Aphids everywhere and a few things growing nicely

According to the Vancouver Sun, the cool grey weather is largely responsible for the aphid infestation in my garden (and the rust.. and the apple scab). Never had them so bad, but then have never grown fava beans before. Which they love, apparently.



Also squash



and honeysuckle



and artichoke



My little heroes are trying to cope.



I deliberately left the honesuckle alone hoping it would attract some aphid eaters. I saw a wasp on there yesterday so perhaps they've nibbled on a few, but I've been obliged to get out and blast with my soap spray to try to save what I can. And I had a nice feed of fava beans last night.



And managed to harvest my garlic yesterday despite the rust that hit it a couple of weeks ago. Going to hang it in the shed to cure today, if it ever brightens up.



Guerilla gardening? I used to think so, but it turns out we have vegetable advocates among the municipal gardeners in Saanich Parks. Each year they plant squash among the flowers, which is furtively harvested by passersby. Bless 'em!



Some experiments in propagation working out. I stuck some wisteria trimmings in a pot last fall and here's one of its children.

Urban gardening

I belong to a neighbourhood urban farmers/food security group and we often pass around articles of interest. Someone spotted this one, which is all about Will Allen and the Growing Power project, which involves 10,000 fruit, herb and veg container plantings in the Milwaukee site alone, and also produces fish, eggs, meat (chicken, goats, rabbits, turkeys) and honey. And a looooot of compost, many worms.

My urban garden has already produced a few tasties this year. I've never grown garlic before so was thrilled to bits today to dig up the first bulbs. They'll hang in the shed for a while - a couple of weeks I gather- to cure.



And here are my containers looking more lush now, in mid-July.



I went tomato crazy this year. Saved some seed from a big tasty heirloom beefsteak last year, grown from a seedling Tom gave me, and was taken aback by how many sprouted. didn't have the heart to do away with them so I have around 25 plants in pots, barrels, a Topsy-Turvy planter,



and an area of my garden I refer to as the Tomato Forest. So far, so good, though I'm still concerned about the leaf curl. It's been too windy to try my spray-on potions.



I have three other tomato varieties in slightly smaller numbers, plus a new one my brother gave me (wonder berries);



and a couple of relatives (tomatilloes and ground cherries/physalis), all in pots for the moment.

Some celery that's been growing in the wading pool. It was a strong and happy seed that I got from Kate and I've planted it all over the place as I heard it was good for deterring pests. Luckily I had it growing already by the time I heard it was hard to grow or I might not have tried.



Not sure if the eggplant will fruit, but I live in hope. Some is in pots and some in a barrel, with a bush bean for company. It's come along a lot over the past couple of weeks of hot weather.



The potatoes-in-car-tires have grown very tall. I'm curious to see what I might find in the layers. I'm a bit skeptical, as it does seem to me rather damp in the straw layers, but who knows.



I planted some more potatoes in the borders and when they started to sprawl I shored them up in cages, thinking the same concept as the car tires might work for them. They've grown very tall and gangly and unmanageable, dwarfing all around them.



Another occupant of the wading pools: radishes.



Everything in my garden is an experiment as I try to learn what grows where and how big and how well or badly and what eats what. Here are some purple sprouting broccolis outgrowing their pot. Honestly they looked so lame and weak when I planted them I put two in thinking maybe one would last. They have lasted well and are now much chewed by cabbage worm with lots of cabbage moths fluttering around them during the day looking for new parking places for their brood.