It's hard to decide

Which photographs to publish. My camera decides sometimes, like the coriander seeds forming I thought I had focused on came out blurry. Everyday my garden is different. Especially after lots of sun and warmth.

This faded sunflower still has a sort of beauty. There are now 5 others blooming in its place. I ponder whether when this is ready for the birds whether I should leave it standing, save it for myself, or saving it for the birds when it is winter again. I suppose with more than a dozen blooms I may do all of the above.

This broccoli must be harvested. Oh the burden of fresh vegetables.

I want to do a post on my 'wall tomatoes' as they grow up to the stakes I have poking into my shrubbery. I have a feeling that they will end up growing better than some of my tomatoes this year despite their unorthodox location.

These are 'juliette' what I think of as a cherry plum tomato. These are larger than the ones i grew last year which also were quite susceptible to blossom end rot. These don't seem to have this issue, at least not yet. I have been pretty vigilant about watching for that as I have had this problem with quite a few of my tomatoes over the last couple years.

These are tansy flowers. I think I got these at a garden swap. I got another variety at a garden event outside Trader Joe's. I like this variety better. I know that one of them had some babies in my garden which I chose to remove. I understand tansy can get pretty invasive. I ended up transplanting my other tansy to a part of my garden that is dark and less visible. This tansy here is more delicate looking so I might end up making it my only variety.

Tansy is one of those herbs that has been eaten by people but more so I believe during medieval times. Based on what I've read, I don't think I will. I mean, it is sort of poisonous. It could be handy if I had worms. I think it's one of those herbs that kills worms which would make it more useful in midieval times than now. It does have an interesting flowers and ants do not seem to like it very much.

I have so many kinds of plants in my yard. I should count them sometime. There are still a few I haven't documented.

Garden Eyecandy

This might be obnoxious but I haven't been updating fast enought to catch up with my garden. Everything is just exploding!

This tomato is not in an ideal habitat but this isn't about perfect tomatoes, it's about fun and maybe sharing with the neighbors. It's a cherry, either juliet or super sweet 100. Don't be fooled by it's shady spot. I have plans to somehow train this against the railroad tie wall where there is plenty of sun. I just think I will have to tweak the balance of nutrients in its soil more carefully than a standard planting.These feral chamomile have miraculously not been tread upon. Either my neighbors understand that this isn't a weed or they just think I am crazy and are afraid to damage this flower. I think that they somehow understand that I am up to something special.The saladball is slowly filling out. I plant something else as if this were a sketch I sit with every few days. Always a work in progress. It already looks different than it did from this photo which is maybe a week old.For some reason this little bay laurel makes me happy. It suffered so much this winter and now it looks alive.These cascade hops are in their second year. What a difference a year makes! Maybe it will be worth harvesting this year.This blur of plants are pretty much all greens and all edible. OK, a few aren't but they aren't weeds. I thin them pretty much everyday. It sorta forces me to eat my vegetables. There's mizuna, red cabbage, pansies, florence fennel seedlings, onions and probably something I have forgotten. Damn! I have surpassed the 20 item limit of things I may tag this blog with. Sure, I could have made it 2 posts but whatever.This lacinato kale should be pretty graceful in this pot. I tucked in some allysum and some chervil thinnings from the salad bowl. There's even a basil plant, just basic basil. Now if I can find some red russian kale, I will be happy. I might have to grow it myself. hmph. One disadvantage of Pittsburgh is a lack of exotic stuff. Now if there were enough of a demand I WOULD put more effort into growing my own to share or perhaps sell with to other gardeners.These wallflowers are nice, and half haven't started blooming yet. Tansy, monarda and calendula have yet to flower. This wall is built of found things. I am quite fond of thrifting, indeed, my latest project is the result of thrifting, actually a good find. More on that shortly. I don't know if I have said it here, but I sorta feel like recycling in whatever form is a very patriotic thing to do. I don't want to be preachy, but when I think about things coming from far, far away and using fossil fuels to do things when it's all in your backyard it kinda upsets me.This cat always looks scared. here is a rare view of my backyard. It needs a lot of work. This was taken through my kitchen window. I don't think this cat is feral, she's just a scaredy cat.

These are my tulips at their best this year. Already more than half of them are done blooming. Just this yesterday I heard a very small child say very clearly "TULIPS" when he passed by with his family. This made my day.

These oyster mushrooms show a new direction I am going in garden synergy. If my experiments work out, I'll share them. Honestly for the most part if I show you something here I think you should try it for yourself. The stuff I am trying that I'm not sure about, I don't share.

These ants with amber distended bodies fed from my hummingbird feeder until I filled the ant guard with water. I really do not like ants but these look like jewels. These ants are actually, at least on my browser, a fifth of the size they are here. The black surface they are walking on is a cast iron shepard's hook which looks fairly smooth in normal vision.

I hope that in the future that I will stick to my goal of posting twice a week. I think the poison ivy set me back. Anyway, already I have a lot to document.