summertime by the sea

The clouds are thick all morning and the air is cool and salty, but some things are thriving this summer. I'm learning to accept things I cannot change (soil teeming with nightshade viruses, gophers) and to encourage the growth of things that do survive. 

what the garden looked like before I left for new york. Those tripod trellises are holding the tomatoes that were once doing so well. They had some yellowing of the lowest leaves at this point which is normal for a plant producing fruit as it devotes its nutrients elsewhere, but I had a feeling this was more aggressive than that. By the time I got back they were horrible-looking withered brown stalks.  I believe it was caused by fusarium wilt. Unfortunately, it is a soil borne virus and this means that tomatoes won't grow there for years. Martha, who's the head gardener at Olivewood Gardens, says that when fusarium wilt destroys your crop all you can do is...plant more tomatoes (in some other spot)

 bell pepper and spinach in the pots, california and icelandic poppies ( I have killed off all of the pink ones)
the artichoke is the most promising guy here, in my opinion 

california poppies, beloved by bees

cleveland sage has doubled in size since the winter now that it's getting watered. I don't know how great it is for cooking with, but the flowers are electric purple in the sun and hummingbirds are all over it

sage sage basil thai basil basil thai basil basil mint mint eggplant

ruby chard, total success story. After transplanting to some friendlier soil, they became these beautiful leafy things and I've been cooking them in pasta with toasted walnuts, red pepper, and cranberries. 

black dahlias

nasturtium harvest. black aphids began to destroy my vines and a gopher came to finish them off last week. But in the meantime I gathered the seed pods.  I tried to pickle them but the smell that is released when I open the jar does not encourage ingestion of its contents.

the indoor menagerie expands. Big green leaves are night blooming jasmine, calathea, and thai basil
you can see some 8 foot tall sunflowers outside the window