Garden Journal Wrap Up Post for July!

Well, well, well! Here we are at the Garden Journal Wrap up for July, and what a turn out we had! I must admit I had little idea what I was in for when I agreed to do this wrap up post; there were far more entries than I had expected there to be!

I see passion in every single one of your gardens. Who would be out there in the sun, slaving away day after day, then coming back inside to toil away at a computer to fashion a post, unless they were passionate about gardening? I know that you experience moments of bliss and wonder as you search your squash vines for the first tiny squash, or spy a ripening banana. You have moments of ruthlessness when you murder your first Japanese beetle, crush a slug, or rip out a plant that doesn’t quite please you. You all love serving your home grown foodstuffs to those you love. If you’re like me, and I know most of you are, you have onslaughts of FEELINGS while you are in your gardens. I know you find a lot of surprises there.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I'm the one giving out the prizes here. I had to evaluate whether or not your post was worthy of consideration for a prize, which has left me a bit judgy. I would like to take a moment to let you know what I value in a post.

The posts I find interesting are those that explore feelings and surprises, show losses and failures to us with humor, and display the gardener's lessons and innate understandings - posts that delve not only into the soil, but also into the soul. I don't want to see umpteem photos of the same thing over and over again, especially selfies! Some of us might remember that there used to be a limit of ten photos per post for this challenge. That was hard to accomplish, but it made for a more enjoyable post because the reader didn't have to spend a lot of time scrolling through photos. In addtion, the author had to be more selective, give more thought to what they would publish, and perhaps produce a more interesting post.

Because I hoped to read and upvote every single entry, I'm afraid I had to set some sound criteria for a post to be considered an entry, or I would still be reading them all. So, if your post was published after the deadline, did not use the tag #gardenjournal, or did not mention that your post was an entry, it will not appear in this wrap up.

In future, please remember to use the tag #gardenjournal as your first tag, which would make producing this wrap up post a tad easier; if I am to do this wrap up again, I'll be strict on that tag being first. It would also be very helpful if you would limit the number of photos you provide, or find some way to show them in groups.

Enough of my critique!

Let's move on to those entries folks. These are listed in the order I read them, not the order they were published, nor does the order show any of my preferences. I wish I could say more about these, but time simply does not allow for that - there were forty three entries!

The Wrap Up

@thebigsweed showed us quite the compendium of his and @farm-mom's fabulous homestead.

@fotostef has a productive balconyshowing us that even a tiny space can produce food

@bigorna1 had a bit of sun radiation damage to show us.

@erikah is nearly afloat in wonderful fruits!

@salsayumna, a fairly new hivean, has a large aeroponic garden teeming with lovely greens

@scribblingramma had her travails, but in the end alive is good!

@jude9 has TWO ACRES of cabbages and carrots!

@nikolina's first round of cabbage is in, and ferments are to come.

@multifacetas showed off an impressive collection of succulents and house plants

@maytom shared how they are experimenting with growing chilis in a small space using water bottles.

Our fearless leader @riverflows brought us poetry, nettles and a turmeric triumph

@goldenoakfarm shows us that even the best gardeners lose plants, but not hope for a year it all comes together

@bengy is getting his new garden in Australia underway

@soelthan sure has a lot of fruit to show us!

@bigeyes2012 has a small but productive vegetable garden that produces a bit of income as well as food for her and her husband

@uhighboy brings Asia to life for us with his post about fruit trees

@jenthoughts make a belated trip to tend their lush garden plot with happy children in tow

@isdarmady showed us a hydroponic extravaganza

@ivycrafts is learning quite a bit about gardening in her rural engineering college program.

@umirais took us through remedies for diseased mango trees in her informative post

@farm-mom's lovely roses saw some losses this year, but everything else is thriving

@mojiko-blog's first post in this community showed a beautiful blue flower that I would love to know more about

@tayoo, another new member, showed us her lavish and large flower garden

@munos showed us his papayas

@libra.gardener showed us 'winter gardening in Argentina

@tahastories1 post is full of sunflowers and selfies

@blanca56 shows what a single leaf can do

@mairene1 got her first garlic

@sanjeevm showed us a jackfruit from a tree that took seventeen years to produce

@selflessgem teaches children how to grow foods in the Philippines

@cosmictriage had a very good year for strawberries in the laughing dragon garden

@mrprofessor has interesting thoughts on compost and fence posts for us, and bananas galore

@tomaspalomo posted reflections on life, inspired by a flower

@travoved showed us his sunny and very productive garden

@ruba99 has ornamental cactus plants to show off

@danlop was tending onions and flowers for this month's entry

@uhighboy has a chocolate tree for us this month, among other trees

@alborhada makes fertilizer from coffee grounds and tomato water

@rafi22 showed us several shots of a wild flower

@coquicoin has a lucky cat and a lovely balcony garden

@plantstoplanks came back from a few days away to find her garden thriving

Whew! Now that I have put all this together, I see from my notes that I must have missed a post on growing taro, and another on eggplants grown in bags. My apologies to anyone I missed! Let me know, and I will add you to this post.

The Winners

It's time for the prizes! I'm not sure who will be sending these prizes, or when, but they're coming!

@goldenoakfarm gets the passion prize this month. I was struck by her statement "I live in hope that there will be one year when it all comes together." Her dedication to her gardens is stupendous. This month, we learn that even the best gardeners can have lots of losses. I find this very comforting!

@thebigsweed is the veggie garden prize winner this month. He is certainly going all out for his veggies, and is getting spectacular results!

@umirais gets the photo prize, hands down, don't you agree? This is a photo of a fire set at the base of a mango tree to treat it for disease

Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge this month. You all rock!

Happy Gardening!

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