My garden has been rather neglected, and I rely on help to do most of it now. I still enjoy taking photos of my flowers, but last week most of them perished in a 6 degree frost. The 'after' photos  are sad. Fortunately the green vegetables I planted in late summer are growing well, and are ready to eat.

The garden is coming along nicely. Most of the tomato and pepper plants are in the ground now, the potatoes (purple, russets, and sweet) are in the ground, bush beans, peas, squash, and pumpkins have all been planted too. Still have to get the zucchini seeds planted, they go in the last section of the garden this year.

Tomatillos came up all on their own again, so we didn't have to plant any of them. Although the siblings have had to thin the tomatillo plants several times because more keep coming up. It's kind of crazy how many tomatillo plants have come up. Definitely have to be careful where you plant them.  

The compost piles aren't quite done, too many tomato vines from last fall, so in the future we will be burning the tomato vines instead. Anyway I've got compost turning duty for the next couple of weeks and what fun it is. The good news is one of the three piles is finally hot and I think the second pile is close. I keep pulling the tomato vines out as I find them and I think I'm getting close to the bottom of bins and having all the big chunks of vines removed.  

SnowAngel

Hooray for compost! My bin needs moving to a new spot, and I'll then cover the old pile with plastic to 'cook' . Maybe it'll be usable in spring. 

The man who mows my lawn and trims edges has left the garden much nicer to look at. Glad to have my helpers getting it tidy for winter. 

I got one of those composting bins that's a tumbler two years ago for Christmas (2021), and I thought I'd be using it all the time.  I remember filling it with a load over the following summer but have not checked on it since. . . and I can only imagine what monstrosities are going on inside of it .  I think the main reason that it's use came to a halt was my doing most of my gardening at my house now rather than at my parents' house, and hauling compost does not sound like a particularly fragrant thing to do.

@digorykirke could you take it to your house? I mean, is it built in, or can it be carried away by truck? My flatmate had a metal tumbler one on legs, and when we moved house, she took it with her.

It could absolutely be taken over to my house.  I have the space for it.  I suppose it is just one of those things that one thinks of, but doesn't actually do.  I don't have too much produce waste to put in it at my place either as I do most of my actual cooking over at my parents house because they have a better stocked kitchen.

The potatoes and bush beans are looking great. We had some heat over the weekend and a bunch of the beans sprouted, I love watching for the first plants to appear. The tomatillos are still growing like weeds and putting out blossoms like crazy.

Oh my, my little brother pulled the very wet grass/straw/mature mix out of the chicken run on Tuesday, and WOW.   That mix needed a home fast, so I had to get a compost bin emptied yesterday. Our new very tiny Top Hat blueberry bushes got blessed with the fresh compost yesterday and hopefully between being in the ground and the compost they will grow well this summer.

Started the new bin of compost by layering paper/cardboard pieces and the mix from the chicken run and soaking the whole thing. So glad that's done. Now to finish the next two bins and get them in the garden.

And lastly we think we might have several blackberry bushes growing in the edge of the woods. We couldn't keep the ones we bought alive through the winter, but at least two, maybe as many as six, bushes are growing in the woods this year. Someone threw some moldy berries over there to get rid of them last summer, that's a lot cheaper and simpler than buying bushes. Now to keep them from being accidently lopped off.

SnowAngel

The tomatoes are coming along nicely, we've been mulching them with grass clippings and the plants look very healthy right now. I had the pleasure of trimming the suckers off of them last night, the mosquitoes were very pleased.  

On Friday, I weeded the potatoes and spread compost around them. Yesterday, I weeded the bean patch. Probably have to weed the squash this afternoon or tomorrow.

We picked our first cup of blueberries on Saturday, these are not from the bushes we planted, but they did have amazing flavor. So far the ones we planted are still alive, but tiny.

SnowAngel

My flowers are starting to flourish.  We did have a minor (major?) setback when I found out that my garden was absolutely infested with slugs. So many plants were absolutely skeletonized before I realized what was going on.  Legit - they ate an entire perennial bee balm that I planted. . . like to the ground. . . in six hours. . . 

As much as it pained me to do so, I resorted to lethal methods with slug killer and beer traps, and as of this point in time, things look to be stabilizing.  

As I was placing the slug killer and beer traps, I collected as many slugs as I could find (probably 4 dozen easily) and placed them in a jar and relocated them to a safer environment.

Were you able to get rid of the slugs, @digorykirke?

The garden is coming along nicely even though we planted everything a little late for the area. I've been push mowing the yard, so I've mulched most of the tomatoes and peppers, and started on the potatoes with the grass clippings. The tomatoes are growing steadily and the first paste and cherry tomatoes should be ready before too long.

The first zucchini has appeared, really looking forward to harvesting them. Since ours are so small still, my dad bought some zucchini from the farmers market last weekend and, oh, they were really good as a salad with a simple vinaigrette.

Looks like the blueberry harvest is coming to an end, not much left on the bushes. It's been so nice to pick some  blueberries in the evening and have them with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I think between the two bushes we have picked about 20-22 cups over the course of two weeks. Yesterday my little sister and I picked about a cup and half and then just left them on the dining room for the family to munch on.  

SnowAngel

I've been suffering with a health problem and neglected my garden this year. But all the houseplants are doing fine 😆 

Sorry to hear of the health problem, @cobalt-jade. Some years gardens have to be neglected for various reasons. Glad your houseplants are doing well, at least!

Back in late May we planted our two vegetable gardens and filled in our many perennial gardens with more perennials (yeah, I can't help myself ) and some annuals. More annuals went in numerous pots around our half acre, mostly shady yard (15 maple trees around our property). All are thriving because of the good mixture of sun and rain (almost every afternoon). Lush-lush-lush! Let's hope this pattern of rain continues all through the month of July, which tends to be our hottest and driest month. Although last year was a wonderful exception, as we had regular rainfalls all through July.

In our veggie gardens are planted: tomatoes, potatoes, garlic (planted last Autumn), onions, beets, yellow & green beans, peas, cucumbers. Our main potato garden is surrounded by very colourful zinnias, which I planted around the perimeter each year. Our widowed neighbour can see them from his lovely back yard, and I enjoy passing on bouquets to him periodically.

Not exactly garden-related, but we have a few bird feeders hanging on our front porch, so regularly have a variety of birds that come and feed. Hummingbirds, orioles, finches, mourning doves, and cardinals especially frequent our porch. Beautiful!

I intentionally planted many perennials that attract bees and butterflies, which are lovely sights all around!

I still see them occasionally, but I don't see them doing any more damage.  Perhaps I culled them back enough to spare my plants, while at the same time not feeling like I'm committing mass genocide. . .  

And now, a month later, because we have had such a good, rainy July, mixed with some sunny days, everything—vegetable and floral—is flourishing. So lush. We have had many comments on our front floral gardens as people walk by. I must admit, they are beautiful. The perennials we planted a few years ago now are huge and expanding and very, very colourful. The back gardens where both floral and two veggie gardens reside are doing very, very well too. Burgeoning!

But because we have had such a good amount of precipitation, the weeds have also done well   so that is an almost daily task, just to keep up with them. 'Though this time of the season, at mid-summer, the plants are so established that the weeds are more minimal than they were a month ago.

I tasted our first cherry tomatoes the other day, and look forward to more and more harvesting as the next two months pass.   I must remember to harvest our garlic next month. The scapes on it are huge! I neglected to harvest them when they were still tender, but there is always next summer.  

As I go on my early morning walks (when it is cool enough!), I take note of yards in our village and with some of them, think how gardens could be added to make the home a more picturesque place. Maybe I should hire myself out!  

We're now in the last month of winter, and there are lots of signs of spring coming. As I drive around the city I see early blossoms coming out on certain early-blooming trees, and some patches of  jonquils (I think).  

I've begun doing some of my own gardening again, partly because I can't bear looking at the weeds, partly to prepare for some replanting, and partly because I don't know when the gardener is coming (rather cold yet).

Today I did more weeding, trimmed the raspberry canes, pruned a rosebush, and cleared space around bulbs in my pots. 

I managed not to strain my muscles today, although I almost poked my eye with the end of a small branch when I leaned forward without checking it was clear. A bit alarming, but I only scratched the side of my nose - 1 cm from the inner corner of my eye! 

Any day now I shall pop into the local garden shop to see if they have the items I want to put in my garden.  And it's time to order the mushroom compost that is sold through the local Scouts.