Not giving up yet

Today was clean up the garden day.  We've had so much rain in the last few days, a lot of leaves and small branches were in the yard.  Moved all the containers and raked it up.  Then I sprayed a bug killer near the side of the cottage.  Let it dry before putting the containers back.  I saw a beetle just sitting on a cherry tomato leaf watching me work. The nerve! I'm sure it looked comical when I chased it down. He managed to get away. I'll be keeping a diligent eye out for him.

Crookneck Squash

I replanted the squash, zucchini and cucumbers from starter plants.  I have them in different parts of the garden so I hope that makes a difference.

Zucchini

Cucumber

Harvest

Cleaned up my yellow wax beans as the foliage was looking terrible. Some of the leaves were yellow with holes. I harvested what I could, even some that were not ready yet. I still have some flowers and beans on them but it's looking sparce.  They are supposed to be bush beans but mine aren't bushy. I added a few more beans to the soil and supports so the leaves and stems don't hang over the pot brushing the ground. The banana peppers are doing well.

White eggplant

My white eggplant is growing nicely.  More beautiful flowers are blooming. Those look yummy.

Bell Pepper

Finally have flowers on the petite bell peppers.

Another one bites the dust

Since my last post my cucumber has died.  Maybe I didn't get all the beetles. This is frustrating as I really wanted my garden to produce.  Perhaps it's where I have the containers.  I would like to have the containers off the ground and on stands. Budget says no. Bugs are eating the leaves on the wax beans and worms are curling the leaves on the eggplant. I reopened the leaves, got the worms out and sprayed with insecticidal soap.

Cleaning up the pests

The squash and zucchini didn't make it. I pulled it out and haven't decided whether to start over. I did see a cucumber beetle yesterday. Chased it down so could kill it. Still no cucumbers yet but plenty of flowers. I saw a bee having a good ole time in the flowers.

Lettuce

This is Parris Island Romaine. I started from seed in March so I hope it does well this summer. It gets afternoon sun and seems to be doing okay. Still have another packet just in case it doesn't. If that happens then it will be started in August.

Zucchini

Oh what joy I felt when I finally saw my first zucchini starting after so many male flowers dropping. I didn't think that was going to happen. Two zucchinis are starting, hard to see sorry.
I think this is being attacked by beetles too. I haven't seen any on the plant but one side collapsed and my two zucchinis turned brown in two days.

Crookneck Squash

Crookneck Squash was easy to start with seeds. If you saw my inspiration post I had to transplant these. I also added a few more seeds just in case the transplant didn't take. Well these grew very nicely and finally have flowers. Unfortunately yesterday it looked like it was dying. Wilted leaves and bent stems all over the place. I watered it and moved it to a shadier spot to recoup.

I have noticed a few beetles around. I think it may be attacking my plant. I did kill them and rechecked the leaves and stems for any hidden varmits. I hope it makes it.

Cucumber

This is a fast growing vine that likes to be watered a lot. I made a trellis from bamboo sticks. I didn't realize that the vine would outgrow it. This was started with starter plants. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell the male from the female flowers. Not enough bees around but plenty of wasps.

White Eggplant

I chose white eggplant to grow because a customer kept saying that it was the best, tastes like veal. LOL I hope so. We didn't have any in seeds so I got the starter plants. It was easy to plant and I read that it likes the heat. The blooms are so pretty. I hope to have some eggplant to eat soon.

Herbs

Time for herbs. I planted cilantro from seed because every time I purchased a starter plant it eventually died. A co-worker told me to try seeds. So far so good.

Oregano and thyme is great to add to any dish. I love the smell of thyme. These were starter plants I started in March. The first photo is a month later. I've trimmed them repeatedly but it looks like the oregano wants to take over.
Basil. What can I say, it's aromatic. Chives are a first for me. Found this starter plant on sale at the grocery store. I ran out of containers so I grabbed what I had.

Culantro is a must have in my garden. The smell when you rub the leaves brings back memories of the spanish dishes my mother made.

Lavender is a first as well. Didn't think I was going to use it but wanted something decorative. It smells wonderful.

Sweet Banana Peppers

The first photo was taken in April. I believe I planted them at the beginning of the month. I was waiting for sweet banana peppers to arrive at work because I didn't want the hot ones. Yes that's the Topey Turvey for peppers. It has 7 openings and shorter than the tomato and strawberry one. I like it. The next two pictures shows quite a few peppers growing. The last one was a left over from my purchase so it's in a separate pot. It likes to be watered everyday. The growth is amazing. I used Sea Magic seaweed fertilizer.

Sweet Potato

I fell in love with pictures of the sweet potato vines. I never grew potatoes before so I tried to get starters. I tried at Burpee but they do not ship these to Florida. So I asked several people at work and they all said stick it in the ground. I purchased one at the grocery store and I put it in a pint sized canning jar with water and put it on the kitchen windowsill. It sat for a few weeks with nothing happening. Then I noticed roots growing and leaves pressed against the glass. I planted it and it has grown so much that a larger container will be needed.

Tomatoes

These are Big Boy tomatoes and they were doing well up until last month. I believe the neighborhood cat sprayed on them one to many times and it died. So I started over with a new variety "BHN 602" in a larger container. It's supposed to be disease resistant and heat tolerant. We shall see how well it does in the Florida heat.

Beans

After repeatedly looking at the book by Pamela Crawford, "Easy Container Combos: Vegetables and Flowers", I had an image in my head for my container garden with 3 different vegetables inside. Got the container, soil and seeds. I planted crookneck squash, golden wax bush beans and romaine lettuce.

What a choice, but this is my way of learning. Seeds sprouted fast, almost too fast because I realized that my container was too small. I read that beans don't like to be repotted so I transplanted the squash and lettuce.

Bush beans are really bushy and I thought it could use some support. I had some bamboo poles and stretchy garden ties. I should not have left it up because with the recent almost daily downpours, it needed more circulation.

I do have beans sprouting, yeah!

I even planted green bush snap beans. I made sure I didn't overload the container.

Strawberries

Started strawberries using the Topsy Turvey for strawberries. It has 15 openings and there was no way I was going to buy 15 starter plants for 3.00 each. I purchased 5 starter plants that already had 3 plants in each container and divided them. Started out great in March and into April (2nd photo). Only lost 3 plants then. Now it looks like a few more are dying. It's mostly on the bottom. Recent rains knocked off the blooms. I'm tempted to take it all out and put in a pot. We shall see what happens.

New Gardener

I was intrigued by a book that showed vegetable and flower containers. The more I read the more I wanted to try it. I got really excited and could not wait to start. Because this is my first vegetable garden I expect some failures as I learn. I always had a problem growing anything from seeds. I'm using containers as I rent. The landlord says I can plant anything I wanted but there are some outdoor cats around and didn't want them digging and doing their business in my garden.
Now to post the pics.