Garden Refresh

Worked in the garden yesterday and a tiny bit today to let off some steam. It was mostly refreshing and maintenance of the plants that are about to go bare for winter (and when I start panicking about their survival).

 

I worked on a makeshift cover for the Hogwarts of Bird's Eye Chillies to try to keep the quails and other birds away from what little leaves it has left. I also moved the other chillies from the patio to the garden area in hopes that they get some strength before winter sets in fully. Each of the pots with plants that should last got a few layer of dirt from the pots that have been going unused.

As usual, in the back is Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. They have had some minor frost damage from about a week ago with some bird damage (still). In the front are the two Serranos, a Jalapeños, and the Strawberry plant. The smaller peppers are looking super pathetic, I trimmed off nearly all of their peppers and hoping they will grow some leaves, and found a gross invader in the original organic soil for the strawberries. *Creepy Crawler Alert*

 

From what I gather, it's most likely a Japanese Beetle grub worm that likes to feed on the roots of things. Couldn't get a good picture because it was squirming so much. It took me by surprised and I almost grabbed it. My poor strawberry barely had any roots and has gotten worse since the day I brought it home. It's replanted in a new pot for now while I wait for the old dirt to dry out.

I didn't add any dirt to the tomatoes since they are on their way out. The one in the middle is has a few Better Boys that are ripen and the first one has a solitary fruit that's about the size of a nickel. There are a handful of cherry tomatoes that are still growing at the end. In front of them are the two other Jalapeños with the Oregano (on its way out) and Chives (still hanging in there). The Basil plants that I had chopped down but left the stems in have started sprouting new leaves! Totally unexpected, especially since they've only gotten some over-sprayed water.

 

 No more than 2.5 inches in diameter but turning redder each day.

 

The meager harvest. The sweet cherry tomato, a measly Better Boy (dime-size), the Serranos, and still stubby Jalapeños. They may be used in some homemade salsas soon during the cold weather.

 My last little project was planting some various leftover seeds in some old dirt cookies to be placed in a plastic bin. Just like a mini-greenhouse where I can carry them in and out to get used to sunlight and the temperature. Hopefully something will grow. The seeds are pretty old.

Everything looked all nice and fresh with the new dirt added. I also relabeled plants and trimmed off the dead stuff. After the tomatoes are done, I'll chop up the plant pieces and mix that with some new and old dirt for next year's batch. I do not plan to add any new types of plants and most of my resources will go towards protecting Hogwarts. I will however, grow more tomatoes because they seem to be the most used of my plants. Also, they will be companion planted with Basil who seem to grow at the same rate and a perfect height to protect the bottom-halves.  

Sidenote:
Day 25: I am grateful for the replay button and headphones to help tune everything else out.