Midsummer Garden

My husband has been watering our little garden with seltzer bottles with pinholes punched in the bottom.  They act as soaker hose, only they are much easier to place and no hose snaking across anywhere. 

We learned, now, that tomatoes like a deep drink every few days, not constant little drips.  So we water the tomatoes differently - and now we're getting rain, so that's a blessing. 

The bean plants are mulched with sawdust, a by-product of his wordworking in the basement.  He glanced at a website that said this is a good mulch for plants, like beans, that add nitrogen to the soil.

I dismantled the nasturtiums on the porch because they were puny and I was tired of hoping.    Our raspberries have given us about 5 berries so far.  The parsley that overwintered has not reseeded itself into anything useful.  We also pulled out 2 tomato plants that were wilty and yellowing.  And the ding-dang squirrels have taken every tomato that has approached ripeness so far; this is a city problem, but country gardens have deer, right?  Well, we are fighting back; I bought a repellent and a trap.  We'll see if we get any tomatoes.

I sound a bit irritated about our garden, I know. I have to remind myself that gardening is like cooking - I have to start at the beginning and learn from my mistakes.  Still and all, cooking holds far more joy and interest for me than the garden!