Still Simmering

The majority of the garden is starting to show its age, but there are still plenty of fruits left on the plants to steadily harvest until the cold arrives.

Summer Slowdown

2 containers have been retired from the summer garden and 2 more look like they're on their way out. The remaining plants however still look great and have a lot of fruit on the vine.

Constant Vigilance!

The daily walk-through has caught yet another hornworm caterpillar, but other than that the garden is coasting its way through summer.

No News Is Good News

Nothing exciting to report. Just watering and harvesting my way through  summer. No aphids, which I find somewhat unbelievable, but I'll take it. No more tomato hornworms. The Lil Keeper melon plants have a mild spider mite problem, but all of the fruits are close to maturity so I'm not worried about it. And besides the Beaverlodge tomato plant no signs of disease. This summer is turning out to be the most uneventful growing season I've ever had on the roof. Let's hope its stays that way!

Trickling In

The summer crops are beginning to trickle in. First it was the eggplant, now it's the cherry tomatoes. What will be next? Personally, I'm hoping for a watermelon.

Cracks in the Calm Facade

The long weekend allowed me to take a break from the garden and return to it with fresh eyes.

Sitting Pretty

The garden is still doing great. I continue to keep an eye on the corn and one tomato plant looks a little stressed, but other than that the garden looks really good. Lots of plants have already fruited, including all the tomato plants!

Steady Progress

The garden is doing very well. I'm keeping my eye on the corn, but otherwise I'm very happy with the state of the garden.

The Beginning of the End

With August winding down so too is the rooftop garden. The Serenade melon plants were retired, On Deck corn plants were removed and I think the pepper plants will be next. The tomato plants are hanging on, I think a couple will last till frost.

Melons On the Way

The tomato harvest is sadly winding down. I'm already missing my daily tomato snack, but other crops are stepping up to take its place.

Gardening Highs and Lows

A few surprises in the garden this week. One bad, some good and one great!

Tomatoes and More on the Way

The harvest is picking up. All varieties of tomatoes, 1 pepper and 1 corn ear were harvested this week. Melons, potatoes and soybeans will be ready in the coming weeks.

Ominous Signs

Well, the good times had to end at some point. Last week's heatwave did no favors for the garden. Very high daytime and nighttime temperatures meant practically no pollinating or fruiting for the week, so reduced yield down the line. Prolonged hot weather also leaves plants weakened, making them more vulnerable to disease, which is unfortunately the case for one section of the rooftop garden.

Catching Up

Ok I'm back. Vacation was awesome and I'm sad it's over, but I'm very happy to return to gardening. I fully expected pests and/or disease to run wild while I was gone, but to my immense surprise nothing of the sort happened. The garden is still doing great! 2 plants look a little yellow, but just 2 out of 20+ is great news. All of the plants have grown immensely and almost all of them have fruited.

Slowly But Surely

The garden is still doing great. There's no bad news to report so I've just been focusing on keeping the plants watered and fed and trimming the suckers off the tomato plants.

Looking Good

The garden is doing pretty well so far. No signs of disease, nutrient deficiencies or signs of insect pests. Which is surprising since this is the time of the year I usually expect some aphids to show up, not that I'm complaining! The melon and pepper plants are far behind last year's progress around this same time, but they're steadily growing larger so I'm not concerned.

First Harvest 2013

All Plants on the Roof

The 2 melon varieties were transplanted on Monday so that means every rooftop container has been planted. I'm glad, now I no longer have to worry about the seedlings drying out in their little cups before I make it home from work.

More Plants on the Roof

All of the peppers and and the rest of the tomatoes went in last weekend. All that's left to plant are the melons. 3, Planet F1 pepper plants went into the Southern Patio Jumbo Growing Tower on the right.

Almost There

Alright, the rooftop garden is ready to go. Every container has been mulched and fertilized, limed too if they are used to grow tomatoes (helps prevent blossom end rot). All they need now are the plants and support cages. The tomato plants will be planted this week, the peppers some time next week and melons the week after.