Weekly Update: August Week 1

Lots going on this week to be sure!

I turned a vast portion of last week's tomatoes, onions, and peppers into some fresh salsa. It was delicious. I think next time I'll add a bit more salt, but other than that it was pretty good for my first ever attempt! (I forgot to take a picture... but trust me... it looked good too!)

Not a lot new on the veggie front, everything is producing like crazy, but not much new to see. There are some other fun developments on some of the less-edible fronts.

ABOVE: A monarch butterfly came by to check out the crazy blooming nasturtiums. He hung around for quite a while, so I'm hoping maybe he'll tell his friends and we'll see more! At the base of the nasturtium tower the ornamental marble peppers are starting to take on some color too. They are ornamental, but Jason insisted on tasting them this weekend, and according to him they are "hot" very hot!

BELOW: My dwarf lilac shrub is just growing beautifully. I was a bit nervous since it showed up last fall as about three dead looking twigs. I planted it and hoped for the best. I was pleasantly surprised when it budded out this spring and now it is in full bloom and looking very healthy. It's a huge favorite of the local bee population. Hanging out above the lilac are the gerbera daisy's. These two are the tallest from the plant this season with stems about 8' long or so. Finally, the Easter egg plant is loaded down with eggs. No color yet... but they REALLY look and feel just like eggs. It's really fun!

FINALLY: A shout out for some "volunteer" impatients. They are coming up like crazy in the area under the hose. I planted them out there last year (before the pine tree from out front was given a summer home there) but decided not to put in any this year because they were constantly battered by the hose and never did very well. Well apparently they did well enough to re-seed themselves and these little guys have been just going to town and filling in all around the tree. I've NEVER had impatients come back from seed, so this was a doubly big surprise. The other interesting thing is that they seem to have adapted as a dwarf form somehow. They're no bigger than the groundcover but absolutely full of flower. It's really something. I've been really surprised in many ways this year by the way the plants seem to be able to adapt instantly to changes in the environment in ways to make themselves as successful as possible. Truly amazing!