Despite all this, I am still sitting on my deck with a cool glass of water before the sun bathes me with all of it's force. As I just got back last night from the endless roadtrip that was New Orleans and Miami in July, it's just more of the same for me.
I don't have much to write about-- actually, that's not true, I've got a couple of posts swimming around in my head-- but staring at the wild craziness that is actually my hard-working Earthbox I decided I'd share an update with you. After all, I haven't posted a pic since Week 3, I think? This may be Week 6 or 7. Actually, let's share 2 pictures:
This is my crazy growth of madness, doing well as one of my lovely neighbors nursed it while I was gone. The arugula is out of control; and quite literally so, as once a branch begins to flower, its leaves are too bitter to use. Here it is after I took a hacksaw to it:
Now you can see the pepper plants in clearer view. I am absolutely amazed at how much my peppers grew just while I was gone. They are taking a bit of a beating this summer. First, you may notice that they are hanging all haphazard-like. This is due to some crazy psycho storm that apparently rolled in last Monday and lasted all of about 5 minutes, but packed 75 MPH winds that wreaked havoc all over the greater Chicagoland area. My parents lost power for 4 days, but luckily, all the damage it did to my place was to push the plants over sideways. They are straightening up again a bit on their own, but also due to their sheer size I may need to find some stakes to help prop them up. The yellow pepper plant in the back and middle is sort of the dwarf of the group. Early on it never wanted to stand up straight, so the roots took hold sideways and sideways it has remained ever since. It's budding, but not getting enough light, so we'll see how well it does.
Speaking of buds: every plant at this point has a bunch of white flowers which excites me to no end! Many of them, though, are turning brown and wilty and falling off, which I understand is due to too much nitrogen in the soil. Alas, this being an Earthbox, I don't think there is much I can do about that. I also notice that since my trip a bunch of the early flowers are missing, but I'm willing to blame that on the storm. Luckily, new ones continue to grow, and two on the green pepper plant are already turning into peppers! Aren't they cute?
The final problem, and certainly a major one, is that somehow an entire civilization of whiteflies has infested the whole Earthbox. These are teeny-tiny white bugs, about the size of dirt specs, that attach themselves to the undersides of the leaves and suck the life out of your plant. In fact, you can probably tell that many of the leaves are droopy and not very firm because of the blight. I bought an insecticide that is safe to use on herbs and veggie plants and have been playing the role of (ex)Terminator, which seems to be effective. However, I need to do it more often: one of the problems with whiteflies is that just one can lay hundreds of eggs, so if even one of them survives my massacre they will come back in full force. In any case, the plants are hanging on, so I will just step up the frequencies of the plant spraying and hope I eventually get them for good. As an aside- I realize that using this insecticide somewhat makes my plants no longer "organic". I don't care. I know what I'm putting on them and they're still mine, and when I finally pick and eat them they will still be fresher than anything I buy anywhere else.
Finally- don't forget about my herbs! As usual, they are thriving on my deck:
I need to start harvesting the basil like mad, so I see some pesto in my future. Sadly, the parsley has attracted the whiteflies too- but only the parsley. Strange, but I'll take it.
As I stare at my urban garden, my creative cooking juices are beginning to flow again. Tomorrow is another CSA box pickup day, and I have a shortened week ahead of me as I'm traveling again (this time for fun, though!). Let's see what the harvest will bring...
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