JULY 9, 2009: DON'T PANIC...DON'T PANIC!!!

I've been explaining just how wet it has been around here and how I've been coming through it pretty much unscathed...UNTILTODAY! The sun came out today so after work I put on the gardening clothes and headed outside. It's hard to believe that with all this rain the tomato plants in the buckets are DRY, so watering is first. Then I checked out the peas, some of which were to we on the bottom and came right out of the ground...oh well, I have plenty. Time to check the squash. I've been loosing squash that is one the ground because of the water, but to my surprise I have a bunch growing!

Summer, delicata, and zapallo. The edamame is going strong. The ruby red corn is growing like mad with the rain! My cucumbers, oh my cucumbers! They have been my trial this year, but all of a sudden they are flourishing with flowers all over!! I'm training them up twine and they seem to be following along with some encouragement. I've also attached some Bloody Butcher tomato pictures just for Cindy Martin at Tasteful Gardens. Don't let the name fool you, they're going to be awesome!!

Okay, to the challenge at hand! After going through the rest of the garden, it was on to the 47 tomato plants. They take quite bit of time, so I saved them for last. That's when I noticed this..see photos...EARLY BLIGHT!

Early Blight: is caused by the fungus Alternaria solani, and is perhaps the most common foliar disease of tomatoes in the Northeast (that's me in Massachusetts). This disease causes direct losses by the infection of fruits and indirect losses by reducing plant vigor (by the size of my plants,reduced vigor is not an issue at the moment). The classic symptoms occur on the leaves where circular lesions up to 1/2" in diameter are produced. Within these lesions dark, concentric circles can be seen. The leaf blight phase usually begins on the lower, older leaves and progresses up the plant. Infected leaves eventually wither, die, and fall from the plant. (Oh, great! What else is this growing season going to throw at me????). Alternaria sporulates best when abundant moisture (as provided by rain, mist, fog, dew, irrigation) is present. (It rained 22 out of 25 days in June...moisture is ABUNDANT!!) TREATMENT: 1) Promote good air circulation by proper spacing of plants - we did this last weekend when we cleaned up everything and removed the lower leaves. 2) Hand picking diseased foliage may slow the rate of disease spread but should not be relied on for control. Do not work in a wet garden - I'll try, but all we are is wet here! 3) Use a preventative fungicide - it may be time to look at an organic alternative. So much for chemical free. I feel a little beat down by this years weather, but I'll keep going strong with the thought of all those tomatoes! Go to my guestbook and leave your comments and suggestions! Bye for now!

May 26, 2009: EVERYTHING IS COMING ALIVE! So much for a restful holiday weekend! What was I thinking with all this planting??!! No, seriously...it is such a joy. I can't wait to see what all this grows into. I actually watched the beans in the "duplo block" grow on Monday...very cool. Now that everything is in the ground I am getting visits by my friends and neighbors to see what all the hype has been about. I do believe they have all been in awe of my yard! From their comments I think I have turned myself into the local Farmer's Market. This stuff better grow and grow a lot!! The tomatoes are all staked and look fantastic (a huge thank you to my husband who spent his weekend cutting tomato stakes! Love You!), the snow peas are producing already, we've got our first sizable batch of spinach (yum), the garlic grass is long and healthy, the onions are starting to emerge, the edamame have all broken through, the red corn is growing great, sadly the regular corn is not looking good in the new area...I haven't given up yet, the squash already has blossoms, the tomatillos are producing tiny lanterns, I already have a couple tomatoes on the sun gold cherry, the basil looks delicious,the oregano smells awesome, and finally Farmer Lucas' pepper plant has doubled in size!

JUNE 4, 2009: When is the warm weather going to start???? We've had a lot of rain lately so the gardens are quickly sprouting. Today's perusal of the gardens shows signs of all the basil starting to come up, garlic chives, carrot tops emerging, and two watermelon plants just breaking through. The summer squash is flowering, but not any of the others. I know...patience. Finally the cucumbers are doing well. I don't know what I did wrong or if it was the soil they didn't like, but I lost lots of plants before these ones showed any signs of making it. I'll have to research that one some more, but for now I'm just happy we have some that are flourishing. The red corn is doing great, but the yellow corn needs some attention right now, there are signs that the second set of seed is coming alive, but that is the risk you run when you rotate garden beds...different soil conditions!! The snow peas are coming daily,while the shell peas are getting bigger by the day. Shell peas is new for me, so this is fun, you can see all the baby peas inside! The one day flea beetle infestation of my new black tomato plants was scary, but I didn't loose anything. I probably wouldn't have even known they were there if I wasn't checking on them constantly... note to self, stop hovering over the plants and let them grow!!! Now that I'm producing something, Farmer Boy Lucas is suddenly interested...figures! He picked the snow peas and then enjoyed a few for his hard work (yeah, right). I've caught him checking on his pepper plant, but he hasn't asked to water it...granted it's been raining a lot. He's been looking at the other gardens, but only seems to be interested in the new watermelon find. As for the "Kupins Tales", let me tell you that boy will be lucky to make it through the summer! We watched him get under the fence and into the tomato garden, but got him out before he got into anything. Guess what Ken's next job will be...YUP, new fencing that is puppy proof...the staple gun fix is only temporary Honey! I have to give a big shout out to my MOM...thank you for weeding the corn garden, it looks great! If you have been following my past garden blogs, you know weeding is not my thing. I'll pay money to cover it before I go around plucking it out. We've been thinking about hay to cover under the corn and peas, but haven't found a bale around here, only in the Fall for decoration. The next challenge is keeping the pool water from splashing on the garden...uuuggghhh...tell that to Lucas and Suzanne!!!

JUNE 12, 2009: LOOK WHAT THE RAIN BROUGHT!!!

Well, the rain finally stopped, so I ventured out to the gardens to see what has happened in the last week. WOW!! Everything got so much bigger in just a week. Lucas will be picking snow peas (pea pods) again tomorrow...they are HUGE! Unfortunately I only planted 4 plants and the bunches that we pick at once is just enough for us to eat, sorry. Maybe by the time the bigger set with the edamame comes up we'll be sick of them. Maybe. The shelling peas look great. It's my first time growing them, so I need to double check harvest times. Anyone for fresh peas?

Lucas had a couple nice surprises this week. His pepper plant looks like it could be flowering soon, he's very excited. Next were all the watermelon plants that came up...that was his pick to plant this year and he is psyched. I'm worried about the space, but we got compact plants with round fruit, so we'll see. Last year we grew one plant and every time we got a watermelon about fist size...guess what...Kupey ate it! For the plants protection, and Kupey's, they are behind the fence this year.

I was excited and did a little "happy dance" when I saw I had baby summer squash...Wooo Hooo. Last year we couldn't get them pollinated, this year we're early. Go figure. Still nothing out of the other squash plants, but the plants looks great with nice big leaves. They'll need it to shade the squash from the sun...if we ever see the sun that is!! My next big exciting thing was to see my Black Krim and Cherokee Purple tomato plants flowering!!! I've been planning this since November of last year! I can't wait for them to set fruit....I don't know if I can take the waiting. Why I thought gardening was a good idea with my immediate gratification issues I will NEVER know??? On a non-veggie growing note: Lucas picked about 8-10 packs of shade flowers to plant in the front this year. I planted all of them hoping something would come up. Climbing ones by the fence, taller ones for in the front and the base of the tree. Well, we've got growth! Lucas wants the lupine to grow REALLY bad. I hope they are coming up. I'll take photos once we see more going on.

I have to give a "shout-out" to one of my best friends, Meghan. We were at her house recently for a party, and when I saw the phenomenal flowers she had I was more than impressed. She told me she had bought small plants early on and just let them take over the pots. She has her own little sanctuary going on! Congratulations Meghan, you have inspired me. I'm already researching what flowers to grow for next spring. Looks like Ken's loosing his living room again!!! :o)

JUNE 19, 2009: THE APHIDS WAR !!!!!!

I am infested with the little suckers!! I was horrified when I was out checking all the tomato plants and found aphids all shape size and color all over my beloved tomato plants. I have never had aphids before, so I made a mad dash to the laptop to see where they come from, how I got them, and what to do. Well, where they come from and how I got them seems to allude myself and every other site I looked at. Lets assume they just "appear". How do I get rid of them was another story...a million websites! The obvious solution is the wonderful lady bug,which we usually have around everywhere by now...but alas not in my garden. Next, keeping organic I don't want to use any chemical sprays,so I opted for two remedies. Some I would spray with a water/soap solution, and some I would spray with a water/oil/soap solution and see which works better. it took 2 hours to do them all. In my panic of possibly loosing my plants to these little life suckers, I rushed ahead without more research...which I usually always do. I am paying the price. The plants I sprayed with the oil solution destroyed my plants..."cooked" my plants would be a better word. I had to cut off all the dead brown leaves and wash the plants to try and remove the oil residue. Once that was done I let them sit to see what would happen. What happened??? Burnt Brandywines/Yellow & Black Pears and I still have the @&%*# aphids!!!!!! Calm down...happy place. This time I researched more and while chemical sprays seem to take car of the problem quickly and effectively, I don't want to go that route. I ordered lady bugs!! I keep waiting for them to arrive, then today I got am email that they are back ordered. Back ordered?? Seriously, backordered lady bugs??? Okay. In the mean time, I am in fear of loosing my plants. They seem to have hit the Brandywines especially hard. I've been babying them, so it's all a wait and see. Today I spotted one lonely lady big on my tomatillo plant. I was nice enough to move her to a larger Smorgasbord on the Brandywines. Maybe she'll invite some friends to dinner!

JUNE 25, 2009: Look what the rain brought!!! (I'll keep it short today because there are so many great photos to look at.)

The sun finally came out today and I had a chance to check out the gardens. WOW, everything is huge!!! I think I picked the biggest pea pods ever. They are so crunchy and sweet..yummy! The tomatoes are all looking awesome, they are really coming back from the aphid attacks. I was shocked at the poha which has grown 10 times its size in roughly 10 days...amazing. I still don't think I will see any fruit this year, but you never know. The herbs are in full bloom; I've used some already and they are delicious. I made grilled tuna with lime and tarragon last night, sooo good!!! Let's see, back on track. It was a shock to see a little head of broccoli growing...very cool. I have to check on the edamame, some of the leaves are a little purplish, which could be all the water or I need to fertilize (organic of course). There is just so much going on in my amazing gardens! I'm going outside to enjoy the sun that has finally come out. Soaking up that Vitamin D! Bye :0) Oh yah, one more thing that the rain did...washed away all the names on my plant tags!!! Good thing I have my garden sketch!!! Uuugghhh :0)

JUNE 25, 2009: THE LADY BUGS HAVE ARRIVED. LET THE APHID WAR BEGIN!

The lady bugs have finally arrived! I am so excited!! Look out aphids and whiteflies, your enemy is coming for you!!! The instructions say to store them in the fridge until you can release them in the early evening. I read up a lot about releasing them, so this is the plan. Tonight I am going to release two per tomato plant using a pencil, chopstick, something. I'm going to put some in the front yard on my flowers which have whiteflies, then put the rest back in the fridge. Tomorrow I will see what is going on and see if I need to release some more. I'm going to give some to my neighbor who is having some problems with his flowers...I think white flies too. I am also going to bring some over to my Mom's. The smallest order I could get was 900 lady bugs, so I've got plenty! The lady bugs are supposed to come as egg laying females, so I should see lots of eggs on the plants. The larvae eat way more than the adults. I'll post more once the event takes place.

Okay, some of the lady bugs are released, and let me tell you, they did not go easily! First, they didn't want to come out of the pouch! When I first opened it there were quite a few ready for their exit, but then I had to coax them out a few at a time. Whatever they had in that pouch must taste good! A few would crawl out and then wouldn't get off the pouch, I had to shake them off. Then, as many tomato plants as I have it took quite awhile, it started raining! I just can't win!! I'm sure I was quiet a spectacle...thanks Dianne & Bob for coming to watch!! As creeped out as Dianne is about bugs, that's how interesting it was. So, the rest are all tied up and back in the fridge for the night. I will be anxiously awaiting where these lady bugs are tomorrow.

A little information about the lady bug. The lady bugs that I bought for release are NOT the lady bug species, Harmonia axyridis. These are the round spotted lady bugs that you find in your house. This species looks for warm places to hide when the cold weather comes. Again, I did NOT release this kind of lady bug. I like my neighbors!! The kind I got is the convergent ladybug beetle. They hibernate in the winter under branches or rocks.

I lost some squash with the wet ground, but they were small and more are coming. Delicata, zapallo, and summer are all producing. The zucchini and butternut are still growing.

We had a fierce wind come through on Saturday and blew over some of the tomato buckets. It was sad, I lost a few fruit producing branches...sigh. As much rain as we have had,the buckets still need watering. They must have been on the dry side to have blown over...but it was windy!I think I have tomatoes on almost all the plants now. The sun brought us a chance to go through the cherry tomato forest and separate some the plants out for some air flow to let everything dry out. It took myself, my husband, and my 17-year-old to get the job done...they are huge! I also got to do some trimming of branches on the ground level...trying to stave off any fungus or bacteria problems.

The baby garlic was a nice surprise, I didn't expect the bulbs (onion looking). Wow, the smell. I'm going to plant a ton more for Fall. They will be awesome in soups/stews.No picture, but the cukes are growing nicely. I just wish they would produce something. I haven't had great luck with cucumbers yet :0( I tried a few different kinds, so I should get something. I'll keep you posted.

Herbs are doing great! I use some kind every day for dinner. There just isn't anything like "just picked" flavor! Bye for now!!

JULY 11, 2009: ATTACK OF THE KUPINS!!!

To day was not a good day for snow peas. I picked a good large handful of snow peas today that I would have told my neighbor about,or my mother-in-law who is looking for some, but I turned my back for a couple minutes and...Attack of the Kupins!

Before I could stop him, Kupey had stuck his head in my packing basket and gobbled them all up. Granted, I take some blame for knowing I shouldn't have left the basket alone due to Kupey's appetite and that he LOVES peas, but he should know better! He's been in trouble for this before! I called for his Daddy and he scolded him. Then we turned around and he's right back into the basket again. UUUUGGGGHHHH!!!

He knows what I'm picking when I go into each garden, and when he sees me with my picking basket he just follows along with me. Smart boy.

We're in for some trouble when the tomatoes start ripening. He loves tomatoes too! I don't think he is going to change, he's ruled by his stomach,so I'm just going to have to be more careful. :0)

JULY 15, 2009: SQUASH! (I have had a VERY busy week with computer repairs, so the last thing I want to do is be on this thing! So, today will just be squash descriptions. p.s. the early blight looks to be fairly cleaned up..yippee.)

Delicata Squash - Delicata is an oblong veggie about 8 inches long and 4 inches around. The rind is ivory with dark green stripes and flecks, while the flesh (surrounding a very small seed cavity) is a rich golden-orange. It can be baked, steamed, roasted, grilled, or even punctured and popped into the microwave for a quick snack! And even though it tastes so savory, an entire squash contains less than 80 calories, plus generous amounts of potassium and Vitamins C and B. You can't go wrong with this healthy squash!

Zapallo Zucchini - The fruit is shorter and much plumper than zucchini, with a creamy-green skin and pure white interior. Scrumptious fresh or cooked, it makes a hearty meal, and is so strongly flavored that you can enjoy it plain, sprinkled with a bit of salt, or as a meat substitute in sauces.

JULY 22, 2009: Have patience and give them time to ripen...that's what I keep telling myself.

I am very pleased to say that I finally have some color in my tomatoes. The sun gold's are ripening, and are very sweet. The other tomato's, while still green, have faded to lighter shades. There is hope. I'm really not sure my growing season is long enough for them all to ripen. Hopefully we will have a warm fall and a late frost. I have tons of yellow taxi's on the plants growing in clusters. They are much paler in color, maybe that's a sign of turning yellow? One can only hope. I lost a few tomatoes to blossom end rot, so did my Mom, but everything else looks very good. I'm thinking its time to add Epsom salts to the base of the plants. Anyone have any idea on that?

Besides the tomatoes, the squash are still producing, but slowly. I love the baby butternuts, they are too cute! The pea pods are going strong on the tops, but the bottoms are getting brown like they are dying. What's wrong? The pods still taste crunchy & sweet though. The ruby red corn has been interesting to watch. The tops are red, the silks are red...very cool.

I spotted a big bunch of cilantro growing today in the back garden, looks very tasty, I love cilantro salad with honey lime dressing! The basil is growing insane!!! The mammoth is just...well mammoth! I picked a ton yesterday balancing the tops of the plants off anticipating full growth again next week, I have been putting basil in everything I cook. You can imagine how great my dinners have been tasting. The rosemary is going nuts too. I'm going to pick that down next and start to dry it out for winter. The tarragon will be after that, then the sage, then the thyme, then the sweet marjoram. My winter soups and stews are going to be phenomenal.

Enjoy!

AUGUST 16, 2009: BLIGHT ME!

I have been fighting blight all season because of all the rain here in Massachusetts...everything was WET! I was keeping up with it really well until we went on vacation, then it just took over without me babying the plants. I cut away the really bad parts and even decided on an organic spray, but that just ended up drying up the leaves and making them all bare half way up! I have to say that once that happened I started seeing everything ripen...coincidence? With all the rain there plants have not had the instinct to reproduce...bear fruit. Could the blight sucking the life out of them cause them to suddenly ripen? Something to think about. If it takes a plant it takes it, I've gotten great yields the last two weeks with still lots of green and new growth/flowers on the tops. I'll just let them produce until they are gone. I learned a lot this year since Mother Nature forced me to learn some new gardening lessons. Forgive me for not saying thank you though!

Anyway, I am suddenly getting tons of tomatoes...finally! The very large Black Krim and Cherokee Purples that I wanted so very badly are so delicious and I am overjoyed. Not selling those babies! I have a ton of yellow taxi, but Ken loves them because they are sweet so he's eating them every day. The chocolate cherries are amazing and they are meant to be refrigerated so they keep well. We just eat them out of the fridge from a bowl every time we open the fridge door! The big rainbows are just starting to turn, I can't wait to taste those. I've gotten two tangerine tomatoes, but I must say I am very disappointed in the plants I got from Burpee, I will definitely buy from www.TastefulGarden.com for all my plants next year. The cherry tomatoes are producing finally and need to be picked daily.

R.I.P. sweet tomatillo :o( Well, I finally called it quit with the tomatillo after emailing back and forth with a horticulturist. They are related to the tomato, but they need a mate, so it just wasn't going to set fruit. It was a waste of resources to keep up with it because it was a water hog like corn...it was dry constantly!! . The thing was enormous, most definitely a TREE. I am planning on growing some together next year so they pollinate. When we let it dry up and pulled it out of the bucket the root system was amazing! It was a beneficial plant to the garden though because it was covered in flowers which attracted ALOT of bees which benefited the other plants. Not a bad thing, it served a purpose.

The ruby red corn is ready, Lucas ate some last night...nothing special, just pink. I have tons of pole beans, not very sweet, going to try a different kind next year. The peas are done, the squashes (delicata & butternut) are just starting to be ready, but the summer squash...my God...they seem to sprout over night. I was late doing zucchini because I wanted to do zapallo instead, but those didn't make it. Next year I'll do zucchini again, but maybe I'll get some since it just started warming up around here! The pumpkins are growing but the squirrels keep stealing the little guys so I'm going to move them out back. Cukes which were so sad to begin with have suddenly flourished...honestly I think its the humidity. They taste great and Lucas is putting some in a pickle jar to see what happens. We eat so many that we are eating everything that ripens. No selling of the cukes, but what a money saver!

What about my fruit experiments this year? The cantaloupe and watermelon are going to be a bust...live and learn. They just didn't seem to do well. I think I need a new spot next year. It's my Poha (or Cape Gooseberry) that I am so excited about! I had two, yes just two, when we went to Bermuda three years ago and fell in love! The first year I kept trying to see if our local Whole Foods would carry them...nope. The second year I started thinking why can't I grow them...well, because they are a tropical plant and you live in Massachusetts! Well, so what! So I started looking into seeds and found the correct type and ordered seeds. Only a few for the money I spent to buy a pack. I planted all the seeds and watched them die in my indoor green house...one by one! I babies these things like you wouldn't believe. By May I had four little sad looking plants, so I planted all four into a large pot...two took! Now just look at them..very excited, VERY excited. I've told the hubby they are ALL mine, no sharing this one! What? I'm aloud. The surprise was the strawberries. I just through a whole pack of seeds into a container and have had pretty greenery all summer. I was out checking on the tomatoes and suddenly I see these little berries everywhere...nice find!

Lucas' orange peppers are still green, but I've been told to just leave them and they will turn. Okay...

I think that's it. Wow, this was a long one...I have to keep up the posting so they aren't so long. Be sure to check back next week...you never know what's going to happen!

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009: WINDING DOWN

We've been getting some VERY cool nights and mornings here in Massachusetts. It was 42 the other night and the garden is starting to show signs of dying off. The squash is setting nice vegetables, but then the vines are shriveling up. The cucumbers are done, all dried up and sad looking. If you follow the blog, the cucumbers were a surprise and bonus this year as I thought they weren't going to make it...so we are thankful for all the cukes that we got. I found squash borers last week on the summer squash,so those are slowly dying and not producing well any longer. I really don't like those sluggy things! The tomatoes have hit their peek and are trailing off. They really don't like the cold nights of the past week!! I have a few really nice sized brandywines, so I'm still hopeful on those. The friends/neighbors have been enjoying the overflow the last couple weeks, but I was forced to make some into a sauce. That will taste great in the middle of a freezing Massachusetts winter! The beans look kind of sad, but they're still producing. My poha have finally ripened!! I was going to be happy with a handful...I've got more than that! They're a little tart, but so good. I let Ken try one, but that's it...THEY'RE MINE!!

SEPTEMBER 12, 2009: WHERE IS INDIAN SUMMER IN NEW ENGLAND????

Indian Summer where are you? We could use a final blast of warm temperatures before the end of September. The edamame experiment has really been rewarding. First, they have a 90-100 day growth period; this was concerning since I live in Massachusetts and our growing season is not that long. Second, with all the rain and cool temps this season I thought for sure they were never going to ripen before it gets cold again. Then, low and behold at the end of August we got flowers and now have a TON of edamame pods growing all over! In the last week and a half we have had some really cold nights (40's) and the past few days have been in the 60's. Sadly, the edamame is looking sort of tired. The leaves are no longer bright green, but instead turning yellowish. The pods still look great and more are growing, but I'm just not sure they're going to make it. I know, think positive!!! When they finally ripen, we're going to have an edamame party with our friends/neighbors. Anyone have any good edamame recipes besides just boiled with salt (that is the best way to enjoy them)?

The tomatoes are mostly gone now. I picked everything yesterday with the exception of some larger ones. I think next weekend we're going to spend the day ripping things down. It will be sad, but I did better this season than some of the Farmer's Market vendors. I don't know what it is with my yard and growing great tomatoes...but I'm not changing anything! I'm already determining which tomatoes tasted the best this season, which variety grew the best, which ones I will probably not grow again, and what new ones are on tap for next year. One thing is certain...what I don't grow myself from seed, I will definitely buy plants from Tasteful Garden again next year! Burpee plants were so small and very disappointing. While I will definitely go with some of their seeds, NOT the plants. Buyer beware.

On a good note...Lucas's orange peppers have ripened and he's loving them! After all, he worked to hard growing them...NOT!!!! Yeah, thanks Mom!

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009: I HAD TO BUY STORE TOMATOES!!

I've been fighting it tooth and nail, but the growing season is over and the gardens are gone {insert sad face here}. We tore up the gardens except for a few plants there were still producing, which have now all turned to black! We'll clean up the rest of it next weekend and rent the rototiller to get the soil winter ready. We've had quite a few cold nights...and one frost warning...here in Massachusetts. The tomatoes and peppers are turning black :0( The beans are still producing, my poha just flowered again, and I pulled up all the carrots.

The boys wanted BLT's today...I HAD TO BUY STORE TOMATOES! I think my system is in shock. After months of eating heirloom tomatoes for lunch and dinner, I don't think I can eat a store bought tomato again. It's just so sad!

I'm in the process of gathering my thoughts about everything we grew this season. What worked and what didn't? What should we try again? What should we try new next year? All these questions and more will be answered in the next post...keep checking!

2009 GARDEN OVERVIEW: Well, with the 27 degree overnight temperature the gardens are all done. The frost killed the rest of the green beans and herbs. We salvaged what could come inside for the winter, but the rest is gone. Even with a fierce winter predicted for the Northeast, I'm going to try and overwinter the sage and tarragon. Only spring will tell. There were more successes than failures this season. I am most impressed with the tomato plants I grew from seed. Strong healthy plants with thick stocks and incredible root systems. Unfortunately it was a lot of work with not much back...monetarily speaking, I found selling to friends and neighbors was just too hard for me, so next year it will be a smaller garden for my family and some extra to share with special friends. I've taken a look at all that I grew and deciding on what to grow next year. Since we won't have a huge garden or indoor green house next year (well, maybe a small indoor greenhouse), I will have to buy most of the plants. If you've been tracking my blog you know they will only come from one place...Tasteful Garden! If you're contemplating buying your plants for next year, don't go to your local garden center, you have no idea where the plants came from or how they were grown. At Tasteful Garden you get top quality plants grown by Cindy & George Martin on their farm in Alabama. Each plant is lovingly grown and shipped with care. Visit their website, I'm sure you'll be sold on ordering through them! For those of you asking..."she must be getting paid for her testimonial"...NOPE, I am very particular, picky, anal even about the plants I buy and I was very happy with the plants I received.

I will blog again into the new year once the growing schedule is completed and let you know what I'm doing for the 2010 season. Something new I am starting for 2010 is a flower garden for my husband. He loves flowers (me too) and over the years the bunnies and other animals have destroyed all his tulips, daffodils, etc. I'll work with him on what he wants then make him responsible for taking care of them. The back yard gardens are mine, the front yard will be his!! Hope to see you again in 2010!!!