The battle continues

I am actually facing two continuing battles. The first is that random trash continues to show up in my plants - I woke up Saturday morning to at least three beer cans scattered throughout the garden. I am thinking of checking into the price/permit of a taser gun (overreaction, what?). Seriously, though - is this a fun game to drunk people? My plants are not dead, it is obvious that someone is taking time and effort to work on the garden, and their response is to throw things in it? Ergh. /end rant

Who doesn't enjoy waking up to this? And yes, I even recycled the cans - they may be douchebags, but I don't need to be. The good in this picture - basil to the right! My herbs I grew from seeds are thriving!

The second battle is against the container that wouldn't drain, aka the soup container. I was thrilled to wake up the morning after my creative solutions (from my last post) to see that the soil level had dropped and pressing on the top led to a firm bounce back.

Yay! The soil was completely saturated, but solid. And we have no rain in the forecast (in fact, we are supposedly hitting record highs today and tomorrow), so it should have a good chance of drying out.

It was apparent, however, that the strawberries were not going to recover. So on Saturday I drove off to Home Depot to replace them. I already have 3 Quinault plants and one AllStar in the  other strawberry container that are thriving, so I wanted a different variety. I could only find Ozark Beauty (I had also had a fourth whose name escapes me now) in a rather large hanging pot, so I snatched it up. It already had several small white berries on it, so I thought perhaps that would give it a much-needed leg up.

I just planted the strawberries last night, and I was sad to see that the herbs were alarmingly droopy (particularly visible in the sage on the right, below). However, I am hoping that the infusion of new, healthy plants with their own drier soil will help to soak up the moisture and the herbs will begin to perk up again.

New strawberries on the left. Sad herbs on the right. C'mon guys!

Other than the herbs, yesterday was full of encouraging sights on the balcony. The first was that I harvested strawberries - FIVE of them, from three separate plants. Five whole strawberries - I'm going to have to open a stand at the farmer's market!

Yum! They may be weird shaped and wouldn't make it through any sort of inspection, but I grew these bad boys! And they taste good - obviously the most important aspect.

I seem to reveal a new cluster of cherry tomatoes on the Sweet n' Neat every time I lift a leaf, and the Patio tomato plant has at least three wonderfully firm green fruits on it - I was under the impression that this was also a cherry tomato plant, but I am obviously mistaken and hence eager to see how big the tomatoes actually get before they ripen. And to top it all off, I spotted the first blooms on my Heirloom plant! I've read more about this plant, and I should've been pruning it throughout the spring - this serves as both a way to keep it from sprawling across the entire patio (mine is in danger of doing that) and encourages it to put its plant energy into blooming and growing fruits instead of growing more greenery. It's a good thing to be aware of for next year.

Some Sweet 'n Neat.

More Sweet 'n Neat - whaaaaat. I have plans for a fresh bruschetta once these bad boys actually ripen.

Two of the fruits from the Patio. They look just like real tomatoes!

The capper - my first blooms on the Heirloom plant. I am a bit concerned about how to support this branch if they do turn into fruit - it is nowhere near anything I can tie it to.

Finally, my pea plants are completely out of control. They have started to help define "urban sprawl," and I'm not sure what to do about them. They also will not, no matter how hard I try to manipulate them, wrap around the balcony bars - I think they are too thick. My mother suggested the soil may have too much nitrogen, which can make them grow and grow but not blossom. Unfortunately at this point there isn't too much to do about it, but it is definitely something to be aware of for next year (note to self: learn how to say "nitrogen" in Swiss German. Also learn how to say "garden," "plants," and "hello").

If you look carefully, you can see the original lattice I built is bent over with the weight of the plants. And I was worried they wouldn't grow...

Lolli says "Stop writing crazy lady. I am missing my time at the dog park."