Hard mornings work in the garden....

but it still beats a good day at work - wait a minute, I'm unemployed - oops, guess it beats job hunting!!!!

I just don't know how to grow brussels sprouts in a small garden. They always grow so tall and lean over on top of other things that are still maturing. I have tried tomato cages and staking them in the past and all that happened was that they pulled the cage or stake over with them! This year I planted a variety that was supposed to not grow as tall - NOT! They were all over the cabbage and starting to lean into the bell peppers. So I took some old square tomato cages and opened them up and put them around them and kind of hooked them to the rabbit fence and then to each other. They seem study - we'll see. I also took the lower leaves off so I could work with them better. Hopefully they will be happier and I'll get some sprouts soon. A couple of the plants have some large enough to eat at the bottom, but most are just little bumps.

Here are 4 pics of the garden from different angles after I was done cleaning it up today -





It looks so much better now - and I'll have room to plant the fall garlic. I think I am also going to plant some radishes and some late season lettuce - but I'm too tired right now. We'll see if I get back to it....


And while I was out there, I cut some herbs - got a huge bowl of parsley, basil, oregano and dill. It is mostly parsley.


And I dug up a few rogue potatoes and onions (thought I had them all) and picked 5 bell peppers and 1 small head of red cabbage.

And what was Andy doing during all of this? At first he was digging in the area of the garden where there wasn't anything currently growing, but after awhile he got tired of that, so he went and grabbed his rope. Long time readers and friends will know that Andy has autism and his thing is strings, ropes, hoses, tape - anything long and slender - other kids on the spectrum spin wheels - Andy plays with strings - it's not as noticable as when he was younger - but it still takes up a lot of his time. Here is a pic of him with his rope creation this morning - he was so proud of himself and wanted me to take a picture of him.


So, that's life in my garden today. I hope everyone is enjoying a good gardening day.