End of summer garden update

Despite attacks now by early blight (view here) and TWO types of caterpillars (hornworms and pinworms), my tomato plants still haven't kicked the bucket. The only thing that didn't make it from the beginning of summer was my rosemary plant (still have no clue what happened to it), and I've accumulated a handful of additional plants too. Here's what I have!

Dinner tonight! (Pesto - recipe here)

Italian Basil (after the pesto hair cut), some petunia cuttings on the side, and flowering Thai basil. I couldn't keep up with all the Thai basil, there's just sooooo much, so I decided to let the small pot flower. They're pretty, and I'll try to collect the seeds.

Cherry tomatoes and petunias (Thai basil in the back)

From the other side (Thai basil, cherry tomatoes in the back). Yeah, it's OUT OF CONTROL! I plan to make a Thai basil pesto in the next few days and have been giving it away to friends, too. Anybody want some?

Massive lemon and orange! Ok, not massive in comparison to full-grown trees, but they're each at least a foot tall and full! I'd say they've at least tripled over the course of the summer. The orange tree was practically dead two months ago (see that post here)! Cross your fingers for flowers and fruit this spring.

Serrano pepper. This plant is doing awesome. I saved it from a sad death earlier this summer when it was suffering from root rot. Apparently I never posted that series, but you can check back to earlier garden updates to see what it looked like. There are lots of serrano peppers on there, and they're almost perfectly ripe (those that we have eaten have been delicious but harder in texture than what you'd expect of a serrano pepper).

Look what I couldn't resist buying! I already had the label made since I originally bought a baby lime tree when I purchased the lemon and lime. This little dude came from Larry's Orchids and Tropicals when they had free shipping before Labor Day, and he's already sprouting some new buds! Unlike the Meyer Lemon and Calamondin Orange, this one is grafted, so I can't try to grow its broken branches into new trees.

Pineapple sage, with a smaller pineapple sage next to it (for a friend), and oregano in the other pot. It looks like it's getting ready to flower... maybe? I can't wait for it to flower!

Ummm yeah, I kinda bought this too. It's a dwarf pomegranate, expected to make edible dwarf fruits! Also from Larry's Orchids. I've read mixed reviews on the flavor of these guys, but I did read that it's very important to let them rest in the fridge for about a month before eating or else they're not very sweet. I'll make sure to do that if and when I get fruit.

The shade section: mint, lettuce, rosemary, cabbage, parsley, and coffee. Yup, you read that correctly. Coffee. $1 with my lime and pomegranate plant. We'll see how that does. That one's right up front. Now to the little pots on the side of the mint. First, there's romaine lettuce, which I grew from grocery store romaine! How awesome is that? Next is the rosemary that I grew from a cutting. Hopefully it doesn't succumb to the fate of the parent plant and die. Next to that is purple cabbage, which I also grew from the stump of a cabbage from the grocery store. Will it grow enough to get foot from it? We'll see. The new (in need of water) mint is spearmint, my favorite! Then the other mint and parsley have been around and require no introduction.

Better Boy tomato, Italian Basil (after trimming for pesto), and petunias. This plant is really struggling, but I don't see any blighted leaves (I'm still spraying ~every 10 days with the copper spray).

From the other side. Better Boy tomato, Italian Basil (after trimming for pesto), and petunias. This plant is really struggling, but I don't see any blighted leaves (I'm still spraying ~every 10 days with the copper spray).

Ripe tomatoes

Lemon balm and mint out front.