Bush beans

Some of these Beurre de Roquencourt Wax Bush Beans ended up in the pot for part of my supper tonight. Yum!

Rain bonus

Last night and today it rained, a very happy and unusual event for this time of year. The garden is growing right along. The few radishes left are way over size.


The Tom Thumb lettuce is deliciously soft and fascinating just to look at. One head makes a nice size meal.

Expert help

On Friday my sister helped me with ideas for my backyard and garden. First, the pole beans desperately needed place to climb—they had commandeered the tomato plant, which also needed staking. I had thought I would try construct a vertical structure out of pipe, as illustrated in Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening book. But my sister suggested the simpler method of four bamboo poles placed in a pyramid-shaped structure. I already had a tomato cage on hand.

Also, my sister suggested fitting planter boxes between the fence and the ugly two-foot high concrete retaining wall and growing some kind of cascading plant to cover the concrete.

I decided, too, I wanted to try cover the side of the hot water heater shed and fix the chicken wire fence.

So we drove to San Gabriel Nursery to get supplies. We found bamboo poles and narrow plastic planter boxes for the retaining wall. We also bought four-foot high metal poles to stake the fence around the garden more securely.

We looked at all kinds of climbing plants and planters for the side of the shed, but I needed more time to decide how I want it to look. (It is occurring to me as I'm typing to see if maybe I can use the excavated concrete pieces to build a planter against the shed.) Thanks to the influence of the Path to Freedom folk, I'm looking for something edible to cover shed—and am now thinking I'll re-use the concrete pieces, too.

Then we hunted for cascading plants, including jasmine and ivy geraniums, until I saw the nasturtiums, which are edible, and again thought of the PTF homestead. So I will double-check the nasturtium seeds I have on hand to see if they are a trailing variety and prepare the soil for the planter boxes. I hope the location against the solid fence will get enough sun. If not, I'll plant something else.

Lastly, my sister had an idea for providing shade now that the tree is gone. I can simply drape a colorful cloth over the clotheslines when I want to read and relax in my backyard.

Later Friday afternoon, we staked up the plants and fixed the fence. On Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market, I bought a bougainvillea plant for instant color by the shed. I'll still plant something edible, but could not resist at least a narrow column of a flowering vine.

Thank you to my sister for the help and inspiration!

Good bug

Tonight as I was watering, I saw a ladybug on the radishes. I hope it found a tasty meal.