#July Garden

They are tired. 

Worn out. 

Depleted.

And hot.

Like, really HOT.

The gardens, I mean. 

When the weather forecast says 90-something, feels like 100-something, you know it is past time to retire any struggling plants.

I've dug up most and they are keeping company in the composter. This morning though I spotted a baby cantaloupe, so fingers crossed!

 

Otherwise, it is time to start giving everything a rest and let the torrential downpours of the rainy season wash all the growing areas clean.

There are bush beans still with flowers and tiny green beans. I don't think they will be able to mature but I'll leave them for a bit and see what happens. Right beside them is a big Jalapeno plant that is producing like crazy. Hubs made poppers last night and I just about couldn't eat them- serious heat there. 

Today was a rainy day with not much sunshine. Guess that doesn't make for great photos but when the muse strikes. . . .

The two Lockspur plants that grace the steps to the dock have also grown heat-tired. They are going to be a bear to get out of their containers as they've got to be totally root-bound.

Today I bought these two Curcuma Ginger plants as the Lockspur successors. I think a couple weeks of living in some freshly composted soil will make them robust with color. 

I found this Coleus arrangement that I'm going to repot and place in the center of the deck table.

Ouch- I just remembered I broke my rule of 'no more plantings until September' - found this cucumber bush that was just begging for a home. It will live near the cantaloupe and we'll see what happens.

I think that's about it! We have corn that produced a few ears that haven't matured so those will go this week. There are still two burlap bags of potatoes. It will be interesting to see how they do in the heat.

Even though we've gone completely "raised beds" now which means using bagged soil, in my mind, I still feel like this is the time to give the Earth a rest. And I'll have one for myself, too!