Watch "black swallowtail emerging from chrysalis" on YouTube

white corn

the white corn plants were not so impressive as the blue corn plants.. and in turn, the cobs are way smaller. i do have more white cobs than blue, though. i'm going to save a few cobs off of each plant to replant next year. i think i'm going to not waste my time on tomatoes next year.. i just didn't get a good crop and i'm a little disappointed. instead i'm going to either container the cucumbers or build them a shallow bed .. and in the large beds just corn it up. i need to invest in moving my herb garden, too.. but not yet. anyway, corn!



this is my test cob. i kept opening it to check on the growth.. apparently that was bad advice from the internets.


because this happened.


its okay though. because i chopped off the shriveled tip, and ate it anyway. just a little bit of salt was all it needed.. sooooooooooooo sweet!



also, my giant cucumber vines.

blue corn

my blue corn plants are giiiinormous. and so are the cobs.

herbs, succulents and everything else.

the oregano's blooming! seeds for next year!




i got sick of fighting the vineborers on my pumpkin.. so i ripped it out and planted my containered pineapple in its spot! what the hell, let's see what it will do.


fennel blooming as well.

the herbs.



this is one of the birdhouse gourds i had in container.. i sat it by the tree and it hooked on.. so we decided to take it out of the container and dump it on the ground.. mounded up a bunch of good recycled dirt around the root ball. let's see what happens!



basil bushes!

the peanuts are really spreading like crazy this year.. i'm pretty excited about this. i'll crap if we get enough to make one jar of peanut butter.



on to the succulents!
a dish of baby mexican hats.



the "baby" paddle plants.. i really need to spend some time separating these.. buuut, time time.






my gooorgeous morning glories!

beautiful corn and giant tomatoes.

blue corn has bloomed.. but no silks shown yet.




blue corn through the tomato jungle..


front of the tomato jungle.. the larger leaved plant is the green bell pepper. she's a beauty. nice fresh bell pepper every week to a week and a half.. we've become proficient fajitiers.


back of jungle.

white sweet corn!
we have heads, we have silk! when the rain dries out a bit.. i'm going to put a little mineral oil on the pollinated silks to keep the borers out!



i'm pretty impressed with the plant structure. the roots of the corn are insane!

no more butterflies.. back to gardening. first, cucumbers!

we've had some crazy sporadic rain for the past two weeks.. i assure you, the front lawn is mowed in between showers.. but the backyard is a completely different story. anywho!
the garden is LOVING the rain! the cucumbers are thriving.. my corn is blooming (later posts, promise..)
we had to add a few more poles to the cucumber/greenbean trellis. i'm sure once the sun comes out they're going to jump up retarded.




apparently, we've gotten hit with hive collapse this year? last year we had bees swarming EVERYWHERE! this year we see them come one, two or three at a time.. but this fella was pretty busy. he went in and out and everywhere. (i have to admit, i've been coming out and helping him pollinate in the mornings.)



now, i have no clue what this guy is. but i know he's eating a cucumber beetle.

therefore, we are friends.



and now a selection of babies!!

birth of the second black swallowtail butterfly!

every morning when i wake up i run out to the green house to check on my cocoons! this morning the second butterfly was pumping his wings up getting ready to fly.. only one more chrysalis left!