Right side...



you can see in this one that i have been working on tilling my clay soil. im getting this area of my garden ready for fall planting of various lettuce, carrots, pak choi, sugar snap and snow peas, chinese cabbage, beets, swiss chard, and broccoli. this weekend, i finished 12 feet of a 20-foot area. next weekend, i'll finish this up. i am digging to about 6 - 8 inches down and mixing in organic fertilizer and compost to give nutrients and aeration (sp?) to the soil. fall planting will start around august with 3 succession plantings every 2 weeks or so.


Miscellaneous: up close...

the first bloom on my jalapeno plant


zucchini plants up close...














this one shows the largest of my zucchini buds...it looks like it will be opening soon!

Back area...
the european sugar plum in the foreground, my zucchini jungle in the back


again, sizing my foot to the zucchini leaves...its really getting huge. its at least 4 feet tall now. i have to sometimes cut the leaves down so that some of the plants around it can get some sun exposure.


sugar snap pea plant


soybeans...something has been eating some of the leaves, but the plant continues to get bushy.


my seedlings...i have planted a lot of bell peppers, some calendula (edible flower, looks like a large marigold), sage, basil and carrots. i also have some blue lake bush beans and so far 2 of 6 have sprouted above the soil!


japanese cucumber plants on the left, more sugar snap pea plants on the right


more japanese cucumber plants on the right of the sugar snap pea plants


jalapeno plant on the left, merlot grape plant on the right. there is another soy bean plant on the right of the merlot grape.


two african daises planted in the front, concord grape plant on the right


the sugar baby watermelon plants. the largest of the four is now growing its 3rd "real" leaf

Left side...

From left to right: rosemary, sage, nasturtium, marigold, african daisy


Broccoli seeding in the background, strawberries, marigold and nasturtium in front, and the last remaining carrots up front.




I just planted the yellow bell pepper (to left of the broccoli in the background). more strawberries and marigolds in front


marigolds in front, with chives (garlic and regular) and green onions planted in between; white african daisy with basil to the right; grape tomatoes to the right of the basil


the grape tomatoes...there are now buds on it!


back, left - I just planted this red bell pepper; more marigolds and african daisies; lavender bush on the right with garlic growing behind it and yellow onions planted in the front.


better view of the onions growing (yellow and red)


california poppy in the back (its growing into a nice bushy plant with feathery leaves. a very pretty plant with continuous new blooms. carnation in front - i think this is dying. maybe its at the end of its annual life time?


my sweet 100 tomato plants. there are 6 of them in this big bunch. hard to tell, but there is also a hibiscus plant in front of the tomatoes.


a view of the complete left side.


another view of the left side from afar


view of the magnolia tree and the left/back side from the far right side of the yard


Panorama view of the backyard...

Here is an update of my garden. These pictures were taken today (see the date/time stamp on this entry). besides these plants, i have also just planted some blue lake bush beans. we'll see how those turn out...

My nasturtium is in bloom - this plant is completely edible. I have not tried it myself, but I have put it in the birds' fresh food. there is a small sage plant to the left and on either side there are marigold plants.


the broccoli to the left is in full bloom. im hoping to get some seeds from this one. the one on the right is growing some smaller broccoli heads from various parts of the plant, so i am just leaving it till we get tired of broccoli. my strawberry plants are lined up in front. there are lots of strawberries developing on those 3 plants right now..i cant wait!


my carrots...they are almost ready to harvest.


red onion plants are up front, and yellow onion plants are behind it. they seem to be doing really well. we have been harvesting some of the greens and using them as regular green onions for garnish.


the next three are of my california poppy plant. there are soooo many blooms on it right now. unfortunately, these flowers only last a day or two and they drop their petals. these flowers are edible too!






my hibiscus plant. some leaves are turning yellow - not sure what it doesn't like. it could be the soil. i've been watering it well...maybe i have to back off of watering it - maybe its getting too much.


my sweet 100 tomato plants. they are in bloom now, and more are coming out soon. i can't wait to see the tomatoes! (i must have forgotten to take pictures of my grape tomatoes that i planted from seed. so far they are still alive, but much smaller than these. im hoping it gets a good boost soon.


my zucchini plants (there are 4 of them). i put my foot there to show scale. its rather huge...some of those leaves are bigger than my feet! i think i see some early flower buds near the base of all the plants, but i can't be sure until i see them bloom.


my soybean plants. growing well! you can see the sugar snap pea plants in front of the zucchini. they still seem to be growing, but if we get some scorcher days, i think they will be fried.


my japanese cucumber plants...


more sugar snap pea and japanese cucumber plants...you can see my small jalapeno plant in the background. it has a few blooms on it!


...and last but not least, my sugar baby watermelon plants. they are starting to grow their second "real" leaf. yay! (i still have 4 of them)

My first (and largest) broccoli head I harvested. I have since harvested 95% of them and they came out really well. I let one flower out so that I can get some seeds.



My first carrot harvest. This is a smaller variety of carrot. The ends are rather twisted because of our clay-like soil. The other green in the picture are green onions.



my zucchini patch. its grown exponentially since I took this picture and I've removed the fencing around it. There are 4 plants total, but I think 2 will overtake the other 2 since they are so much bigger.



My soybean patch. They are growing quite well during our hot spell the last week. The sugar snap peas in the background are frying...next time I know to grow them in cooler months.



My watermelon patch. I have 4 growing in this area and I have 3 more seedlings in peat pots. I think I will give those away since I don't really have the room for 3 more watermelon plants (although, this is supposed to be a smaller variety (each fruit only weighing about 6 - 8 lbs.)



My almond tree. Some of the nuts have grown pretty big. I have to look up when to pick them...