Free tomato plants

Usually I toss the pruned tomato suckers into the compost, but I’d recently heard they can be rooted in water. After just a few days in water, roots developed. I planted them to see what will happen. We may not get a crop from these plants this year, but I’m experimenting to see if it can be done. 

Maine Garden in June

 Here are a few scenes from my garden in June  

                           Rose of Sharon or Mallow 

                                        Astilbe

                                     The fern path

                         Petunias I grew from saved seed 

                       “The Red Drift” rose bush. I got this on clearance last year for 1 dollar. It is amazing! It bloomed well into December which is unheard of in Maine. I’m going to try to root cuttings from this and grow more.  

Wild Roses

 The wild roses in Maine are almost done blooming. These roses line the roadsides and seem to spring up everywhere. This volunteer is growing over our old swingset. It's about three years old now, and working its way across the top of the frame. I'm looking forward to the day when this creates a complete rose arch in a few years' time. 

Growing Vegetables in Five Gallon Buckets

 This year we are trying something new. Using an old picnic bench and various containers, we started a little container vegetable garden. Our biggest gardening problem is the lack of sunlight. We are surrounded by mature forest which casts shade much of the day. The containers allow us to move the veggies to follow the sun. My son planted tomatoes and nasturtiums in five-gallon buckets and they are thriving. We also have peppers, eggplant, herbs, lettuce, cucumbers, and flowers.