And then there was none.

 Rain all gone, only a few puffy clouds and clear skies making for hot weather without the humidity from now until who knows when. We're locked up for the day and don't expect to go out again until sunset. The title also refers to pulling the cucumber finally.

 

That's all folks! Still have the bean and pepper though and I thoroughly flooded the pepper because it was wilting. I noticed it wasn't draining well so I dug at the dirt with the trowel then moved it to a pile of bark pieces to drain better. Worked like a charm.

But that's basically it for the season. I might throw a little fertilizer on the bean but honestly there's no point, it should be twice the size it is. Combination of soil and weather I think has stunted it and all the other plants as well. Tomatoes are about the only thing that will grow in that dirt so might do that later. The neighbor beds are also empty except for weeds so I'm not the only one in the summer garden doldrums.

I just had a brain storm idea for a combination of pots/raised bed situation then realized it doesn't make sense but hear me out.  Take a bucket like that or even a wood tub, maybe just a wood box of some sort. Lay down either weed barrier or wire netting or both, cut the bottom off the container you're using and put it on top of that. Fill with soil and voila, all you need do at the end of the season is pull up the sides and let the soil fall out. Move that soil aside (this is where having weed barrier on top of wire mesh is helpful) clean off the inside of the container, mix old soil with new soil and fill it up again.

Now, why do that when you can just get a container with a bottom? Ever try and lift a 5 or 7 gallon bucket of dirt and tip it over? Now if you don't have a gopher or mole or whatever digging animal problem then just the weed barrier is good. Also have you ever dug out the soil from a half barrel? Another hard job right there. So it's not so easy to do that sort of thing with the bed frame that I was gifted but you could still do it. Just dig down to the bolts and unbolt them then pull it apart. Or get two or three strong people to lift it up. Yeah, I know.

But let's talk about possible things I want to grow in that small but useful raised bed. It will be winter first so onions, garlic, lettuce, carrots, potatoes. All the leaf and root crops possible. Radishes are good but I don't eat them much. Given good soil I can have a better crop and use them more. 

For summer there's a 'salsa' garden. I mentioned that before and the only problem is the cilantro is cool season. I guess you can grow that in a shady spot while the peppers, tomatoes and (green) onions grow in the rest of the bed. It's a rather ambitious selection and the one quick picture I saw she was planting two types of tomatoes. Okay hon, tomatoes get huge. A good tomato will get at least 2 feet across in all directions, if not more. I would suggest one of the 'patio' type tomatoes that are dwarf but have good size fruit. That's all. You've got a jalapeno pepper to put in there, that's another foot or two wide, then there's the onions and cilantro. The plan below is what's called 'intensive French Gardening' or 'Square Foot Gardening' and wayyy too much for that space to thrive.

First, they think tomatoes will stay confined to a 1x1 space, (scuse me while I fall of my chair laughing). Second, what kind of salsa are they making that needs parsley and basil? Where's the oregano? Basil does well in that kind of soil but not oregano. Cilantro will bolt before the hot peppers have started same with the tomatoes and sweet pepper. I have seen some salsa recipes have sweet pepper as well as hot but they don't specify which type of peppers.

Most of the plans on that page (Gardener's Supply Company) are not realistic for that small a space, nor the timing of the vegetables (in my area). I'm sure in places where spring is longer and summers are milder everything can be copacetic. I'm not in the midwest nor northwest... my friend in Washington was posting pictures of columbine in June at her place. By June they are withered and done in my area.

Here's how I would plant that: A/E: 1 tomato. B/C, leave as is, D/H: Oregano, F/G: leave as is but fewer plants by half. You saw how big my cilantro got, that stuff will reseed easily by summer. 

For a winter garden: A: Cool season tomato, B/C: Peas, D: Carrots, H: Radishes, F/G: Lettuces. Other crops that are usually suggested are things like kale, cabbage, broccoli, all that cole crops which I don't eat that much nor have room for, oh yes and beets which I dislike with a passion.

So ideas on ideas for an ideal planting. Not the one pictured above (still laughing about the two tomatoes confined in a 1x1 area).