Almonds on the tree...i can't wait to see the final product come off this tree




the grape plants are doing well.


my jalapeno is coming along nicely. it is about an inch long...




japanese cucumber - it is now constantly bloom. there are supposed to be both male and female flowers, but so far i've seen only female flowers most of the time. (like squash, the female flowers have a growth near the base of the flower which looks like a small cucumber)


japanese cucumber and some sugar snap peas.


soybean plants are getting bigger and bushier...no flowers yet, though. im wondering if it is missing something (in terms of nutrients)




watermelon growth has slowed a bit. i think its because i only water the plants about 2 - 3 times a week (we are in a drought and limited in water usage). i do what i can.


sweet potato is still hanging in there...


sugar snap peas are developing nicely. i have counted about 7 - 8 pea pods so far. more flowers showing up too.




my seedlings are coming along. next weekend i will be planting the first plantings of the blue lake bush beans.


this is my first zucchini i harvested from my zucchini jungle. it is 6 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter.


the zucchini jungle...












overview of the left side of the garden




my sweet 100 tomato plants - its a huge bush. i have been trimming some of the bottom leaves for more air circulation to avoid any diseases (mold).


the tomato fruit are growing well...


another hibiscus flower bloomed this morning


the california poppy bush. i love the foliage and the color it brings into the garden. quite a spectacular orange.


the yellow bell pepper plant - however unhappy - is actually blossoming. im hoping to see this fruit. i found out that it is unhappy because i am watering it too much. i will be cutting back more on the watering of my plants anyway (except for the watermelon).


here are the broccoli seed pods up close. they are getting really bumpy now. i have to wait till they all dry up before i pick them.


an overview of the right side of the garden...


flowers at the back of the right side (nearest to the almond tree)


a weed flower of some kind. it just started to grow here all on its own, and it has some pretty little orange flowers. i have to keep an eye on this to see if it is something that i want...it seems to spread very close to the ground


the tomato plants - looking up towards the almond tree.


another view...


the tomato plants starting from the far right (nearest to the house), moving left...

nice surprises and one unhappy thing

I haven't really spent much time in the garden the past 2 days, so I was pleasantly surpised by a few things in the garden...

some calendula started growing from the seeds i planted last weekend...


also, some german chamomile started sprouting all over the pots i sprinkled the seeds on


THIS was the biggest surpise for me...over a month ago (more like getting close to two months), i decided i wanted to plant sweet potatoes because they are really good for the birds and also rather expensive. i couldnt find any sweet potato plants or "slips" so i just went to a grocery store, bought a large sweet potato and planted the whole thing in the ground. NOTHING happened and i actually was thinking about digging it out this weekend, until i saw THIS (today) growing out of that area i planted the potato in...


wow...although i am, again, off in the planting time of this plant. i believe it is supposed to be planted in late summer and to be harvested in the spring, or something like that. anyways, we'll see what this brings. it has a really lovely dark reddish foliage...


the very first jalapeno flower i photographed in this blog is now showing a small jalapeno fruit growing!


some sugar snap peas are also growing from the first flowers i previously photographed




this is not much of surprise, but being in the zucchini jungle is always cool...


i also noticed that im growing at least 2 different kinds of zucchini - one is a lighter green speckled with white... (there are two of these plants)


the other zucchini is a darker green (no white speckles). (i have one of these) and i have another zucchini plant that has only small buds on it - i can't tell the color of it yet.


the first plantings of blue lake bush beans. these were planted just over a month ago. i will be planting them in the ground either this weekend or next.


these are the blue lake bush beans i planted 2 weeks after the first planting. they are just about to emerge...


my carrot seedlings..it must've been about 3 weeks to a month ago since i planted these seeds. they say the hardest thing about carrots is the germination. so far, i have 10! yay! i think its about time i planted more seeds.


my echinaechea (sp?) is starting to bloom. i bought this pretty thing last weekend.


well, this is one of 3 unhappy pepper plants. im thinking it has something to do with how much water im giving them. i think this weekend, im going to look for some kind of organic slow release fertilizer (10-10-10 or so) for this plant and others, as well as maybe cutting back on the water...just in case im giving too much.


that's it! sunday as usual, i will post the overview of the entire garden.