Another gorgeous selfie from @owasco, happy in her garden. I can't believe she said she's getting sick of tomatoes - crazy! Her Hungarian Heart tomatoes look lovely, and don't you just love the name? What's your favourite tomato variety? We have ones here called 'Mortgage Lifters' as a guy paid off his mortgage selling this variety (at least I think that's how the story goes). @owasco also has found good use for some garden trellises, and has learnt valuable lessons about giving each plant the space it needs to grow.

Just when you thought @plantstoplanks had stopped getting delight out of the Zucchino Rampicante, she hits us with another silly selfie with this rather phallic and Dr Seussian vegetable. She's been battling bugs and heat, but still, there's a lot of joy to be had in the garden regardless, and things to harvest too. I can't believe you guys are looking down the barrel of autumn whilst I'm toeing for Spring!

@amberyooper's garden shows just how lush the American gardens are at this time of year. I particularly loved the yellow zucchini, the sunflower planted by the backdoor, and the marigolds. Everything is looking so abundant and lovely. He really does have a green thumb!

@babelfish detailed a friends hydroponic farm and her new passion for hydroponics. Certainly a different approach to more traditional gardening, but no less valid. I always think it appears to the more scientific amongst us gardeners, as getting the fertiliser or nutrients just right must be challenging! Thanks for sharing, @babelfish!

@trangtranbaby wrote a beautiful homage to her gardening obsession which I just have to share, as it's so lovely:

I have a little balcony, enough for me to turn them into a little garden of my own. I planted a few vegetables, a few rose trees, and the motivation to wake up every morning of my little garden. To me, they're fascinating. I used to go to the balcony every morning or afternoon and water the plants and watch them grow, and I was fascinated by seeing them grow every day, every leaf, every sprout that they were budding, which I got very excited about. Sometimes the rainy days, I can see them gently through the door, watching them dance and sway in the rain like a vivid picture. Not only did my garden make my house greener, more beautiful, but it also gave me great meaning to life, looking after bunches of trees and bushes every day. Spending a certain amount of time each day weeding out the weeds, pruning the leaves, catching the worms, and breeding them in part helps me to develop carefully, caring, and meticulous qualities. It slows my pace of life and realizes that life sometimes doesn't have to be rushed to be happy. Gardening can bring us closer to nature, to love every single bush, every single flower of grass, so that we can share this love for life.

I agree - gardening DOES bring a kind of meaning to our lives, and I've been thinking about that same thing a lot lately!

If you're a pumpkin fan, you ABSOLUTELY have to read this post by @proto26 - I love it! The crazy pumpkins, the selfies, the DETAIL he goes to in this post - here is a man who genuinely LOVES getting dirt under his nails!

@goldenoakfarm, the guru gardener of HIVE we all love and admire for her hard work and incredible garden knowledge, shared her abundant garden full of herbs, flowers and all kinds of things. If there's one garden I would love to help out in one day, it's hers!

Great to see a post from sponsor @shanibeer in the UK. She includes a few tempting ideas to use spinach, including cornish pasties and sag paneer. It's always nice to see recipes in gardening posts. Speaking of which, check out @kennyroy's recipe for acharya, a green papaya pickle!!!

@nikv is battling the elements in their post, but look at the beautiful flowers on this Euphorbia schinzii, a winter-flowering succulent that is 'traditionally planted on graves in my country and our true death toll is coming close a quarter of a million'. Much love and stay safe, @nikv!

New to the #gardenjournal challenge, @chacald.dcymt wrote about growing in a small space. It's quite amazing what can be done if there's no soil or garden to speak of! I also love how gardeners make do with plastic bottles as propagating pots - a cheap and readily available resource. And don't you love her cute labels? @kawsar8035 is also new to the challenge and shared some interesting varieties of fruits and vegetables I've never seen before. @raymadesi is also a newbie to this challenge and joins the selfie gardeners wall - check it out at the bottom of this post!

Sadly, @anafae is leaving the property she's been living on to move into her van, so this post might be the last garden journal post we'll see of hers! Over to barns, hay, and basil for @farm-mom's post - it's pesto-a-rama over that way! I've just planted two trays of seeds - here's hoping I can compete when my basil time comes.

Don't you love this ground view shot of nettles and chickens? @buckaroobaby shied away from a selfie, but tried a hand selfie with yummy homemade icecream. Whilst it's still kinda winter there, there's still a lot of tidying up and work to do on the Buckaroo homestead. Like Bucks, I've also had tons of lemons - though, lemon marmalade? That's a new one on me! And snow peas - I can just taste them, crisp and cruncy. I think Europeans call them mangetout, which I pronounce mangy-towt.

Goodness, I hope I didn't miss anyone this week - what a mission! Love catching up on everyone's gardens!!

Sponsors this week were @edprivat, @shanibeer, @simplymike, and me. Rewards of 5 HIVE each go to @proto21 (great selfies!), @anafae (we'll miss you!), @chacald.dcymt (great first #gardenjournal growing in a small space!) @kennyroy (for the great recipe), @trangtrangbaby (beautiful sentiments) and @amberyooper for always impressing with regular #gardenjournal updates.

But here's what you've really been waiting for - the #GardenJournal selfie wall! Include your selfie to be included. Next week we might even have a special selfie prize, what do you think? Sadly the only photo I could find was me with a beer in the artichoke patch from about five years ago, so I really must find a more presentable photo. And why does Ed appear twice?

See you all early August - and keep those #gardenjournal posts coming through the month. Signing off with a quote - and a gif as usual - and much love for all you HIVE garden folk!

“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.”
― Joel Salatin, Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

Don't forget, if you'd like a personalised #gardenjournal footer, simply send 100 LOTUS to @riverflows with a memo detailing what you'd like - ie. the image, perhaps your name on it somewhere etc. It's a nice way to connect us all in this virtual garden!

With Love,

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