Marigolds & Tomato

Here are a few of my marigolds. I planted a few in with my tomatoes
and as you can see they are as tall the tomatoes!

Lunch!

So HOT!

It has been hot these last several days; the kind of hot where you realize life is going by in slow motion. I have about a hour left in my apartment before the temps reach the upper 80s in here. Needless to say, my garden is not happy with this dry soaring heat. I pulled up the tomatoes I planted in the spring. They were only producing small tomatoes and the plant just looked sickly. I repotted my pomegranate to a larger pot, but it seems the heat is taking a toll on it as well. Where it was lush and green with dozens of buds a month ago, now it is scraggly with loads of yellowing leaves.

Despite all this death in the garden, I am a bit comforted since I took a walk to the local community garden last week. Normally, I am incredible envious of all those plots filled with lush dense veggies three times the size of my container varieties. But the dog days of summer have had their way with the community garden. The plants look like pure weeds and decay. Tomatoes rotting on the ground and still attached to their withered brown stems. Straggly herbs, dead flowers. It was like a horror movie. So, naturally, I felt better about my situation.

I am greatly looking forward to the new cooler season. I have been pondering which fall crops to plant. I am toying with the idea of growing some chard or kale but I am not even sure that I like the taste of those two plants. Has anyone grown either of these two plants in a container?

Though I love growing from seed, I think for the fall I will buy some already established plants (like oregano- that darn thing will not grow from seeds!!!). I read in the Sunset Magazine that nurseries have sales in September, so I will wait until then to do some shopping.

Until then, I would love to hear how any of my readers summer planting went.

Common English Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris)

To further my quest for a superb herb garden, tomorrow, I will plant thyme. I bought a seed packet from Henry's last week for $2.69 (packet says its organic). The flowers and leaves are edible in this plant, though I am not sure that I have ever tasted the flowers. I would love to hear from anyone who has tasted thyme flowers. This packet has a wealth of information typed in very light gray print on the inside of the seed packet. Really? On the inside of a packet with 75 or so teeny tiny seeds. It is completely bothersome to have to empty the seeds out (because I am certainly not planting all 75) to be able to read exactly how to plant them, and in the process, destroy the seed packet because I have to cut it open.
Thinning, huh?
Here is my problem, I don't know that much about gardening. When the darn packet tells me to space the seeds 4 to 5 seeds per inch, I honestly don't really know what that means. Since I am potting in a container that is round, how do I calculate this. Hold on, it gets worse. The next instructions tells me to plant in groups. Okay....do they mean the 4 to 5 seed group per inch? And for the icing on this cake, it then tells me to thin to 1" when the plant emerges and then when it is 1" I thin to 10."
It cannot possibly want me to be handling seedlings so frequently. It sounds as though I am supposed to plant 5 seeds, then when I detect something emerge I am supposed to then dig the mini guy out an inch away. How odd. Wouldn't I completely disturb the other seeds that may just need a few more days to emerge? But following the thinning guidelines, if I just want one plant that will live in a 10" round pot, I should only plant a single 1" seedling in the pot.
The packet should really come with some pictures or something to translate. Or maybe I am just a dim wit and the instructions are completely self explanatory.

Thyme and Tomatoes
According to the seed packet, I should companion plant thyme with tomatoes in order to discourage white flies and worms. Sounds fabulous to me. The only question now is whether I attempt to put the seeds directly in my tomato plant container, or just keep a separate pot near the tomato. I am leaning toward the separate pot scenario to ensure the tomato doesn't block out the sun for the thyme.

Just A Few Fun Facts:

• Thyme and lavender are members of the same family
• It is drought resistant
• Ancient Egyptians used it for embalming
• Ancient Greeks believed that it brought courage
• It retains much of its flavor upon drying
• Common thyme essential oil consists of 20-50% of thymol, which is an antisceptic and the main ingredient in Listerine
• You can gargle water infused with thyme (boiled with thyme and cooled) to reduce throat swelling associated with bronchitis or sore throat. Think antiseptic! -- i am totally trying this if i have thyme for my next flu!