We have a miniature garden happening on our deck. I tried planting tomatoes out in one of the beds in the yard but I found that the squirrels would pick the green fruit, take one bite, then discard it. It was very frustrating to watch the tomatoes coming along and then all of a sudden be ruined by rodents. So now we just have them in pots on the deck and it seems to work fairly well. This year it’s been a little too wet for them, but they are not doing too badly.

The other morning after it had rained overnight I took these photos. Some were taken with the Lens Baby. I particularly liked the way the drops of water clung to their skins.

We also have our herb garden planted in an old wash tub. We are used to using our sage, oregano, rosemary, and thyme whenever we are cooking with fresh herbs. It’s great to just step out the back door to get a quick snip of whatever we need. I was amazed that the thyme came back this year! Everything else did not winter and we planted new this spring. We have a pot of basil too but since it grows so large it is in a pot of its own.

We have grape tomatoes too.

This little guy is on a branch that broke off from the main plant. I figured what the heck? and plunked it down in a pot with the tarragon plant (which is struggling because Bella pulled it up and carried it around the yard early on) and lo and behold the silly thing is still alive! That just goes to show you how wet it’s been that it could take root with no help from me! It’s even putting out new leaves!

Our bay “tree” was struggling with some kind of sticky bugs when we had it in our sun room. I was about to give up on it and throw it out, which would have been a shame since we’ve had it for so long. (It made the trip from Colorado with us and we had it a few years before we moved.) Rick decided to put it outside and it is now thriving. In fact, it’s gotten so big I am going to have to put it in a tree-sized pot.

I think it actually likes being wet. And here all this time I was thinking bay trees liked it warm and dry!

P.S. All perfect water drops were supplied by Mother Nature.

Edited on 7/25 to add that we ate the nice ripe tomato at the top of the entry last night and it was dee-licious!

You take such great pictures, I must invest in a good camera like yours!!!

Looks great, I really wanted to start a garden this year, but didn’t find the time.  I would love to grow herbs as it’s so expensive to buy the fresh ones at the store, and I love cooking with them.  Maybe I’ll try next year.  Do you find it’s easier or harder to grow things in Jersey compared to Colorado??

Katie, thank you! I find it much easier to grow things here in NJ. Too dry in CO! This year though we’ve had too much moisture and the plants in pots have gotten too much at times. Imagine that in Colorado! ANYTHING grows here.

Glad to see you back again!

The tomatoes look lovely!  I am not much of a cook, so the herbs would be garden plants for me, but I do enjoy walking past herbs and stirring up the aroma.  I am glad you found away to thwart the squirrels!

mmmm i can almost smell those tomato plants