The shock and horror on my horticultural supervisor's face when I admitted I didn't like pulling out weeds was surprising. She claimed it was satisfying to see it clean at the end. Forgive me for wanting all the fruit without any of the labor involved.
While I'd love to build a grotto and live out there, dedicating my heart and soul into the garden all day long, sometimes we just have other life things that get in the way. That's why I mulch. That's why I love when it rains. Behind that wild rosebush cave is a tomato forest growing a berm I built from compost scraps, straw, and a medium sized log that's slowly decaying. The big beefsteak tomatoes might be ready today, I haven't checked yet. Every time I do check, I find lots of cherry tomatoes. The soil and conditions are much better back there so they did better than the ones along the fence.
This is back when the domestic roses were in full bloom and before the sunflowers took over. You can also see the mullein in the bottom right barely starting to poke out its inflorescence. It is a common weed but I wanted to give the pollinators a chance to enjoy its many tiny flowers.
Behold! It even grew multiple flower spikes. In the wild, the would only have one and the entire plant is a quarter the size. They are considered invasive, but they do not have an invasive growth habit. I think they might some day be considered naturalized like the dandelion. I've seen caterpillars feast on them at times. This one has been growing here for 2 years. They are biennial, flowering in the second year. I don't want more of these, so I will mow them down but it was a nice novelty.
Early on, there was a nice balance of blossoms and foliage around the old maple stump.
For a brief period, these beauties took up the limelight there.
I planted all of these, but I'll admit I don't know all their names. Especially when some come and go from season to season. I do know the purple coneflower, though. They are beginning to be taken over by sunflowers.
The poppies were late to this photoshoot.
Goji berry production was heavy and early this year. Even the young plant produced a handful of berries for the first time. You can see some beans in the background. They must be culled otherwise they will seriously compete with the goji plant. One year, I let some Cherokee Trail of Tears beans vine up the goji bush thinking it could benefit from the upright support while not shading out the plant. I was wrong. Somehow the bean plant was killing my goji bush because all the leaves were falling off. These big plants may not need much in the way of fertilizer but they are somewhat delicate. Their tender growing tips will easily snap off too if people just brush by them like animals. Speaking of animal, I need to remember to bake a goji berry pie next year. My sister and I baked a Dutch Rhubarb pie last year. It did very well this year, too, so maybe we can do that again.
With everything going on, everywhere, all at once, I completely forgot about my indoor worm bins for months. This is pure scat. Or should I say "gold"? All that's left are the toughest materials. You know, like avocado peels.
It's no wonder all the worms are at the top! It's a toxic wasteland down there. Well, maybe for them. It just smells like sweet, wet dirt to me. There was an animal skull I had found that I left in here but all that's left were its teeth. Oh, well. I can't blame them for needing accessible calcium. Unfortunately, the eggshell needs to be broken down on the microscopic level so, ideally, it should be ground up. There are still plenty of springtails in both bins, which is a good sign.
In other news, my mom got me a new Tillandsia air plant! It is the tallest one in the terra cotta pot. I do not know what species it is yet. There are many look-alikes and close relatives so I just like to wait until they bloom. They are all do for a rainwater soak today for a few hours and there has been plenty of rain. There is much to do today. I might top off the apple tree with worm castings in the bare spot from a stone I removed when I cut the grass. I will also be adding rotten strawberries and banana peels to the bins. I've been saving some peanut shells for something special; I guess this is it.
So, who wins?
Cherry tomato vs Beefsteak tomato
