Garden update.

My latest obsession with the garden is still flourishing. Just look at the flickr...
Every morning I wake up and hop outside while the coffee's brewing/reheating to water a few choice sprouts, check my slug beer traps for victims, and pick off an aphid here and there.
Every afternoon I come back, water if necessary (I know, I'm a bum, I just can't bring myself to get up 15 minutes earlier to water EVERYTHING in the morning.), spray with my homemade soap/hot sauce insecticide (now with neem!), and do a quick check for buggies. (Which there always are. In great abundance.)
I've even known to come back past dark on a call night and check my slug traps by flashlight.
I'm crazy. I'll be so sad when this whole project yields nothing but a bunch of stunted, worm-eaten stems...but it certainly has been fun, and a great way for me to spend some time outdoors.
The picture above R is the corner of the deck, with the 'sun gold' tomato (not growing as well as its counterpart, the aptly-named 'better boy' in the ground), a little pepper plant, and my sage plant with 'grand rapids' lettuce sown underneath, just for fun.
Isn't the sage looking beautiful? I'd like to take a moment to talk about this most-beloved of my plants. In some ways it led to my gardening this year--it was a housewarming gift that flourished on my windowsill through the winter, and has yielded numerous cuttings (some living in my care, some given to others) and seasoning for a host of tasty marinades and casseroles. In fact, I'd never really considered using sage as a seasoning until I tried it fresh--somehow the fresh sage has a much more delectable and less overly-strong-breakfast-sausage taste to it. Plus, it's been super easy to grow. Just water and snip off a bunch here and there, and it rewards you by growing ever larger, greener, and bushier. I guess what I'm trying to say is...give sage a chance, if you haven't--in fact, if you stop by, I just might force you to take a cutting :)