Farmer Jo Is A Busy Bee

I know I told you a few days ago that I'd be back with pictures from garden #1.  But then I got sidetracked by a huge spelling accident.  And I couldn't help but share this deliciousness.

But, without further ado, here's what's growing in garden #1.  For those of you who can't keep track, this was always my garden.  But, over time, the trees have gotten larger and there's an awful lot of shade, and my father refuses to cut down trees to grow vegetables, so I expanded last year and made garden #2 in the full sunshine. 

Now back to garden #1.

Milkweed.  I started letting milkweed grow outside of garden #1 a few  years ago, instead of fighting to remove it.  It makes the most gorgeous smelling flowers in the spring and I love the activity of the bees and monarch butterflies.  They are making the milkweed pods now, so they aren't so pretty at this point.



A bunch of sunflowers ready to burst with their pretty, yellow tops any time now.  One already flowered and is shrinking back, but the others are just starting.

My tomato forest.  I planted them way too close to each other and I knew it as I was doing it and did it anyway.  Nothing like a garden to illustrate how stupid I can be.  Mainly because now, I am petrified that I might have to run into one of these while I'm up to my eyeballs in tomato plants. 

I have mixed heirlooms here and romas.  These are some of the mystery heirlooms.  I love how crinky they are.

I'm shocked to see that some of the romas are already turning.  They were great last year and I used the same packet of seeds for this year.

I love how solid they look!
 

Here are my stagnant peppers.  They have been stuck all summer.  I have never seen anything take so long to get going.  And this is the sunniest part of the garden, so light isn't the problem.  I'm also sure that they are getting plenty of water.  This is not my first pepper rodeo, so I really don't know what the hell is wrong here.

Broccoli.  Since I found that I can grow broccoli all winter in buckets, I feel like it's not such a thrill that I am growing them now.  Somehow, I have had a gap of broccoli for a couple of months and these stuff is taking its sweet time.

Greek oregano.  I absolutely love this stuff.  It's not as powerful as regular oregano.  I use it like crazy with chicken or pork.  This comes back year after year and it's very low maintenance.

Lemon thyme. This has been growing year after year for a long time and I use it rarely. It's very pungently lemon with an aftersmell of something that is almost greasy. I swear I can smell fat a mile away. I don't know what it is about this plant.

Beets.  They grew pretty well in garden #2, so I thought I'd see what happens in garden #1.  The soil is pretty loose here, so they should be happy.  And I've planted them far enough away from each other that they should be able to get pretty big.

Unlike the watermelon in garden #2, these are not volunteers.  But, I was pretty mean to them, so I doubt they will succeed.  I started them really early and they started right out, but then I took forever and ever to plant them in the garden and they got really pot bound and several died.  They should have actual watermelon on them by now. 

Eggplants.  I don't like to eat them, but I like to grow them. I grew some a few years ago and I know they were pretty, but I can't remember how the plant grows.  Tall?  Climbing?  I forget!  No flowers yet, so nothing pretty yet.

Stay tuned for more pictures of what is growing around the yard, not in the gardens.