Digs, I think we have similar winter weather. My mint has been outside in the cold for at least 3 cold winters, snow and all, and it's come back abundantly every year. I'm not sure what mint I have, but I'm guessing it's probably spearmint or something related.
I just take them when I need them, but I don't know how to dry them. That would be useful to know, in case I don't get to use it all up in time.

I think I have found an indirect answer to a problem of mine, reading through this thread and what you guys mentioned about pruning. Only one of my tomatoes has actually started having fruit. The ones in the raised bed and the ground I can give time to, but the container one, which looks like a bush at this point... I would think that it should have some small fruit at this point.
The only question is..... how do I prune? I don't want to just lop off a bunch of branches.

Starkat, regarding my ant problem, the red chilli powder is working! I've been sprinkling it by the plants, and I'm seeing less and less ants every day. Thanks so much!

Here are some current pictures:

Eggplant. They are looking a lot happier, much to my relief.

Okra. I'm wondering if this one will grow. This is the only plant that looks healthy.

My raised bed.

My first tomatoes!!! They're on the tomato plant that is in the ground... I really wasn't expecting that patch that I tilled to be as successful as it is currently being.

Here is my container plant.

Basil. It's growing really nicely for me this year.

Watermelon. I don't have huge hopes for this one, but I had the seeds and the space, so I figured I'd try it. I don't want the fruit on the ground, so I'm going to try the method of letting the plant grow vertically and then putting the growing fruit in hammocks (mostly by using trellises/cages).

I love mint to no bounds - I just ripped off one plant without a root and put it in potting soil, and it grew and multiplied.

My pepper plants. Not really thriving, but looking alright.

My zucchini plant is doing exceptionally well, too. ^_^

Oh, and I got a rather old gardening book... The publication date says 1907, and the build of the book is rather old. Some information is a little outdated or incomplete (like "Regarding growing zucchinni: It is such a prolific gardening plant that it would be worthless explaining how to grow it, since everybody knows." I don't.... ), but it has some really valuable information. There are some fascinating sketches on how to build a greenhouse adjoining your house, how to heat it, etc. I'm enjoying it.

I just take them when I need them, but I don't know how to dry them. That would be useful to know, in case I don't get to use it all up in time.

Drying is easy enough. We've dried beans and peppers before. Basically what we do when we want to dry something is take a needle and thread, and just sew the plants up on the line. They'll dry out over weeks to months.

Okra. I'm wondering if this one will grow. This is the only plant that looks healthy.

Okra is weird. It LOVES the insane heat. My okra did pathetic in May and June, but when the 90 degree temps of July and August came around, you could almost watch it grow. It literally grew three feet tall in less than ten days

I don't want the fruit on the ground, so I'm going to try the method of letting the plant grow vertically and then putting the growing fruit in hammocks (mostly by using trellises/cages).

Wow! I've never heard of that before. I must see pictures when/if it comes to fruition (pun intended )

All of your pictures are lovely, Bella!

Thank-you, Digs!! ^^

Thanks for the drying tips... Wow, beans, too? I'll have to try that out this year.

Ah, okay - you have given me hope for my okra plants. I have two surviving ones at the moment, as the ants kind of destroyed the others. It's been a chilly start of July, but I hope for some decent (but not too hot!) temperatures to help my Okra out.

Haha, I'll get pictures for sure! I had seen the concept either online or in Totally Tomatoes. The mental image of Watermelon in hammocks like little babies cracks me up a bit...

So... I pruned my tomatoes. I was a bit overzealous with the container tomato. :S Like to the point that the contrast between the "before" and "after" picturs makes me shudder a bit. But underneath the jungle of branches, I actually found one small tomato. I felt bad cutting all those branches off, so I took some hopeful-looking ones and put them in water to get more plants. Hopefully the poor things survives.

Thanks for the drying tips... Wow, beans, too? I'll have to try that out this year.

Yeah, beans dry out really well. And once they're dried, all you have to do is reconstitute them within a year, and voila, they taste just fine (Or, you can harvest the beans and use them as seeds next year)

Determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Well, there ya' go, learned something new. Thanks, fk!

Hurrah for the red chili powder working, Bella! And I love your nice, green and growing plant photos.

I don't want the fruit on the ground, so I'm going to try the method of letting the plant grow vertically and then putting the growing fruit in hammocks (mostly by using trellises/cages).

Wow, I have never heard of this before. *dittos DiGs' request for photos when that time comes*

The mental image of Watermelon in hammocks like little babies cracks me up a bit...

Yep, indeed.

*wishes Bella's tomatoes good post-pruning recovery*

I think I mentioned on the other page that my own tomato plants were not managing as well as I would have liked ... until the past few days when they seem to be doing better. Nowhere near full and burgeoning, but at least healthy-looking, and need to fill in more yet.

A puzzle for my rosebush: it was flourishing, when just the other day we noticed that most of the leaves had disappeared , even though the buds are still blooming. Weird. None of the other plants in that garden are having issues. Now I'm wondering if Mr. or Mrs. Bunny and family have been chowing down the leaves. Not sure if rose leaves are a fare of rabbits or not. My other rose bush is fine.

Bella, I've heard of hanging watermelons (and other similar fruit and vegetables). though I never bothered with it myself because the only watermelons I've grown in the past could weigh so much, I didn't want to bother setting up a structure strong enough to hold them.
For those asking, it's to prevent yellowing and bugs.

Time for gardening news!
~Got my first tomatoes off my plants yesterday. Yum!
~I think some peppers are ready to pick too, but I haven't yet as I'm not sure what to do with them.
~I dug my shallots yesterday, they were small because we planted them in the spring instead of last fall, but we roasted a few of them over the grill last night and they were quite tasty! I've never had shallots before.
~My onions are also big enough to be usable.
~One of my husband's coworkers gave us an awesome strawberry plant last year and for the first time in my life I'm getting some good sized strawberries off of it all through summer. Not only that, it's making lots of baby strawberry plants soooo... I'm making room for it.

I caught the rose-plant eater in the act ... a rabbit! The bush is now stripped clean of leaves, but is still blooming nicely. Thing is, he/she has not touched the other two rose bushes.

It was fun reading your newsy update, fantasia. A shallot is a type of onion, isn't it? And about your strawberries! I may have mentioned that we used to have a nice row of ever-bearing raspberries years ago, and enjoyed some harvest from them, but it got to the point where the birds were getting the majority long before we got out to pick them, and the plants started getting rather spindly, so we removed them. I'd love to have a large patch again someday.

We ate our first two cherry tomatoes the other day and wowowowowowowwow! Yeah. So tasty! The other three plants continue to grow (Jet Star, Grape, and Brandywine), but are not as big as they should be at this time of year. Still, I think we can expect a great harvest in August and early fall, woohoo! Bacon & garden tomato sandwiches = ♥.

Our green bell peppers are growing nicely. The other day when one of our sons was cooking himself up something on the stove and absentmindedly asked if we had any peppers in the fridge, I told him to go check the garden. He came back in with a big grin on his face, holding in his hand our first pepper, and quipped "why on earth do we have grocery stores when there are these beauties available at our fingertips?"

Now, a question: I have not grown red bell peppers until this year. The fruit is coming along well, but is currently green. I'm hoping they will turn red soon enough. Are they green before they're red? Or maybe the wrong label was on the baby plant when I purchased it.

There are lots of blossoms on the beans and peas. The corn looks so pretty in the garden, waving with any breeze that happens along. I love the look of a cornfield (or a few corn rows, in our case ). The cucumber plants, which seemed to have a few issues at first, seem to be doing okay now. No wee cucs yet, though.

The annuals and perennials look so very pretty, particularly on grey days, of which we have had many lately. The daisies, especially, are opening up and looking exceedingly cheery.

Ahhh, gardening!

Now, a question: I have not grown red bell peppers until this year. The fruit is coming along well, but is currently green. I'm hoping they will turn red soon enough. Are they green before they're red?

I have ALWAYS had this problem too. I'd buy red peppers, which just turned out a little bit darker than a green pepper, and yellow peppers, which just turned out a little bit lighter than green peppers.

I never could figure out what I was doing wrong.

All peppers start off green and then change colors as they ripen. Even green peppers will turn red if left on the plant too long.

Last Thursday I booted myself outside to pick as many veggies as I possibly could before the rain came. (Excess water will burst tomatoes if they're left on the vine.) Apparently I was not paying close attention to how many ripe tomatoes and peppers I had out there... holy moly. I made a mistake not taking a picture of everything I brought in, because I think it was a new record for my backyard garden. It certainly was in terms of peppers. I had more than I knew what to do with.

In a panic, I posted a "come by and get free tomatoes and peppers" plea on FB because I knew there was NO. WAY. I would get them all used up before they'd go bad, and I had five takers. Between that and the two batches of salsa I made yesterday, I still have a table full of tomatoes and peppers. But the piles are much smaller and much more manageable. There is a possibility I might get them used up before they go bad.

Not to complain at all about all of this. I'm just so thrilled to actually be getting some mild peppers this year. The past two years it's been so hot and dry that I really haven't had much luck, but this year I am.

Oh, and I am happy to report this year my jalapenos are HOT!! Just about roasted myself trying one. (They'd been really mild the past few years I've tried them.)

All peppers start off green and then change colors as they ripen. Even green peppers will turn red if left on the plant too long.

Good to know, although my supposedly red peppers have not begun to turn red yet; they're just hanging from the plant, enjoying life, as green as all get out. And that's been a couple of weeks already. Still wondering if this plant might have been "incorrectly labeled".

fantasia, your garden sounds amazing! What wonderful produce you are enjoying.

In other news, our beans are in full swing now, both yellow and green (I used some in a casserole for tonight, mmmm); our peas have started producing in a big way, which we're munching right off the plant to our hearts' content; the grape and cherry tomato plants have dozens of green balls on them ... at this point a few turn red every day, but I know they will reach the point where we can hardly keep up with the ripe ones. Ooooh, so tasty! The corn cobs are growing nicely with their silk beginning to turn a maroon colour. Cucs from the garden are regular fare now, yum! Love when the harvest begins, and it should be going for weeks yet!

Perennials and annuals are all doing well, so bright and cheery, thanks to the abundance of rain we have received this summer.

Bella and DiGs, how doth your gardens grow?

My parents live in an apartment and are no longer able to garden, so during my visit this weekend we settled for a visit to the local farmers' market. Such a nice variety of produce this year! The cucumbers and sweet corn are especially tasty.

Ahhh, love local farmers' markets! I go to ours with my list ... then usually end up spending more than I mean to. How can anyone resist that awesome local produce?

I've been thinking when my love of gardening began. Certainly, when I was growing up, my parents always had a large garden, which we kids would tend and weed and harvest, but it was not until I had my own place that I really fell in love with seeds and tiny plants and good, clean earth, and, yes, even weeding. When my children were young, it was great for them to learn to plant and care for a garden, but now that they have grown and are not around home as much, I am reveling in my own time there, and am starting to delve into areas I have not before this, such as perennials. Just being outside and working with the plants in the rich earth is so revitalizing and rewarding.

Something I have begun is to put into the gardens any plant I am given. I wait for it to nearly expire indoors, then place it in that brown earth and see what happens. Most have flourished; some have done so-so, but the coolest thing is to see a limp, dying plant rejuvenate again once out-of-doors.

I enjoyed reading about your gardens, fantasia and jo! Fantasia, that's fantastic about your garden!!

And, likewise, Jo! Your garden harvests sound delicious. I want to try beans next year! I bet sun-ripened beans fresh from the garden taste heavenly.

There are a handful of farmer's markets in my proximity. I wish we went more often, as I've always loved it there when we went. We couldn't stop gushing over the unbelievably fresh and wholesome zucchini, the unspeckled cauliflower, the sweet peaches.... I really need to stop by this year!

Bella and DiGs, how doth your gardens grow?

My garden is doing pretty good, thank-you! I have so far gotten one ripe tomato, as well as plenty of basil and mint.

My tomatoes are doing..... well, interestingly. I'm not sure if it was space or pruning that affected how much fruit they had. I'm not really disappointed, as one tomato this year is better than none last year... But it's not as much as I had thought it would be. They are taking their sweet time ripening, though.

My basil has just taken off. I'm going to have to take time to dry it one day if I don't want to lose it!

My peppers are doing beautifully. They are not as big as I expected, but the yield is great and the fruit is lovely. I think it was that heat wave that gave them the push they needed.

The okra is... okay. I see one okra growing on a plant. On the plant that is doing better, there are some more signs of coming fruit. I hope we get enough to make it once, at least. On my better plant, the leaves are so soft - they feel like my kitty's ears. I need to check what variety it is... but it was certainly nice to feel that after being pricked by the zuchinni plant. [/ramble] Digs, you were right! Once our heat wave came, the thing grew three more feet!

Aaaand, my watermelon!! Again, like almost everything else in the garden, the yield is not that good. However, there are two plummy watermelons growing! I put them in the hammocks and everything (pictures will be coming....). They are so adorable and cute, and they're just growing every day and adfjkajfk ... I'd better stop. I'm not sure why I don't have more on the plant, because there was certainly no shortage of flowers. I am thinking that it is primarily limited space and inadequate soil, but, you know, the flowers bloom and then turn into dry crisps. Only one or two turn into watermelons, and sometimes those do not grow/dry out/look yellowed. Can't figure out what's up with that. But the two are looking nice and healthy, so I'm satisfied!