How Does Your Garden Grow? Part II

When garden planting time rolled around this year we did so very conservatively, keeping in mind we planned on moving this summer. This way there will be less to clear away when we leave. This is my favorite time of year, and one of my favorite things to do is to fill up the garden and flower beds with beautiful green growing things. I'm having withdrawals.

We've had so much rain lately that weeds are popping up like...well, weeds. The garden barely starts to dry out before it rains again. I wasn't able to get out there to weed for a long time. Last week I finally completed the task, and found that many of the "weeds" are volunteer poppies, tomatoes, and one solitary sunflower. I left them wherever they were if not smothering rows. There were hundreds of them, and more pop up every day.

The original tomatoes and peppers were sadly all killed off by a hard frost we had a few weeks ago, but have been replanted. All but one plant are oddly short, but are full of blossoms and little tomatoes have set on.

Other than that all we planted were onions, radishes, kohlrabi, and peas. All can be harvested fairly early in case we leave.

Three weeks ago

Last week.... From left, kohlrabi, peas, volunteer plants, and onions. Both rows of radishes have been pulled already on the far right. Caged tomatoes and the one pepper plant are on the far end.

Today

My flower bed west of the house is filling up with thistles and nightshade, so I need to get a shovel out and do some damage there. I have to admit, I've been tempted to give Eli the go-ahead to mow it all off. My poppies have bloomed gloriously already and are now bare stalks with the knobs of their seed pods bobbing humorously in the breeze...or under the weight of rain drops, more appropriately.

The little bed by the deck that has been home to our cherry tomato plants for the past four years is a mess of volunteer tomato plants.

It's sad seeing all these spots grow wild and out of control. The money I usually spend on flowers is being saved for the new house. There are no pretty hanging baskets on the front porch; even my geraniums by the back door are still in their winter pots for easy removal (surrounded by even more volunteer poppies). The time I usually spend weeding and planting is being used to pack and patch and paint. I wander through greenhouses and garden centers aimlessly, just to smell. Maybe I should have planted a few things here and there anyway? Who knew that this house deal would take so long?

How Does Your Garden Grow?