soaphouse's Blog
soaphouse's posts about: hot
Jun 20, 2008 | 6:17 AM PST
Tags: squash , tomato , beans , eggplant , companion planting , hot , weeds , birds , baby birds
Well, with record temps in the mid to high 90's for the last couple of weeks, the mid 80's feel cool! So, it has been a bit more enjoyable to get out into the garden lately. I am still just focusing on routine maintenance: weeding, pruning and mowing. I have decided not to do much planting this season...mostly b/c I did so much over the fall and winter and I think I should give it a bit of time to see how things fill in. Also, we haven't had much rain and I would really have to keep up on the water. Plus...time is limited with a toddler and an infant-HAH!
So,
I have enjoyed watching the results of my hard work over the fall and have been really enjoying to "fruits" of the companion plantings in the veggie beds!
The beans are producing daily and its fun to have to two different varieties. They taste about the same, but make a nice presentation on the plate :)
We have also had enough blackberries to get a bowlful daily and my daughter eats most of them before we even get inside the house!
We have already harvested 4 of the asain eggplants and there are a few more out there almost ready to go. The itialian eggplants are getting bigger every day:
We have a TON of little baby spaghetti squash on the vines - hooray!
And, here is a good shot of the companion system at work...
On another note, the crepe myrtles that were planted 4 years ago as a screen on our property line are really looking good this year and provide a great view from our sunroom and back porch:
And, our little birdie family in the dogwood is about to be all grown up...we have so enjoyed watching them! I will be sad to see them go:
This weekend, I plan to get the creek weedeated and do some more weeding and pruning. Hope you all have a great gardening weekend!
Aug 17, 2007 | 11:05 AM PST
Tags: progression , season , front , euphorbia , crepe myrtle , fig , hot , august
We are still having temperatures over 100 degrees, so other than VERY light weeding, i am not doing much in the garden. I've started some projects indoors and I'm really just admiring the garden from my windows. I have started to get ready to redo some of my photo album uploads, so I have been looking back at a lot of photos and its so fun to see the progression of the garden (even in just a few months time).
The front yard: June 2007
August 2007:
Front corner yard June 2007:
August 2007:
So fun to look back!
And, as FishinBC once said "things go on with or without me". So, luckily things are still progressing, and the figs are getting bigger:
Yum, Yum! Lookin forward to our annual fig pizzas!
Also caught this pretty color combo on camera today.... a crepe myrtle blossom fallen on euphorbia "blue haze" foliage:
Well, I continue to work on the kitchen project and dream of fall in the garden! In the mean time, I will also work on getting my pictures uploaded again.
Aug 14, 2007 | 12:54 PM PST
Tags: outdoors in , kitchen , liriope , coriopsis , zerox , hot , 100
Its been a while since I have posted an entry. It has been over 100 degrees here every day for a week now. We are not used to that here. It always gets in the upper 90's, but over a 100 is rare. I find its just too hot for me to do anything in the garden. Other than the occasional weeding and watering, I have been spending most of my time indoors. So, since I am not one to idle well, I decided to revamp my kitchen that I have always hated. We have no money, so I have to be very resourceful! I wanted to share a part of it that we did to bring the outdoors in, but in an untraditional and artsy way. I took these two photos from the garden:
Then my husband helped me blow them up really big on a zerox machine to make them abstract, then we decoupaged the copies to the backsplash and covered with 2 coats of spar urethane. Kinda fun! Now we are repainting the cabinets.
BEFORE:
AND AFTER:
I am hoping the temperatures drop down to the 90's soon so I can get back in the garden!
Aug 7, 2007 | 11:27 AM PST
Tags: elephant ear , datura , creek , bird , yellow finch , hot , strawberry
The last few days it has gotten SO HOT here! I thought it was warm before, but we have had heat indexes at over 105 degrees. So, I haven't been doing too much in the garden. The afternoon showers have stopped, so the weeds have slowed down which is nice, but I am having to water some things. While watering the veggies, I spotted this yellow finch (i think its a finch, i don't know much about birds)
Its not the best picture but it was all i had the chance to get before he flew off:
Its so cool to see creatures enjoying the garden!
I also managed to get a shot of this guy:
Happily, the garden is doing a lot of taking care of itself. We are still working on the creek project...we got some done on sunday:
My plan was to drag all the brush to the curb this afternoon for pick up tomorrow...but its just too hot! Plus, leaving it there to dry out will make it less heavy next week :)
I am also excited because my strawberry plants are finally starting to look like something! So, I might get some berries next year....
I also got some great shots of Daturas untwirling:
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And, very cool shot of opening elephant ear leaf
I guess about all I can stand to do in this heat is have fun with the camera :)
