Not quite like last year...

So far my strategy for trying to feed the gopher to death has not yet worked. Apparently gophers just don't become obeise enough to get stuck in their own tunnels.

At this time last year I was still trying to get the ice plant to grow on the hill but the weeds were giving it a run for its money. The only thing growing was a lone cherry tomato plant that for some reason had survived neglect for a year. This year all sorts of stuff was planted with mixed results.

The squash plants are dying now. It seems some garden vegetables just poop out after awhile. When they get weak powdery mildew sets in and pretty much finishes up the plant. I thought the sugar peas' demise was due to the gopher but it may have just run its course.

Besides the squash (next year thin to two production plants) the beets are winding down. The edemame soy bean plants bit the dust a few weeks ago when the gopher got them. I planted a hundred onion bulbs and my harvest one or two. Between the gopher and not watering enough that section looks pretty sketchy.

We ate two small ears of sweet corn with dinner tonight. Out of a package of seeds, maybe sixteen or eighteen plants came up but after thinning (and the gopher) only three will have edible ears. Something weird is happening with the ants on the hill. First they were all over the artichoke, now they're on the corn. Not sure why. Sometimes bugs like aphid residue. Not sure if this is the case but they don't appear interested in the vegetables themselves.

The herbs are all flowering. I think it's because they're not getting enough water. Plants that undergo stress can go into reproductive phases (as I recall from school).

Around 5 green and 2 purple shiso plants are growing. They were a pain to start. If the gopher eats the purple ones I may just say screw it and fumigate the entire slope for my personal satisfaction.

I have one chili pepper plant and one bell pepper plant. So far, they have produced one chili pepper and one bell pepper. Given the size of the plants, they should be given a medal.

Tomatos are growing like weeds. The cherry tomato plants have a cage around them they are growing over. The roma tomato is outgrowing its cage but not being unweildly. The beefstake tomato has become so heavy it's turning it's cage on it's side. I tried to tie the cage back into an upright position but it kept pulling the stakes out of the ground. The plant is rediculously heavy and getting worse by the day. It may inevitably crush itself under its own weight.

The pole beans are slowly coming along. Out of a package of them, only two are growing well enough to sprout small beans. Two others are still deciding if it's worth the effort.

The second cucumber was harvested today. Forgot about the first one in the fridge so threw it away today. Hopefully tomorrow we'll eat it. Never felt a cucumber with spines before. Along with the cantelope, it doesn't try to grow upright. The cantelope just slithers along the ground. Weird plant.

I pruned the broccolli. The new shoots were getting more and more spindly so we'll see if this hurts or helps.

The flowering cherry plant in the back which was identified by a local nursery as being an ornamental (non-eating) fruit plant has developed edible fruit. It appears to be some sort of plum. Not real sweet, but not surprising since I never fertilized it. The fruit is so heavy now it's bending the branches over. It's this years 'freebie' food from the yard. Last year it was cherry tomatos.

The weather is around 85-90 degrees during the day. It may be too late to plant anything new but I might try some more sugar peas...another disaster in the making.