It's hot again, stupid weather, stupid zucchini.

 I didn't go to the garden at all yesterday as it got close to 100 by midday which means it was in the high 80's in the morning. We got food, a trip to the store and we were done for the day. Also not taking Rocky out because of issues with his feet. So got there this morning, landscaping was being watered so good timing and did some puttering around.

Dirt is actually not that pink.

Still a few small tomatoes trying to grow but frankly not sure if I have the patience anymore. Just threw out two that I didn't use from a month ago. I'll be putting any more harvest on the patio table for others. I was trying to pollinate another zucchini flower and in the process, snapped it off. The one with the stem is the male flower, so no hope on that one unfortunately.

This is the one I pollinated two days ago and it still looking good. You can tell when they're ready to be picked not only by size but when they go from being upright to laying over. Same thing with the peppers. The plant is looking wilty for sure but the fruit are supposed to hang down when they're ripening. I had thought I took a picture of the peppers but guess not, not a memory thing but using phone one handed and thumb didn't actually hit the button.

 

 

 

 

 Then there's the amount of mildew on the zucchini bushes. That picture was taken around 10 am and the bed is already in full shade. I'm going to try and get out there earlier to see if it gets any sun in the morning but I can tell by the wall and angle that likely not. Soon to be a lettuce patch for sure.

One thing I didn't post about was cleaning out the planter box that I moved. After dumping it out I saw that whoever had used it, had taken the tray off the bottom and put it inside. I guess that works for holding more water but not what I would want to do.

 The bottom is cracked roughly where the white splotches are. Gee more drainage, excellent! Apparently they didn't think so and put the tray on the inside. Not a big deal really and will have to get some potting soil if I want to use it. Even if I didn't plant directly in it, I can still use it to put small peat pots in it for seedlings. Still way hot to do that so another project for another day.

I chewed up the dirt behind the pepper plant more and watered the heck out of it. Soaked it really really well so it's easier to work. Still going to be a lot of digging but I need the exercise and am still wondering if I should just pull up the zucchini now to work that bed sooner since it's in the shade now and getting more mildew than I'm comfortable with. I might consider growing it again next year but would still have the same problems with not enough room in the kitchen to cook what I want. 

For records sake we should be in this apartment for a minimum of three years. We've already been here a little over a year. Why, do you ask, am I bringing this up? Because for gardening purposes that is a good gauge on what a garden does over a period of time. Second, it is the minimum amount of time that landlords and lenders want to see someone living at.

Because I still want to have my own little piece of land with a house on it something like this: