Finally .... some GOOD news!

I bought the little selection above after despairing that anything was going to grow in my garden. This was during the depths of this last round of ridiculous weather, wind storms mostly. I added several herbs - basil, rosemary, oregano and chamomile. All of it smells AMAZING when I touch or water it. Yum! More herbs will definitely be making an appearance.

From my reading and internet research the basil and rosemary in particular should be very well suited for this insane heat. When I first planted it, I was watering it to death, thankfully I realized it in time and it is now thriving happily in a pot all by itself.

I highly recommend before starting a garden that you research what you are going to have in it ahead of time. I was so excited that I just went to the store and bought what I wanted to eat not thinking at all about the suitability of said yummy things. This is where alot of my current headaches are coming from.

I also am not the most patient person at all times. This is something I am trying to remind myself of, just like as I am learning to draw better because I am slowing down, so too must I sloooooow down when it comes to the garden. Things will grow but fidgeting isn't going to make that happy any quicker...

My little acorn squash plant that I thought had taken it's last stab at life is reviving. Reviving in a big way. I had incorrectly assumed that some things in the garden were not doing well just because they were in my care. (This really was a logical thought, but incorrect.) I was lamenting the state of many things the other day when my mom wandered by and asked what had been eating my garden. EATING it?!? So, it wasn't me!?! Excellent!

Off to the garage I went where I had already purchased some dust by Sevin for just such an occassion. The most blatant victim was the swiss chard, which I had been convinced was going to do well and just wasn't. I had concluded that this insane weather was just beating the tar out of everything, but once my mom mentioned something was munching on it, I did notice that the holes I had seen were a little more symmetrical as is munchie-shaped that I had previously thought.

I also noticed an ant hill. Not just the little tiny swarmy black ones which make me itch just to look at. No, this was the big, fat, red stingy variety. I'm not sure what they are called. I heard fire ants, army ants. All I know is that my bottle said it would take care of ants and I wanted them OFF the swiss chard.

We also applied some ant poison that my dad had, but that dust... they writhed in agony once I hit them with it! I know I should delight so in the torture of little critters and normally I am fairly sensitive to it. But, these little buggers were eating my garden! Down with the nasties!

I am going to take some more pictures tomorrow so you can see how the peas are growing! So great to see! I will have to add taller stakes soon so they can grow upwards more.

I just added fertilizer today, some fish emulsion that my mom used last year on the tomatoes. **Fingers crossed that it makes things happy!**