An update from the garden

I shot a few photos before I left with my friends to go to the lake. The "Lake" is actually a private pond built by my friends Jan and Jim. They have a beautiful house in the country on a large plot of land, to which they dug a large (nearly six acre) pond late last year. Originally a few of us from grad school had planned to get together over Memorial Day, but one of Jim's children got sick and had to be hospitalized, which put a damper on the get-together.

I tell you all this because I forgot my camera when I went to their home. I packed extra batteries, as well as my charger, but for some reason, the camera didn't make it into my "go bag." So all I have are memories of this wonderful vacation, where we saw a gorgeous moon, shot fireworks over the "lake," swam, and cooled off in the air conditioned house, all the while being fed primarily vegetarian meals that would make your mouth water.


Right before I left, I took photos of my veggie garden, just in case my neighbor didn't water the plants.



Look at those eggplant plants.


They were starting to get big and have a few flowers on them.


Some of the herbs (in the pots) didn't recover from the hail storm a month ago, while others had taken off.


Here is what I returned to. Of course, I had to cut the grass and edge the driveway, but


you can see my herbs are thriving, as is the cantaloupe vine with its pretty yellow flowers.



Did you notice I even swept the drive and got rid of the weeds growing in the cracks?


I couldn't believe how much the tomato plants had grown, although there are still only little yellow flowers and no fruit in sight.


The eggplant has taken over the garden and a few


of the herbs are starting to pop out of the soil (in the pots, that is).


Even the tomato I thought was dead is coming back, although it is being overwhelmed by the cantaloupe vine.


All in all, I would say


the garden is thriving and my neighbor did a great job of keeping it healthy for four days. I expect a harvest any day now!


On the other hand, my front garden looks dead. All the heat and no water has turned it into crispy foliage. Except for that single rose, my fourth bloom of the year, this part of the garden is not thriving. I don't water the front garden. My philosophy is, if it grows, fine, if not, it wasn't meant to be there.


Yes, I've removed the American flags. It's now time to return to business as usual, or as usual as one can get in this 100 plus degree weather.

How is your garden doing? Are you like much of the country and experiencing this intense heat, too, or are you like some of my friends on the west coast who are hoping for warmer weather?

Finally, please don't forget. You have until Tuesday at 12:01 AM CDT (see my right sidebar under Wichita) to enter my blogoversary giveaway. At 12:02 AM, I will close comments. Please leave a comment here if you want to be included in the giveaway.

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