Roses and thorns

Sometimes at summer camp, my cabin would do roses and thorns: at night, before going to bed, we'd all go around in a circle and describe the day's roses (good things) and thorns (not so good things). Here are my garden's roses and thorns for the past week and a half or so, starting with the thorns so that we end on a good note! Sadly (?) this post will probably be less about which boys were talking to who and more about which plants are growing.

Thorns:

1. My basil plant is basically squirrel bait.



Just when I think it's looking good... the squirrels dig up at least one of the growths. I don't think they're actually eating anything - maybe they're looking for the rocks they buried in the fall (sigh) - but it's definitely not helping the plant's growth. Now that Robin and I have basil pen pal plants, I really want this little guy to survive and give me lots of good basil!

2. Something is up with my lettuce.



I don't know if it's just the growth of the chard relative to the growth of the lettuce, but... it doesn't look like much has changed on the lettuce front. Quite the opposite, in fact: I think more lettuce has died than has grown. Sad! I am going to try to figure out how to help my little lettuce, and hopefully by the next post it will be on its way towards getting huuuuuuuge.

Middle of the road:

1. My strawberries are growing, but are kinda meh!



Also, there were two growing when I left for Mammoth, and only one remained when I got back. This time, the squirrels went TOO FAR. But I can't blame them, the strawberries are pretty good. I place them in between Ralph's strawberries and farmers market strawberries.

Roses:

1. The green onions are looking less and less like sad grass!

Before:



After:



Ok ok, the first picture is kind of unfair because it's after a squirrel rampage, but still: each little onion is standing up straight and has new growth. I just hope that this pot is deep enough for them to grow in.

2. Things are getting huge out there. Look how big the tomato plant has gotten relative to the bell pepper plant!



It's getting big to the point of me needing to obtain a support system for the plant and I should also figure out how to prune it correctly so that it grows as best it can. I'm looking forward to seeing blossoms!! And my bean plants are freaking loving it out there:



So lush, and so many blossom-y type things, which might actually be new leaves but I'm hoping for blossoms.

3. Squash blossoms!! They're almost here!



It's a little blurry (haven't quite mastered the art of close-ups with the phone camera yet) but the round growths at the base of the plants are fo sho blossom-type things! I am so excited - there are like 20 blossoms if you count the other plant, too! Exclamation points!

4. Just overall... things are a-growin' out there. This picture is from April 12. Please note the huge difference in tomato size and relative bean plant lushness (the bean plants line the left side of the picture).



Seriously the tomato plant, I am just so pleased. Next time: more thoughts on how to care for my plants now that they're planted? Fertilizer? Pruning? WE'LL SEE!!

(Oh, though in adventures in pruning: I decided to de-flower my thyme plant (har har) to see if it helps divert more energy towards actually growing the leaves instead of the flowers. Update on that to come!)