Update: June 2014

Garden is finally in good shape (I think) for the year.

It was a late spring.  There I was, planting a tomato, eggplant, pepper and two basil plants in May simply because it was, well, May.  But the temperatures were still April-ish.  I think the Genovese basil and Early Girl tomato will be fine, despite stunted growth.  The Thai basil, pepper and eggplant look pretty pathetic.  I've got plenty of dried Thai basil, so I'll probably just get another eggplant.  Also a few peppers.

But on the bright side ...

Strawberries were a first this year, and they were successful (and delicious).  Black raspberries are looking awesome, and red are producing, yet have brownish leaves.  Corn is up, beans just planted today, as well as okra and a muskmelon experiment.  As of this hour, the garden is officially weed-free.  Tomorrow that won't be the case, but that's ok.  My little plot is looking pretty nice, neat and fertile.  A neighbor gifted me several tomato varieties I hadn't heard of, and they're now planted and caged.

I made a makeshift deer fence on a small budget.  So far it has worked, even though it looks just as flimsy as it actually is.  I've been eating strawberries and red raspberries, so that's already an improvement over last year.  Wish I'd thought to bring my camera, but today was all about getting caught up!

and we're back ...

Sorry for the absence, folks.

Today is significant in the annals of the 2010 garden since I stopped by this morning and gathered all the ingredients for my lunch salad today (red & green lettuce, spinach, dill, cilantro, parsley and oregano).

But things have been moving along in the meantime. I planted six batches of corn and they're starting to come up. I'll follow with some beans either next week or two weeks from now.

I sounded all smug when I said something like "I don't think it will freeze again after April 15." I was barely right. Last week it got damn cold and nearly had frost at night. The tomatoes and eggplants I had carefully grown indoors the last few months? When I came by on Sunday, it looked like they were all goners. I sheepishly made my way to the farmer's market to buy replacements.

"Don't water them!" my garden neighbor (not the mean one) warned me, when I told him what had happened. He was right. After a warm week, I think two out of the four plants might make it. The other two are barely clinging to life, but perhaps there's a chance.

Anyone out there want any dill or mint plants? They're coming up wild. I can even give you a volunteer raspberry plant since I noticed Ed's not just expanding, but apparently spawning as well.