I get the feeling that my garden is right on the edge.
Either things are getting ready to grow like mad, or they’re
teetering on the precipice, about to plunge into the darkness of
death.
I get the feeling that my garden is right on the edge.
Either things are getting ready to grow like mad, or they’re teetering on the precipice, about to plunge into the darkness of death.
That was illustrated earlier this week, when my boyfriend and I checked on our plants.
The star of the show, a cherry tomato in a container that has, until now, been humming right along, was drooping, as if it suddenly had lost all hope.
It was dismaying, to say the least. Dismaying, but, as it turns out, not unsalvageable. It seems the soil had simply dried out, which I know is a problem with plants in containers.
Normally, I don’t neglect my plants to such a point. If they die, it’s not because of lack of care.
But we had just watered the day before, so I figured that despite the heat, it was OK for at least another day.
Apparently I was wrong, so we watered again. We nearly drowned the plant, I thought. But when we went out a couple of hours later, the plant had perked up a little, and the soil was dry as a bone.
In my very short gardening career, I have never seen anything like that. But given how short my gardening career has been, I’m sure there’s a lot I haven’t seen yet.
So we watered again; I gave it encouraging words; and the next morning, the plant looked fine. But we gave it more water before leaving for work, just in case.
The basil also seems to be having a tough go of it, mostly because some bug sneaks in, eats the leaves when I’m not looking and then bolts when it hears me approaching.
So I have no idea what is feasting on my poor, innocent, holey basil.
Either I have to find out what’s eating it or the plant itself has to find a way to pull through, because if all eight of my tomato plants produce, I’m going to be in dire need of fresh basil.
On the other hand, while my tomato clings to life and my basil battles invaders, my crookneck squash and zucchini are thriving.
Of course. I could have tossed squash seeds on cement, and they would have grown. And that’s no tribute to my skill, simply a testament to the weediness of squash. Still, it’s a good confidence booster.
Meanwhile, the rest of the garden seems to be drama-free and growing. But we have run into a bit of a problem with our onions: We don’t know when they’ll be ready, and I’m not sure how to figure that out without pulling them up.
I don’t want to pull them up too early and kill them, but I also don’t want to leave them in the ground so long that I miss my harvest window, and they go bad or turn mushy or do whatever it is that onions left in the ground too long do. You see my dilemma.
If anyone out there has tips, questions or comments to share with readers, please send them in to cv*****@**********rs.com or call Colleen at (408) 842-9505.
