I live in the high desert of SoCal, where the soil is pretty much toast. So, I grow things in pots too.

Not this year, though. It's been hectic professionally, so I can't pay that much attention to the plants.

Love your 'helper'! I don't have a pet, but I do have 10 wild desert cottontail rabbits in the backyard, wondering why I haven't planted this year... "Where's my veggies?!?!"

I wish I knew know to post photos, so as to show all my 'bunny rabbit cabal'.

My garden cat would root around and sleep in his catnip patch, but not eat a leaf.

that she sleep on in *her* chair. I gave up trying to sit in it, because she made certain I was aware that it was hers because she dragged a blanket into it, won't give it up, and has two different toys I bought for her buried in the blanket on the leather chair.

She's a smart cookie, and knows I adore her so she gets away with it. When I am outside, though, she *MUST* be in my business

I am taking really good care of them!

I swear the Sun Gold grows an inch every day!

(my straw bale project) - and find that tomato plants grow between 1-2 inches per day!

DEFINITELY in the norm. It's coming along beautifully, but as you can see, all of them are okay .

It's the middle one. I couldn't set them out until last week, though I kept them in the potted containers with soil you get from the store. That's six days in the sun and with some rain. It's truly fantastic.

They are bursting out of the box! The Sun Gold is flowering.



Eleven days later! They are thriving .

it is what we have, to be honest.

Though west looking, it gets way too hot out there.

This is actually the first time I have ever successfully grown anything, and I guess I'm kind of proud of that. My father has been helping me with it, offered advice and has shown me what fertilizer, soil to use and such, but I've watered them every day, and followed his advice. And now I have vegetables!

Your "helper" sounds like my Yogi. If I so much as move one piece of paper in the house, he goes and investigates it and tries to figure out why I did that. He actually looks at me like "Why did you do that, I wonder?" You have a beautiful garden.

I've never really been able to grow anything, though I have tried. This year is the first year I actually have developing vegetable, and I'm so happy I could just do a happy dance about it .

When I grow something in containers, though, it usually grows nicely. As long as you remember to watch the water and make sure they don't dry out, things grow easier in containers, imo.

I still have my fig tree cuttings, two of the original three survived, in the garden tub and got 3 figs off them this spring so far. I needed to have their own planter built for them and will need to save back up. I'm going to harden them off one way or another in the fall. So, they can get used to living outside. They are getting sort of big for my garden tub. After that, those containers will be free to start some sort of plants indoors for winter. I like to grow stuff in my garden tub in winter, because apparently there is enough sunlight in my bathroom to grow figs that tasted so nice and sweet. There should be enough to grow at least the cayenne I want to grow too, hopefully. If not, I'll get an herb kit and have at it. I'll stick to the garden tub growing until I can get saved back up for the soil for my planters outside.

That's when I discovered (I know, what took you so long to realize this, Aerows?) that you can grow in containers. It's easier to regulate water and fertilizer, plus we have armadillos around here, and they tore my lettuce out of the ground about 3 days after it sprouted. It's more difficult for them to get in the pots.

I had butter lettuce sown and growing then, in one night, attack of the whatever it was (had to be armadillos) tearing them out of the ground.

So, the container gardening is much better. You can control what goes into your compost in one container, then use it in another container once it is broke down to grow things in it.

Plus, something great I discovered has to do with the bees and wasps. They used to sting me a lot. So, I didn't like dealing with them. One day, I got tired of cleaning the little plastic flower decorations on the hummingbird feeder and took them off. It made it so the wasps and bees can get to the nectar. Now they land on my hand while I'm filling it and don't sting me any more. So, just by accident I was able to be around them even though I used to swell up bad when they stung me. It helps to have them around the garden or anywhere where you are growing anything.

What a great idea! I have bees around, I bet they would like that.

Have you thought of the grow boxes/earth boxes, etc.? You can build one for under $20. They have plans for them all over the internet, and if the tomatoes NRaleigh sent me get to big in the box I build I can move them.

Actually, I plan to plant all of them in the earth box type next year. It's self watering.

a cute kitty!!!!!

I love them all especially the kitty

I envy your growing season! I'm in NH and it's just the past 2 or 3 weeks that I've been able to plant seed. Transplants went out earlier...alas, not much gardening today...it has rained for 3 days...everything's too soggy to work.

But thankfully, we had enough of a rain free day to take pics. Thanks for the compliment.

so good, in fact, that I bet you'll need bigger pots for them before long.

I'm growing some Sun Golds in pots - can't find that variety as started plants in any garden stores, had to start them from seeds - they are the best cherry tomatoes ever. I'm growing them in pots because the only part of my yard that gets enough sun for tomatoes is a part of the front yard that's not far from my neighbor's black walnut tree - and black walnuts kill tomatoes. But I can control them better in pots anyhow. I can hardly wait til they ripen, they're my favorite kind of tomatoes.

Heck the more vegetables, the merrier .

I didn't even realize they are cherry tomatoes. I detest cherry tomatoes and Bell peppers, and it seems I'm growing them LOL My mother loves cherry tomatoes, though and for her, I'd do anything. My father loves bell peppers and I despise them, but for him, I'll take extra good care to grow a crop of them.

Everything else is a vegetable that I like I grow things that family members like, too.

They don't turn red like other tomatoes; they will be orange when they're ripe. I'm not a huge cherry tomato fan either, but I really love Sun Golds.

Nice cat, BTW.

have this icky aftertaste I detest. I never liked tomatoes until I discovered that if you de-seed them, they taste awesome. I think I'm just icky with the seeds on tomatoes.

Now Bell Peppers? Nothing in the universe is going to get me over the corpse smell they have. They stink like decay to me, and my nose gets assaulted when I water them. I'm growing them, though, because my father loves them.

Icky bell peppers

I've found some other yellow or gold varieties like Sun Sweet that are pretty good, though not as sweet as Sun Golds. I haven't noticed any kind of aftertaste in the ones I've grown; maybe it's because they're home grown. I can take bell peppers or leave them - I don't mind them but I've never bothered to grow them myself. There are a couple of vegetables that I will not eat: Raw onions, especially the red ones (and I'm not crazy about cooked onions, either, but can gag them down in small doses), which completely destroy the flavor of whatever they're in and render it inedible, and brussels sprouts, which are truly horrible no matter how you cook them. They taste and smell like rotting garbage with an overtone of something extremely bitter. Yuk!

is EXACTLY my feeling with bell pepper, except I ADORE onion.

Bell Pepper, cooked raw or disguised in a dish, I can taste the nastiness.

It's funny how our taste buds develop

Nothing you can do to them is going to make them palatable to me - but Brussels Sprouts and all forms of cabbage in general? Love it.

It is so odd how one person can taste something completely different and find it appealing while someone else finds it repellant!

Every plant looks so healthy and what a great idea to use the containers...

Just looking at your photos with the bricks in front of the containers makes me think that the bricks would retain heat from the day and be able to radiate the heat at night thus providing a consistent temperature from day to night... and your plants would feel quite cozy..

I think that may be a good idea here in a chillier climate..

Years ago when I was living in Ireland, my neighbour had a lovely garden. She said that her first year gardening she had planted tulip bulbs, but in the spring all her neighbours tulips came up but hers did not...

So she carefully dug down into the soil and looked at her tulip bulbs and she saw that she had planted all the bulbs upside down.

But the tulip bulbs had all grown and the growing stem of the tulips had turned and were heading up towards the sun and the surface of the ground.

That gave her confidence that nature would help out even if her method was all wrong

But your plants look beautiful Aerows and so does your helper..

Thanks again.

something beautiful on this lovely day . Glad you liked it.

She has the sweetest disposition of any cat I've ever owned. I adore her.

My strawberry beds are completely overrun with grass and flowery weeds, I have to root around to find the strawberries.

I'm just happy that raspberry season is finally on, I've picked the first cup of berries in the last two days, and hope to get more than 3 gallons for the season.

Raspberry cobbler! :drool: Made with fresh raspberries :double drool:!

Such a beautiful cat.

I love the garden and adore my cat She's a sweetheart and NOSY LOL

..... "If you think I am signing a release you are nuts! If you post that pic your carpet is toast!"