Garden Post!

How's the summer treating my garden?

The sunflowers are blooming!

Which is making the bees happy.

The zucchini is starting to pump out delicious green squashies...

... so is my favorite chocolate zucchini cake far behind?

The Sungolds are ripening...

... and are ready for pizzas, salads, or just snacking.

The basil is looking good, too!

Which means...

Uhhhh...

 what is that?

Well, it's homemade pesto.

I made it from an easy-peasy recipe found on Autostraddle;

the problem is the bright purple basil

which I THOUGHT would make a cool violet pesto

 instead ground up to a not-so-appetizing greenish-grey paste.

It tastes good, though!

So I'm just calling it an homage to a classic Disney dish.

Seriously, Big Bertha Will EFF YOU UP

I decided to let a zucchini just go.

I also decided to get my nerd on and document its growth.

And grow it did!

In just ten days it had doubled in size.

It grew so much I started to worry.

When would it stop?!

Had I forgotten the boundaries of science,

and begun to play GOD?!

Oh, nooooo!!!!

What have I done?!?

Run, everyone!




Run awaaaaay!!!

Attack Of The Zucchini!

Haaaalp!  I surrender!

I GET it, zucchini.  You grow like crazy.

Despite last year's zucchini failure..

...here's the haul from just about a week and a half from

my six "Container Zucchini Astia" plants:

And there's just as many out there on the vines waiting to be picked!

Oh, I can make these tasty zucchini cakes that I found on Pinterest...

... and also pickled zucchini, which was a big hit with my Weight-Watcher's using relatives.

But I think... maybe... six zucchini plants, even container zucchini plants,

are just too many.

Also, the leaves are soooo huge the dang things shade the nearby

annuals and tomato plants.

I'm holding a leaf next to a Topsy-Turvy for scale; the thing is about 12" across.

So next year, I'm only planting three,

and I'm keeping them in bounds by planting them in a pot:

Intrigued by these burlap-wrapped containers?

I'll be posting a tutorial soon!

I Have Achieved Zucchini!!

Look!  I have grown a ZUCCHINI!!

(Stars are not actually part of the zucchini.  But wouldn't it be awesome if they WERE?)

I know, I know... given zucchini's reputation, experienced gardeners are thinking,

"Well, aren't you adorable, all excited about a zucchini!"

But, this is what I managed, zucchini-wise, last year:

However, this year, I used planting soil as rich as chocolate cake,

and a nice deep planting bed.

I planted Zucchini Astia...

...which has been developed for container planting.

AND,

I tried something new!

I planted some zucchini in some

right side-up Topsy-Turvy planters!

I planted tomatoes in the bottom of these last year, and they did... okay... so I was meh

on planting them with tomatoes again this year.

Then I thought, what about using them as a super-deep hanging planter, instead?

GENIUS!

As you can see by the difference in leaf size,

they aren't as crazy-robust as the zucchini plants in the bed ...

... but they are indeed producing zucchini!

WOO!

I AM NOW OFFICIALLY

A SUCCESSFUL ZUCCHINI GARDENER!