A few years ago, I began reclaiming lawn space building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. I think this is year 6 of the ever-growing garden that officially launches late May every year. The community that @GardenHive has become is for us green thumbs and I think you should check out the intro post here https://hive.blog/hive-140635/@gardenhive/the-garden-selfie-collection-happy-christmas-to-all-the-amazing-hive-gardeners if you haven't yet. My friends @sanjeevm @thebigsweed @farm-mom @lynds and @plantstoplanks are among many in the thriving community and showcasing how they get their gardens to thrive.

This week, we check in on what's blooming after some rain, and before my camping trip!

How We Doin'?

Here is how we were a week ago shortly after a rain as t had been very dry the period prior. I was hoping for more consistent fresh rainwater so that I didn't have to use the rain barrel water or hose to soak the ground.

It has been a week of intermittent rain which has made for a better lawn, some big green growth and a full rain barrel. The tomatoes are not doing as well as years past but a second burst of bean sprouts seems to have survived the critters and I may actually have long green beans this year after all. Let's take a look at what is blooming this week.

Peppers!

Look at these funny looking things. You can see from the similar ones in the background that this wonky pepper is not an anomaly. I thought they may have been Mad Hatter https://www.pepperscale.com/mad-hatter-pepper/ hot peppers for their appearance and the fact I had grown them in past seasons. Upon looking at the labelled spike that forgetful people use when they often have to rely upon, they are supposedly King of the North Sweet Red Peppers https://www.superseeds.com/products/king-of-north-pep

Fantastic! I have grown green and red peppers in past years but am not big on a whole year watering and fertilizing for 3-5 peppers...as good as they are. I will check back in later on how good a decision growing these appears to be at the moment!

My purple little peppers are still growing and I have enjoyed a couple of these jalapenos on...well pretty much any food that goes into my face. Sandwiches, chili, burgers, pizza, pasta sauces, beverages and other assorted summer food.



My raised box jalapeno peppers are starting to load up on buds. This is one of the biggest and it has turned black! Started last week with a little splotch in the middle and now spreading. What gives?

https://peppergeek.com/jalapeno-peppers-turning-black/ talked me down off the ledge and presented some less than catastrophic potential explanations. The most common reason is that black happens on the way to red. Second most is sunscald https://peppergeek.com/sunscald-peppers/ which is also possible as this is the pepper that gets the most sun. There are other dire possibilities in that article which I will not rule out.

There is your lesson in peppers!

Plenty o' Greens

You can see how poor a job my veggies are doing in keeping up with the growth of the Kale. So easy to grow and so many revolting-tasting nutrients!

Swiss Chard is also doing very well in the greens bed. So good that we have to browse https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/swiss_chard/ to figure out more ways to make use of it all.



Carrot tops are green as are the next planting of beets as they have exploded into sprouts.

I don't think Basil counts as greens but they certainly are green! I love all of these little babies as I grew them from seed. They do so well in patio boxes and big flower pots that I believe everyone should grow basil.

Green Veggies

The zucchini are bouncing back after a bit of a lull and are getting plenty green.

I have a strange number of rogue tomato plants that have sprung up in unanticipated places. This is one where the asparagus should have popped up and is sporting some rather photogenic cherry tomatoes.

The other tomatoes are struggling a little because of either inconsistent watering, late fertilization or some other challenge. If they do pull through and these babies get red, I will just refer to their strange appearance heirloom and be fancy about things.

Good news on the pickle front for my pickle fans as the pickles appear to be pickling! I will try and harvest the first jar-full at the same time and get them fermenting while the rest grow into that I hope will be a healthy crop. Pickleman's gonna pickle.

Blooms

I have turned into an old lady since I stopped looking at flowers as useless ornaments and more as food for the pollinators! They are fairly easy to plant from seed, live well in pots, and there are so many to discover. This one is a marigold https://www.almanac.com/plant/marigolds which are hearty and repel some critters.



This is my first portulaca https://www.gardendesign.com/annuals/portulaca.html It was recommended by the gardener at one of the best terraces in town at the Revival House https:/revival.house as not needing much water. I decided that I should try and grow these from seeds and include them in hanging baskets. It took them a little longer than other plants to harden but I have added them to all my planters to replace the early season bloomers.

That reminds me I may not have shared my hanging basket strategy this season. Years previous, I visited the nursery every mother's day and purchased a few baskets for between 30 and $50. Easy and done! This season, I decided I would reuse the baskets and pots from last year and build my own hanging baskets.

Though not as large and overflowing as other baskets I see, it was nice to grow from seed and sprout to save a few bucks and reuse the containers from years past. They turned out rather well and I might just try to get good at these too. My first tactic next year is to grow too many Wave Petunias https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/petunia/wave-petunia-plants.htm from seed as they are what flows out and down making the baskets their volume.

Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.

Then, blog about it using #gardenhive tags as we network and curate the journals of other green thumbs, outdoor enthusiasts and fresh whole foodies.

Wherever you are...JUST GROW!

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What is your lesson of the season?