Daily tasks

I try not to think about all the things I want to accomplish with our landscape too often. It's overwhelming. Instead, I try to do one, maybe two things everyday toward those goals. And it might be something as little as cleaning out one container, thinning out seedlings, or succession planting one pot. Gardening is such a constant and evolving process, but I still think I take more steps forward than back.  

Gideon is my gardening buddy. As long as he can carry a shovel, he's ready to go. Today, he helped me say goodbye to my brandywine tomato vine. I had high hopes for it, which didn't pan out. In spite of how pitiful it looks now, especially after an incredibly hot summer of neglect, it represents my first season as a gardener.  Call me cheesy, but I'll always remember it with special fondness.  I harvested the remainders of basil and emptied out the pot completely. Now to decide what to grow next...

My peas are coming up beautifully. The growth from one day to the next is amazing to watch. Mulching them is on my to do list for the next day or two. 

Wednesday

Sunday

The carrots that I'm still pretty sure I'm growing out of season and in too much shade, all came up.  They need to be thinned out, which is a quick task. I'm hoping if I keep Gideon involved in their progress, he'll want to eat them. Assuming they grow to an edible size.

The lettuce patch looks pathetic. Here I'm trying to grow Black Seeded Simpson, loose leaf lettuce and bib lettuce... and swiss chard, kale and broccoli.  It may be hard to see, but all the seeds came up except for one planting. So I get to sow more seeds - score.  :) I love planting. In the grand scheme of gardening, planting seeds is such a small task and also one of my favorites. Nothing happens without the actual planting! I'm really hoping I'll have an amazing progress picture in a few weeks to remind me not to give up on the little things.

This is the only tomato vine that I actively kept alive through the summer (see Shady Seconds). And it still has a handful of tomatoes growing and ripening. I'm going to enlist the husband in moving this whole wonky arrangement to the front yard where a little more sun might help the harvest.  He just loves it when I say, "I need your help with something..."  It almost always means heavy or awkward lifting of some kind, and three times more time commitment than I originally guarantee.  Because once he helps me with this, there's always something else to do.  :)

And the best task of all for today, harvesting something we can actually eat! Everyone's been waiting for me to finish blogging so that I can fix breakfast.  Arugula, I'm coming to get you.
 

Harvestable size. And succession planting success! If you look really close.