August continues the visitors to the yard… not really ones that I want. Not to mention the record temps. I’m really over the 97+ temps for weeks on end.
It seemed like Sable and this lil one had an understanding for the month. There were more times than I was comfortable with where I went out to get her to stop her barking and they were nose to nose. I’m not sure how we didn’t get sprayed. It took a few weeks for me to skunk proof the yard and get them out. Only to have the racoons start to get into the fertilizers that I had in the mini greenhouse.
I could have done without that stuff while I was trying to figure out how I could buy a new house. Well not new, but new to me and keep this one. I really do love this lil house, but I really would like some more space. Long story made short, I wasn’t able to offer the asking price so they took a different offer. Heart breaking, as I would have LOVED to be in the mountains again and living near Matt and Jess would have been fantastic. I might still have another shot at living out there, if I can talk them into selling me the rental property.
The beds and pots next to the garage are LOVING the completed drip irrigation, as you can see. The luffa took off this month. I’m still not seeing any gourds growing yet, but I put up netting thinking the birds were eating the flowers. Turns out I was wrong, those were the male flowers that only last 24 hours and then they drop off the plant.
The herb trough are also just loving the drip system I have for them. They have really expanded. I’ve never seen them take off like this and given the heat we’ve had… it’s rather surprising.
From left to right…
That is a broccoli plant that hasn’t done anything yet. I’m holding out hope that once the weather cools down it will form some nice heads of broccoli. Next up the whiskey barrel, that I have discovered needs to have holes drilled into the bottom of it. The little bit of rain we did get left that a soupy mess. The basil seems to be okay with it. In the grow bag is horseradish. I really like the look of it, I’m going to expand that one a bit and start a second one for next year.
The first trough has a lot of things in it. Spearmint that is trying to take over, along with Chives, rosemary, English thyme, and a rouge asparagus plant. The middle trough has Greek oregano and sage in it. The last one has peppermint, tarragon, dill, parsley, cosmos and CA poppies in it. In front of the middle one are sweet potato slips. At the very end that you can’t see is a blueberry plant that is doing rather well.
The only things that made it in this bed were two tomato plants. Beefsteak and Sunset cherry tomatoes. The only successful ones of the 4 types that I tried to grow. The potatoes to the left are just about ready to harvest, I just need to have them die back a bit more before I harvest them.
The lemon/lime bush is much happier now that it isn’t in the afternoon sun. I hadn’t realized that the pot was getting so hot that it was cooking the root ball.
The peony plant that was in this pot didn’t make it, but the zinnias I put in there are doing fantastic.
The sunflowers are starting to wind down. I don’t think I’ll let as many grow next year. I’d rather have some shorter perennial plants instead.
