I have been really bad about not doing garden updates! Some of the things are growing really well, it’s exciting! Other things have died. Some things have been eaten by something mysterious.

First, the sad news: the peas are dead. Definitely dead.

Something was eating their leaves, so we bought ladybugs. That seemed to stop whatever was eating them. Then the peas just dried the heck up and died. My mother told me that peas cannot grow in the heat in Texas, she has tried for years. What the heck, SproutRobot.com? Why you lie to me?!!

This morning I pulled up the peas and my mom brought me some full-grown kale plants to plant later tonight. Here is a shot from today of the garden with the peas gone, but I have not planted the kale yet:

You can click on the photo to see the notes in Flickr about what is what.
I am particularly excited about how well the tomatoes and bell peppers are doing! You can’t tell from the angle, but the tomatoes are getting really tall.

They have almost outgrown the wooden chopsticks I jammed into the ground and tied them to with twine to keep them upright. OH YES. Redneck tomato cages, those. I haven’t had a chance to go get real tomato cages yet.

I am also impressed at how well the basil and parsley are growing in the garden. I have tried growing herbs in pots before, and they always die. I think growing them in beds in the garden might actually be the solution because they can glean more water from the soil. Pots have such good drainage that I think they lose critical moisture.

I have a few sproutlings of bell peppers growing in yogurt containers that I’ll be transplanting into the garden soon as well:

This picture is also a good example of how poorly the basil and parsley do in containers. They are the same plants I planted in the garden, but they are almost dead in the container, thriving in the garden.

My goal is to grow as many bell peppers as possible, because they are on the Dirty Dozen and therefore should only be bought organic. Those things are EXPENSIVE! But they freeze really well. So if I can grow a bunch in my garden and freeze them, it will save a lot of money.

That’s how it’s going so far…I don’t have a green thumb for sure, but at least some things are growing. I’ll have to take more pictures of the kale once I plant it, if I don’t kill it!