Fibermania

Garden Report: August

There have been successes and disappointments, which is to be expected with any garden.

While we have had lots of glorious rain, we have also had many dark and cloudy days which slowed things down to a crawl.

Here we have a glob of Japanese Beetles, our regular visitors in August, chomping away at my Knock-Out roses, which are abundant, as I try to think positively. Our basil is huge and we have had many lovely pesto dinners, but it is now being attacked by tiny caterpillars, so I must harvest and soak it in salt water to remove them. The White Impatiens is a surprise. I planted those last year and they went to seed (I couldn't tell because the nasturtiums had so overtaken everything ) and they re-seeded! I guess if I don't remove them I will have them again next year...and you can bet I won't pull them out.

While my back was turned the stinkin' voles invaded the flower box and ate the Gnome's garden. Big holes were observed, and left to dry out. I will water what is left and hope for the best. I am delighted to see my first Calla lily in bloom in the Lasagna bed, where the voles ate all the hosta I tried to save there. They eat the fleshy root ball and leave the leaves.

My pitiful excuse for a harvest. Just not enough light to bring forth big fat beauties. I live and learn.

The beds don't look bad from a distance. And we did get a couple of batches of green beans from these plants, but nothing to write home about. In the same bed I had planted carrots, beets, and cucumbers, all disappointing. Insufficient light. Next year: flowers.

My peppers soldier on. It is pretty cool up here on the shady side of the mountain. My neighbor across the road has SUPER sized plants, since she has no trees to hide her sun. My only solace is that our air conditioner doesn't work as hard as hers.

There is still hope for a big red treat to come.