Bits and Pieces Sunday

Hope you're all having a quiet Memorial Day weekend.

I thought I'd show you some of my Nasturtiums. I planted them with the beans, thinking the flowers would draw bees to fertilize the beans. Little did I know the beans would flower circles around the Nasturtiums; and weeks before the flowers bloomed.






These are the colors I ended up with.

Also, a few random tomato and bell pepper plants.









That second picture is supposed to be cherry tomatoes, but they're a bit oblong for that.
I'd tell you their names, but they have WAY overgrown where I put the name tags. I do know we planted some Big Boy and some Better Boy, but other than that, I just don't remember.
I had to stake some of the bell peppers due to wind and the peppers, too. Some of them are survivors of that late frost we had.

The sunflowers are between 4 and maybe 12 feet high? I don't know. I just know they are waaaay over my head.
And full of leaf-legged bugs! Took these with my phone so they aren't very good, sorry.





I was going to dry the sunflowers for seeds, but now that I see them full of the leaf-legged bugs, I am undecided. While trying to find out what bug it was, I learned that I had unknowingly possibly protected the tomatoes from being attacked by them. The bugs, of course, like everything that we planted in this garden, but right now seem to like the broccoli and sunflowers more.
So, the broccoli I was going to pull up, and the sunflowers, are staying put for now.
Then maybe we'll get a few nice tomatoes before the bugs do.
If you remember, last year in North Carolina, our tomatoes got blossom end rot. Whether from low calcium, or those same bugs, I don't know.
I'm reluctant to use insecticide, because 1) it's poison; 2) we also have ladybugs out there (though I think the yellow ones are squash bugs?); 3) there might be other helpers I'm not aware of.

The plastic bags I used for 'mulch' around the tomatoes and pepper plants? Double edged sword. They did keep the weeds down, but fire ants love to build under them. Ugh!

Oh, I should update on the one celery plant that is still alive. We got a lot of stalks. But only about 4-6 inches tall? And it's flowering now, haha. So maybe I'll try again in the fall. I think Celery is a cool weather plant.




That's it for today. I think I'm mostly updated and talked out, so I'll see you around. Have a blessed Sunday! ♥

Questions questions

Those of you who have grown banana peppers. Do you leave them until they turn yellow? Is it the color or the shape that gives them their name? I thought this pepper was ready to pick based on its size (because yes, I am clueless), but based on the color, I'm not sure.

Also. Any idea what is going on with my cherry tomato plant?

It looks bad but it doesn't seem to have affected production.

My other banana pepper plant is going well, too.

Remember I showed you my bell pepper plant here on Wednesday? It was a little pea sized thingy. ;) Well in just 4 days it looks like this now.

It actually looks like a pepper now. :)
Oh, and while looking to see if I was ever going to get any beans, I found this. Sorry for the quality. The camera insisted on focusing on the cucumber tendril instead of what I wanted to take a picture of.

Its got an odd shape. Wider at the ends than in the middle. Is that because it wasn't getting enough water before I started using the drip hose? It's been really hot and I had been mostly watering at night. Now that I've put the drip hose out, I try to water 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening. the 2 in the morning has been keeping the dirt moist though, so I don't always water in the evening. I have to set a timer to remind me, lol.
Funny or not, I like my little cucumber. How do I know when it's ready to be picked? Just when I like the size of it?  I'm pretty clueless, sorry.

Oh, you should be able to click all the pictures to see them better.

Hope you all have a great week. And I hope some of us get cooler and some rain!

Updated question. Went out this morning to look at the garden and some of my little cucumbers that I took pictures of to show you, have turned brown or are turning brown. Is it the heat doing that?