Raising the Stakes

Dayum it was hot today! Nevertheless I went out to tend to my meager garden. My tomatoes desperately needed to be staked, although the plants do look pretty healthy and sturdy. They were hard to stake because they'd already started to gangle out, but I caught them before they started laying roots as they crept. Remember people, tomatoes are VINES! I had caged one of my tomatillo plants a week or so ago, and it has recovered. I shoved the other into a cage today, and I'm not sure it will survive. One of the main stems was bent and stressed, but I hope it comes around. I also have a Japanese eggplant plant, and I have a teeeeeeny eggplant fruit coming on, and another two flower buds! The buds are very pretty too, a pale purple like the fruit.

In the midst of this little plot, all kinds of stuff is popping up. I won't weed it, other than the ubiquitous dandelions (which aren't nice and tender and worth harvesting), because I tossed out seeds and there seem to be, I hope, flowers emerging.

In the upper right corner of the photo is my little herb plot: Italian parsley, mint, oregano, chives and thyme. I stopped by Tractor Supply and got two sage plants for 50¢ each! I also got a nice Thai basil at Wal-mart, which is to the left of the sage plants. It was so damn hot that I decided to wait till tomorrow to plant them, just because I was tired of dealing with the tomatoes in the heat.

I also got one of those "Topsy-Turvy" tomato things on sale at Tractor Supply. I'm not convinced they actually work worth a shit, so I may dig up one of my tomatoes in the little side bed (where my beans and peppers were eaten), or just jam it with herbs. Goodness knows, I have lots of basil:

I'll move 'em into bigger pots. If they stay robust, I'll be making and freezing pesto.

I really wish I had more time for gardening and farming. I hate working in an office. Hateithateithateit.