Photoessay: Late Summer Garden

featuring the 8' x 8' sun gold tomato plant!

It’s taken a while for things to “get going” in this Maine garden - a combination of climate and learning curve. First, I will list the Negative Lessons Learned this Growing Season:

• do not ever fill your planting boxes with 60% wood chips, not even if they are ramial (“green” chips from leaves and branches)

• do not plant your squash in the vicinity of a woodchuck

• do not attempt corn in Maine (or anywhere) unless you know what you are doing

• eggplants and peppers only in full sun (meaning all day)

• cucumbers might look like they are doing well, but then don’t do well (woodchuck?)

• why can’t I grow dill or parsley???

two-inch tall parsley, in wood chips; the single squash in the garden; examples of fine squash blossoms - speculating that the woodchuck eats the baby squash when young and tender; typical corn stalks - you have to look hard!; this summer's only eggplant; typical scabby cukes

And the Positive Ones:

• dog poo “brown gold” for flower beds = SUCCESS!

• livestock panel archway is great for growing green beans

• snapdragons keep going through the summer, sending up new stems from the parent stem

• the 8’x8’ sun gold tomato plant

plant from various angles - dogs for size comparison

full glory in the morning sun

Curiosities:

• tithonia can be anything from 6-inches to 6-feet tall, depending on various mysterious factors

the littlest, medium-est and biggest tithonia plants

• sometimes an avocado plant will surprise you

couldn’t get even one avocado pit to sprout on the windowsill this winter - this one made its way via compost into the garden and decided to sprout on its own

Garden Hero:

• Plant Identifier App!!!

examples of plants (the last one is a mulberry tree!) that were able to grow because the plant identifier app stopped me from yanking the seedlings out of the soil (including the avocado plant)

This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood bumble bee: