fun but I came back with a MAJOR gastrointestinal virus and I am STILL waiting to see what the hell is wrong with me. So I haven't been online at all - or in my poor suffering garden - so this post is strictly to show some beautiful pictures of Guatemala and then my garden.

San Pedro, Antigua, and Panachel Guatemala

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FINALLY new garden pics...

MONSTER zucchini

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Beans, beans, good for your heart...

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Zinnia explosion

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Pomegranate tree's little baby

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My Tomatoes were hit hard while I was gone - not good :(

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Dead Tea Tree :(

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Cucumbers in the box are looking crappy too - IDK they had some vine borers in them when I got back. I removed what I saw and hope they come back strong.

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Dying Summer squash - I am so over them - they havent produced at all!

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A bunch of things are in this pic - marigolds, radishes, parsley (still doing awesome), purple beans, peppers, gazanias - all of them are fairing well

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Sunflowers in the back are almost taller than the wall...with cucumbers and marigolds

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Talk about a dark horse! The sunflower and zinnia bed is doing great!

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I've moved into the front yard with the dying sunflowers and they are looking pretty great!

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Plants and off to Guate!

I am running off to Guatemala for 4 days to visit my friend Carol. It was a totally last minute thing and I am really excited.

The garden is doing great. I can only hope it rains EVERYDAY while I am gone!!

Here are some pics while I finish packing...

Zinnias waiting to bloom...

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The pomegranate tree has it's first bloom on it! YEAH!

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My cucumbers were growing all over the place - so I brought in the big guns

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To help build my new vining device - so far so good - totally made out of old and used pieces of wood I had around

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My cucumbers have been having an aphid problem - and right when I was planning on spraying it with some Neem in came the ladybugs...and I have every color and size and shape of them too! Yeah for beneficials!

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I do have bad news - the tomatoes are definitely done soon - they are still getting tomatoes but the look rough...I hope they survive my trip

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Making the Rain

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather.” - Goethe

If only Goethe were right I could spontaneously call upon the rain. I am back to watering again ::le sigh:: It is such a chore now with these hot days ahead to keep the ground moist and the plants happy. 

I have also come to the conclusion that one can be TOO good at growing things. This of course comes way after the fact that I now own too many plants to fit in my small garden in the back. It wont stop me from attempting great feats of gardening ingenuity though!

I spent the day moving the rest of the sunflowers to the front of the house where the soil doesn't require as much work to help things grow and where I actually found worms in the ground. 

No blog pics for today. Too busy running around...but I'll get moody tonight in hopes of a shower.

Days of Rain

No post in a few days. Sorry. I was having too much fun at my friend Mickey's bachelorette party weekend. Congrats to her again!

She doesn't believe I garden so I am putting some EXTRA pics on here just for her. I am also going to do a before and after bunch of pics so you can see what a few good days of rain has done to my garden. 

Starting off with.....before and afters from 5/19 until today 5/25

BEFORE...I thought the cucumbers were looking great. I staked them with bamboo before I left to help them since they had just begun to vine. 

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AFTER...They have TAKEN over the grow box. I now need to figure out an actual trellis system. They are growing on and into everything!

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BEFORE...The beans were looking great.

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AFTER...They have a whole new set of leaves and I've added in the Royal Burgundy Beans which are almost as tall as the others. 

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Royal Burgundy Beans

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BEFORE...The 4 zucchini and cantaloupe were growing well.

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AFTER...They already have 3 new sets of leaves and even the onion I planted for fun has established itself.

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BEFORE.....This is the sunflower, cucumber and marigold bed on 5/19

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AFTER....this is it today 5/25

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BEFORE....zinnias and sunflowers in the worst of the garden soil. 

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AFTER....I cant believe how well they are doing growing almost in complete sand.

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BEFORE...Damn peppers havent given me ONE this season! here they are newly planted in the grow boxes.

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AFTER...You cant see it in this pic but I might actually be getting a pepper soon since they look like they are going to flower. They better!

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I realize there are a few things I haven't taken pics of in the garden lately. This is my spinach grow box. Before the rain the spinach was dead, the squash was newly planted and the onions were not to be seen. Now these bad boys are looking healthy and great. 

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Right before I left I replanted the tomatoes because they were taking over their little pots. Already they are out-growing the NEW pots I put them in. Maybe they will survive the summer to flower in the fall but I doubt it. 

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Bradley and Beefsteak bushes almost taller than the wall!

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As for the rest of the garden I pulled out the Winter squash and the last of the lettuce and have treated the soil to add in some new plants. I think I am going to start doing some square foot gardening techniques there since that is the only method I haven't tried yet. Ill have to move a few other things around though in the mean time. I also cut back the flat leaf parsley.

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This is my Patio hybrid tomato plant. It has 24 tomatoes on it and has already given me a few. The rain has caused some of the tomatoes to start splitting though as you can see in this picture.

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The strawberries are still producing well and they will produce year round here in FL. I am thinking of making them a big special pot soon. 

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These are my herbs and marigolds in pots. They look great from the rain. I must have 50 basil babies though - and I am not sure what to do with them.

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The trays of peppers have exploded! I don't know what to do with these bad boys anymore either. 

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UPDATE!

I planted a rotting onion from my kitchen in the ground which has continued to grow green onion chives. The onion was so rotted it was squishy. Today the top of the plant had turned brown so I dug it up figuring it had totally rotted from the rain only to discover it had turned into 4 baby onions. I am so proud!

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