Green bean saga continues

Hot and muggy here, one block by the beach, even in the morning. No fog, no clouds, just beautiful blue sky. With regards to my green bean sprouting a few days ago, alas, it was chomped by one of the hordes of snails and slugs presiding in my garden. Yes, I use Sluggo, but being part of a larger community garden, there is little to stop the neighboring snails and slugs from dropping by my place for a quick snack.

Hence, I plant more bean seeds. Here is the next wave. We'll see how they fare in a few days.

Gray skies in the morning

For those who think we have a good life here one block from the beach, our usual morning weather in the summer looks something like this. Or worse. That would be the fog. However, this year, we have had more than our fair share of days without gloom and fog. I attribute this to why my non-cold tolerant tomatoes, that is the Pineapple Tomato, did do better than usual this year. We generally get clearing later in the day.

The good, the bad and the ugly: my potatoes

I simply do not have a showcase garden. My veggie garden can look quite ragged at times especially when the tomato plants begin to senesce about midway through their cycle. I find tomato plants age quickly and basically look just terrible by the time they are giving up the last tomato.

However, by far the worst offenders are the potatoes. I grow them in containers in my garden, and they start out fine early on.

Towards the end, they look like this.

Not pretty, are they. Even worse, I like to keep them in the containers for a bit longer so that they can mature a bit. Sorry, neighbors. But freshly harvested potatoes for dinner is a rare treat and well worth the ugly.

Emerging green bean

This I planted late in the season so we'll call this an experiment. The soil I prepared well with worm castings from my worm bin and a bit of my favorite organic fertilizer. The seeds, saved from last year's crop, were soaked overnight in water and then tucked into the ground about an inch deep. I was happy to see the seedlings emerge a week later. I covered these seedlings with something that I got from the discount store, I think they were a buck a piece. They work well against the birds but not so well against the bazillion slugs and snails. Yes, the hungry hordes still inhabit my garden despite the Sluggo that I now use. How tenuous is the life of seedlings here in my garden plot. We'll see whether these guys are still around tomorrow.

Foraging in my garden for lunch

Sometimes, it is just wild arugula and purslane, along with the tomatoes. Oh, yes, and I add mozzarella cheese, all mixed with extra virgin olive oil and a bit of balsamic. This is enough for a small happy lunch.