Last night's Pasta Primavera with fresh zucchini and squash and a homemade marinara made from our homegrown tomatoes was... how do you say - DIVINE. I love yellow squash it was oh-so-buttery. Man, watering all those days has paid off into some yummy veggies. This is my first time dedicating myself to a vegetable garden so I'm extra excited.
We are having a heat wave in NYC right now. It's already 92 F outside and will get up to 94 ("but with the humidity it will feel like 103"). Ugh. I HATE heat and humidity like this. However, I am glad to see the sun and have my plants performing photosynthesis like it's their job.
Portulaca is a great succulent plant (aka "moss rose"), it is blooming like crazy now. I planted them in really sunny places on our terrace that will get sun most of the day. I highly recommend it if you have dry, rocky soil and want a bloomer without too much effort.
I bought some cone flowers yesterday and potted them along with some bushy little yellow flowers of which I can't remember the name right now. I am heading towards an English garden look on the terrace. I love love love my lavender. (I am partial to French lavender rather than English.) Last year's lavender is blooming like crazy this year! The one I bought this year looks great, but I know it won't bloom until next year. I love the breezy, airy flowers - it makes me feel like I'm in a field in the English countryside relaxing... and then I look over the side and remember I'm in Brooklyn.
Our hot peppers are finally appearing, although no sign yet of the habaneros they have grown a lot as plants and I expect to see them soon. We have yellow bell peppers and tons of different kinds of tomatoes. All the herbs are doing well - I cannot, for the life of me, keep cilantro going. I have tried twice and I give up. Curry, parsley, tarragon, chives, rosemary, chocolate mint (dear god, if you don't have it yet go get it now), sage, thyme, oregano... all of these are flourishing.
The challenge in weather like this is keeping up the water so they don't dry out and die. I'm having a lot of trouble with my cucumbers which I attribute to planting them in a too small pot. I will try transplanting to a larger one soon I think to see if I can rehabilitate the ones I have.
I have learned do not plant more than one zucchini or squash plant in a large pot. They will grow and produce much better when have tons of room to take over.
The peony plants are doing well but will not bloom until next year.
I am about to start composting (well, I have a full composter on my kitchen counter) and using that as fertilizer rather than the Miraclegro.
I think that's all for now. Any suggestions or comments are welcome!
Any thoughts on growing beets in containers? My thought is they are not worth the effort - you only get one beet per plant, right? And they are not super expensive.
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