September Garden Update

  I tore out all but one of the tomato plants. They were not doing anything, and I am needing that space for the fall garden.  I also took the cucumber plants out of the ground since they were dying from something eating the leaves.  Some of the marigolds, as you can see, have done very well, and my peppers and okra are still going strong. Next week the fall garden goes in the ground.
  Last time, I mentioned that my seedlings tend to die.  I went to WalMart, got a $10 Grow light, and jury-rigged a set up for my babies.

 That is a stack of books and a little cabinet of small drawers keeping the light over my plants. They love it!  Except for the onions, which seem not to like me (the seemingly plant-free tin of dirt on the left).  It's not an elegant set up but at least it works and it didn't cost much. 

  This being my wedding anniversary, I told my husband I wanted to get garden stuff for my present.  I got a dwarf banana tree, a red navel orange, a satsuma tree (for my husband), a mulberry bush, a citronelle plant with a pot so we can take it wherever we are sitting, a treatment for the stinking ants that are eating my okra, a snake plant to clean the air in our bedroom, baby onion plants, and five bags of manure.  Yes, I bought bags of poop for my anniversary!  No, that is not a commentary on my marriage.
  The manure will be spread on the garden next week and tilled in for the broccoli, cabbage, and beets.  As you can see from the first picture, I have a lot of work ahead of me.