Still at It: Container Gardening

Lately, the temperature has been delightful!

The past couple of days I have ventured outside to plant some seeds and re-seed things that didn't sprout. I am no master gardener and am still learning as I go. I plant most things in containers as our soil is very sandy and riddled with clay. Gumbo. The soil, not the delicacy. 

Some things I've recently planted are: spinach mustard greens, mesclun, lettuces, kale, parsley, catnip, tarragon, radishes, assorted flowers (annuals and perennials), fennel, broccoli raab, small sugar pumpkin, chives and spearmint.

It has finally dawned on me that all my efforts of trying to garden in the relentless heat were based on info that's got totally different climates in mind. Yes, the seed packets and books may say to plant at certain times but I must take into consideration that many plants just can't take our heat. And neither can I. This realization has been such a relief since I have battled the heat and mosquitoes in dogged determination the past few "springs" *cough*SUMMER*cough* and summer *cough*hellonearth*cough* with little to no results. Now I feel relaxed knowing I can take the summer off, sipping my lemonade and iced tea in the comfort of my air conditioned oasis while dreaming of fall and winter gardening. Less mosquitoes, less heat, less humidity and more produce! (Have I mentioned how much I HATE our heat and humidity? I'm a delicate flower, I am.)

Anyway, my garden report is a good one: I was able to harvest a bit of Swiss chard, a carrot and a bean! One bean. And one carrot! It's something. And there are more beans on the bush, just not big enough yet. My morning glory vines are climbing and thriving and I feel very confident that soon, I will see some lovely flowers adorning our fence! Our Meyer lemon tree (is still alive) has lemons, still green and heavy, hanging from it's branches that I'm sure will be big, yella & juicy in their own good time! I have several tomato plants that have struggled through the summer that I'm hoping will perk up and produce some tomatoes once the weather continues to cool down. My sweet and opal basils, thyme, oregano, green onions and rosemary are thriving, and my dill and cilantro are hanging in there. And a beautiful, spidery white lily that was planted a couple of years ago recently bloomed, much to our delight!

I would love to add some pictures with this post but my camera is experiencing technical difficulties. (I think it needs a new battery). And my phone camera has been dropped one too many times to produce decent pictures, lol!

Thanks for checking in! I hope you are enjoying the cooler temps!~TJ