Not So Good

Well, I had high hopes for my big container garden but alas, it did not work out. The tomato plant grew like crazy but never had a tomato. I think it was the wrong variety for my zone. I have never had a tomato plant not set a tomato. Also, the birds and squirrels continued to graze and the heat finally did it in.

I'm not sure I will try again next spring. I should really try to plant some winter vegetables. I haven't tried that yet.


The baby trees that I bought from the electric company are still growing although not as much as I hoped. The summer rains were very very light this year. I had my grey water hooked up to one tree but my dog broke the valve so I water is by bucket now.

April Update, So Far So Good

There have been a few garden predators nibbling at my little garden this year.


I've caught the neighbor's dog sniffing at it, a squirrel tasting it and some birds digging for seeds. I over-planted it for just this reason so a few casualties are expected. Today I taped some cardboard to the top of the tomato cage in order to create more shade. I noticed some seedlings wilting in the sun. The tomato has some blossoms so I might actually get some early tomatoes this year. If the birds don't get them first.

Trying Again In 2009

I'm trying a different approach to my little garden this year. I have this giant pot and I moved it to the north side of my RV so that it will get some shade. The tomato plant finally died. Actually, something ate it. I'm not sure what it was but it was completely gone one day.

I have mixed up all of my seeds in this pot, peas, beans, squash, tomatoes, even marigolds. I transplanted my strawberry plant too because something was eating it. I am watering my tiny garden everyday and hope that something will grow.

Garden Update For November

Here's my little garden. Looks kind of dead. The tomato plant that I thought had died at least 3 times now, has started producing tomatoes again. Poor thing. I should have pruned it so it wasn't so gangly. I didn't realize it would try to grow again.

I also have a baby tomato plant that is trying to grow. I should move it in to the greenhouse soon so that it doesn't get too cold but I have to make sure the days don't get too hot. I don't want it to cook!

The squash worms got the squash. I was disappointed.

I really need to find a place to plant my baby trees because they are getting too big for their little pots.

So that's the latest. I'm not going to try to plant any cold weather crops like lettuce because I don't eat it that much and I think it will be just as disappointing as the quash. Maybe next year will be better.

Yellow Squash

I can't really call it a 'success'. One squash was delicious. The other was shriveled inside. Too bad. So, I only got one squash so far. I must say this summer has been quite a failure for vegetables. My harvest was: 4 tomatos and 1 yellow squash. Those should be easy plants to grow. Well, at least I learned a lot. Next year-better soil, more shade, more consistent water. Maybe then I'll have more success.

Two More Happy Hornworms

Can you see them?

My tomato plant is pretty much dead so I am letting 2 hornworms happily engage in the circle of life. Good thing they don't like to eat squash. My yellow squash is my only vegetable that is still growing. Now that I have plenty of water...there is nothing to water. I should check out the planting calendar for Tucson and see if there are any winter crops that interest me. There I go again...I wasn't successful with anything over the summer. Why do I want to continue this fruitless gardening hobby? For some reason I still like it. Maybe I'll stumble upon something that is easy to grow one of these days. (I'm pretty good at growing hornworms!)

The Happy Horn Worm

Did you know that horn worms like Desert Willow trees as well as tomato plants? I didn't know that. This might be a different kind of horn worm. His horn looks different. I did know that another kind of smaller caterpillar loves Desert Willows. I had a bunch of them attack the tree I planted at my house. They did a lot of damage but the tree survived and grew back rapidly and denser.

This happy horn worm was not happy for long. The next day when I went back to see how much he had eaten...a big spider had eaten him! I guess I don't have to worry about my tree. It has a giant spider guarding it.