HOw funny. For us things grow much better in the ground. I've tried things in pots over the years and they've never done as well. We've got very sandy soil which is great for drainage! Never heard of doing potatoes like that - must look to see what is available here.

Winter here and the garden is dormant .. must start preparing it for summer soon though.

rayven: Thanks. It wasn't a total loss. I'll probably still have potatoes and rhubarb. And, like an idiot, I ran outside and saved a few hanging baskets of annuals and pots by dragging them under tree cover. But there will be no beans, lettuce, peas, cherries or pears (there isn't a single one left on the trees) and the apples will all have to go to compost as they are bruised. Actually the hubby is ECSTATIC about the latter, because he really hates picking them up in the fall before mowing the lawn LOL.

It's disheartening mostly because a) there isn't a whole lot you can do about it and b) our growing season is so horribly short here. Oh well, as they say, "there's always next year" and hey, there are certainly worse things that can happen.

Copago: The so-called "soil" on city lots here is mostly all clay (because developers scrape off all the good topsoil before the houses are built and then turn around and sell it back to you lol). The dirt also has higher than average alkaline levels. Every time I read about other places having to add lime, I want to yell "I'll trade!!!" : )

We have grasshoppers. Thousands of small grasshoppers. They've eaten two potatoes, two dill plants, and the majority of a squash. They have also put holes in almost everything else. It's to the point where we are considering getting a couple chickens to eat them. The grapes are doing well though, we got a lot of peas and I'll replant the carrots for a later harvest. How is everyone else's doing?

Yikes, I sympathise with the hoppers. Last time I remember them being a problem here was 15 years ago and believe me, there was pretty much nothing left (the corn was the first to go, I've never planted it again).

Since June 1st, we've had 39 days of rain or rain/hail. Potatoes have rotted in the ground. Peas, beans and sweetpeas are "knee-high" at best. We need some sunshine! lol. Am picking saskatoons today, for freezing (before the robins eat them all).

At last we have had some sun and my mangoes are ripe and very delicious. We covered them in plastic bags to deter insects and speed the ripening and later brought them in and wrapped them in newspaper. (My gran used to swear by the News of the World for apple storage, about the best use for that filthy rag). The mangoes now taste and smell lovely and are being handed out to friends and neighbours. The lychees were few, only about 25 but yummy too.

Our lemon cucumbers are growing leaves and flowers. No cukes as of yet.

The rest of the garden couldn't take the heat and just surrendered. I wish the earwigs would surrender too and go away.

Broad beans did exceptionally well, as did the peas. In fact the peas have decided to carry on flowering and are giving a second quite heavy crop, not known that happen before. We had more than ample of both of those so have several packet of them in the feezer for later use. Green beans were a bit disappointing, I think I'll go back to runner beans next year. At the moment the tomatos have set well, but are being slow to ripen, we've had quite a cold wet spell, they need some sunshine. The strawberries did well, we had pounds of those but raspberries havn't been too good this year.

I usually do all my bedding plants from seed, but a friend was extolling the virtue of mail order plug plants so I deccided to give them a go this year as an experiment. They arrived in very good condition and I grew them on in the greenhouse and they have been magnificent. I had petunias and nicotinias and they are giving a wonderful display.

Ren: am jealous. Mangoes are my favourite treat ("treat", because they are rather expensive here)

Daymare: I planted lemon cucumbers for the first time ever this year. Hoping SOME of them mature, as I'd like to save the seed.

Christinap: your garden sounds lovely. Have you thought of posting pix in the photography thread?

My weeds are doing well, the area I cut back earlier in the year is thriving again, with more brambles and weeds. Next week, weather permitting, I will attack it once more.

Maybe you ought to have my weather, Sue. Nothing but Texas sages grows in this heat! It's only hit 100°F/38°C or more 26 straight days and there are at least ten more for sure.

edit to add it's already hit 100° for the day today and it's only noon!

One lonely dwarf Japanese Maple,
peonies, roses, hydrangeas, and Japanese beetles. Billions and billions of beetles!
(Apologies to Carl Sagan)

Jakeroo - I hadn't thought of that but I do have some good photos stored on the computer. I'm not technologically brilliant though, can I go straight from my hard drive or do I need to use photobucket or something like that.

I am pleased to announce the arrival of a whole bunch of lemon cucumbers!

Ok, so I'm a little excited. Growing plants is fun!

Wonderful! Makes it all worthwhile when it actually works.

Yes Christina you do have to use Photobucket or something like that , but it is fairly easy to post in the photo forums here. There are instructions at the top of the forum if you get stuck Good luck I really look forward to seeing them.

Daymare: you're growing lemon cucumbers too? This is really cool. I hadn't actually heard of them until a year ago. Had you grown them in previous seasons? Have you eaten any yet? Are they as good as you hoped they would be? I planted mine in pots and they've been outside for several months so that they could be freely pollinated by insects, but I've moved the pots into my "plastic" greenhouse just recently because we've had so much rain over the past month and a half that I'm afraid they'll rot before they ripen. If mine fail, could I buy some seed from you? (hey this might be a neat idea, starting a heritage seed trade amongst members here!)

Christinap: There are several photo storage websites you could use. I joined photobucket a) because it's free (for now at least) and so far (after almost two years) they haven't told me I've exceeded whatever memory limitations might be present (I have NO idea what those might be specifically) and b) it's not too terribly finicky to figure out what to do. Once you've uploaded a pic from your computer you just have to go to that photo in your photobucket album and click on the bottom "img" line (it will tell you it's copied" and then put your cursor in your forum post message area, right click, select paste and voila!). I don't really like their photo editor though and prefer to resize my photo to the required size settings (640x480 for landscape orientation) with my own software before uploading. As Ren says, there are instructions/helpful hints in the "pinned" photography section threads, but if you get truly "stuck", the folks there are wonderfully friendly and will give you a hand. I have the distinct feeling you have FABulous photos hidden away that people would love to see you share : )

cydonia: LOL on the billions and billions ~ I don't think Carl Sagan would have minded (he seemed to have had a good sense of humour : )) But PLEASE don't send your japanese beetles out west! Am quite jealous of your hydrangeas and amur maples though (sigh).

Dave: we're going salmon fishing next week. Would you like to "housesit" for me? Just for a respite from the heat? I won't even mind if you have to turn on the furnace while we're gone, since you might find the temp diff a little tooooo chilly compared to what you're used to! (if all else fails, we have toques, scarves, parkas in the closet and two down quilts on the bed - feel free to make use of them lol).

Ren/Jakeroo. Thanks for the advice. I've taken the plunge and have posted a photo of the main central bed in the garden which I keep seasonal, as opposed to the other beds which have mainly permanent planting jazzed up a bit with some bedding/bulbs.

lol...might take you up on it, but would need a passport to cross now, but it's a lot better than 28 straight over 100°!

Might take a picture of one of the many cornfields around here...they are as brown as everything else. Even the trees are starting to suffer from the heat I'm experiencing. Even the tropical system that hit south Texas didn't do anything for our drought.

This is our first year for the cukes. I doubt yours will fail. The force is very strong within you, Jakeroo! If my cukes survive, buying seeds is not an option. I will give them to you freely.

Imagine....The Fun Trivia Heritage Seed Trading Guild....I like it!

Does anyone plant extra or re-plant? In place of the radishes, peas, and cabbage which are already done for the season we are planting beets, spinach, another round of peas and, since the heat is well above normal, we are making a try for okra.

I've put in some winter broccoli and winter cabbage where the peas and broad beans have finished.

As our plants are all grown in containers, we never considered replanting. Thanks for the idea.

I hope your okra, and everything else, grows well.

Our cukes are approaching the size of small plums. Husband is so funny when the squirrels start coming toward the deck. They are under orders to "stay away from the cukes, you rodents". Apparently, my Rose of Sharon is fair game and a possible sacrifice.

Definite signs of autumn coming on here. Trees are showing signs of starting to turn and there is that feel in the air that summer is heading towards the close. I sense the autumn clean up is not far off. I've given all my hardy geraniums a good cut back over the last couple of days. The apple trees have done well this yea, hardly any drop at all and already I've picked about 40lb of apples which are in the freezer ready for apple pies, crumbles etc. over the winter, but we are still dripping with fruit. Plums didn't do so well this year, but we have an old Victoria plum tree which produced a few pounds of fruit. I love plums, it is always hard to resist eating too many at one go.

Oooh yum, Plum jam! I would gladly swap you some mangoes!