Mother Nature steps in...

In one of my first posts, I worried that I would drown my plants. It turns out, Mother Nature is doing her best to do it for me. We've had only four sunny days in the past 2-3 weeks, and most overcast days have had either a drizzle or downpour associated. I've been surprised to see the wide range of responses. The tomato plants seem to love it - all three have overgrown their pots and have dozens of small yellow blossoms. I tied the heirloom plant to the balcony (with a leg from a former pair of tights) just this past weekend for support and hopefully to encourage it to grow away from the other plants instead of over them. The Patio plant shouldn't need staking/support, and I'm keeping my eye on the Sweet 'n Neat (who names these things?), but so far it is holding its own weight. There's really nothing to do with the tomatoes, as they have needed no tending, but I still like to play around with them simply for the way they smell. They smell like earth and green, and just one whiff reminds me why I've been aching for a garden for the past five years.

Two of the tomato plants. The Heirloom is on the left. This was two days before I strapped it to the balcony, as it was starting to take over the other tomato (the Sweet 'n Neat) and the strawberries on the other side. Not sure if you can see the flowers in this shot - I'll get better pictures!

The other plants that seem to enjoy the rain are the sugar pea plants. All three seem to be surviving, although one is definitely the runt of the litter and may end up getting beaten out by its bigger siblings. While the peas can't beat the tomato plants in scent, they are more interactive. I like to take the little green shoots and curl them around the homemade lattice. The next day, the plant will have taken initiative and wrapped around the string several times, where even a fairly strong tug can't disentagle, and be off in a different direction. I still have no idea if I'll actually get any peas from them, but we'll see.

The pea plants have actually recovered nicely from their precarious repotting. We've reached a tentative mutual agreement in which they've agreed not to be angry at me about it.

The strawberries have been a mixed bag. I have managed to snag a few tasty red ones from my container with only strawberry plants, which make me feel quite triumphant. However, I'd had to throw out just as many berries as I've eaten. Unfortunately, all the extra moisture and sitting water in the container makes the berries quick to rot, sometimes before they've turned more than just a light pink. It's sad to have to throw them away, but I am trying to be more vigilant about catching them before they go bad.

My very first strawberry from the balcony. Others have tasted better and been prettier, but this was my first. They say you never forget your first (and now I won't, because I have this blurry, crappy picture to remember it by).

The strawberry plants that have not been as ill affected by all the rain - complete with ripe berries, unripe berries, and even some flowers.

The other planter with strawberries has not been faring as well. Even when we had three straight days of sunshine, the soil never dried out, and it's taking its toll on all the plants in the container. The strawberries - which even when I purchased them were a little sad - were starting to cheer up, but stalled out since the rain started 3 weeks ago, and now the new sprigs are starting to die.

This was actually taken on day three of sunshine, after the second bout of rain and before the current third one we are enduring. You can see that even three days of sunshine isn't enough to get rid of the standing water around the plants.

The pepper plant in the same container is starting to yellow and droop a little, and the herbs have remained static. I'm fairly sure that thyme and rosemary, at least, prefer a drier soil (I'll have to look up sage, but it also doesn't seem to be inclined to grow). I'm deeply regretting not putting rocks or a better drainage system in place, but I had no idea that Boston would have a monsoon season this summer.

I am behind on my posts and have many more updates, including weekend baking frenzies that have led to as many as six recipes in a day as well as my dog deciding that organic fertilizer is pretty tasty stuff. But for now, I'll just hope that Mother Nature decides to give my plants a day off tomorrow (current forecast: no rain, but heavy cloud cover).