Gardening – Make It Sow…Again
It is well over the midway point of the gardening season in North America.
Some crops are being harvested. The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I, for example, harvested the broad/fava beans this week. That bit of the garden is now open for another planting.
And we DO have time for another planting.
We can’t overwinter crops like kale and other cold hardy vegetables, which would be ideal for the second planting. We receive too much snow for that awesome strategy.
But we can sow seeds for fast growing vegetables like lettuce or pak/bok choi or chinese/napa cabbage.
And that is exactly what we’re doing. We’re flipping the bed and hope to get one more harvest.
(smiles)
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2025 Gardening Lessons – Warm The Soil More For Warmth-Loving Plants
Some plants like squash/courgettes, zucchini, and eggplant love the warmth.
In 2025, I put black plastic bags on the ground around the butternut squash plants and the zucchini plants when I moved them from the basement grow station to the great outdoors.
These plants did EXTREMELY well (for our garden).
I didn’t do this for the eggplant. And they did EXTREMELY poorly. They dropped leaves. They stopped growing. And that made them a target for insects.
The eggplants only started to flourish when the hot weather came. And in our neighborhood in 2025, that was way too late in the growing season.
In 2026, I plan to put the black plastic bags around the base of the eggplants also. This will heat up the soil, keeping the plants nice and toasty.
And I will remove the black plastic bags once the weather warms.
The black plastic bags will be put away and reused the next Spring.
I’m certain there are many more environmentally-savvy ways to heat the ground around plants, ways that don’t include plastic. And once I’ve researched that, I’ll likely switch to one of those ways.
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A Gardener’s Learning Curve
Gardening is a skill. And as with any skill (including writing), there’s a learning curve.
The first vegetables I grew as an adult were tomatoes. And that was ALL I grew in that first year.
I needed the time to learn how to tend to the soil, how to water the tomato plants properly, how to stake them, how to attract pollinators, when to harvest their fruit and then their seeds, how to prepare the bed for the next year and so on.
I made mistakes. Some plants died. All plants grew…not terrifically. (sheepish grin) The harvest was…underwhelming.
I learned from those mistakes and the following year, the tomato growing went MUCH better.
So much better that I decided to grow green beans also.
And I made mistakes with those plants also.
I learned. I became a better gardener.
I added another type of vegetable to the garden. And the process repeated.
If this was your first year gardening and your harvest was underwhelming or completely nonexistent, know that is normal.
That is expected.
Your mistakes this year will make you a better gardener next year.
(smiles)
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Sharing The Harvest
The harvest from the backyard vegetable garden ramps up during the month of August. The plants are often producing more than the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I can consume.
We freeze much of the excess to enjoy during the winter months.
And we give some vegetables to neighbors.
We do this for a couple reasons.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I both love to feed people. It gives us joy. And it is one of our ways of showing love or caring.
We also know our backyard vegetable garden isn’t the prettiest back window view at certain times of year (like early Spring or late Fall/Autumn). It isn’t the perfect lawn many of our neighbors have.
And it sometimes smells. (sheepish grin) Compost can smell. Coffee grounds definitely smell. Aged manure smells.
Our neighbors tolerate that and we thank them by giving them some fresh vegetables.
But, mostly, we are showing them love.
(smiles)
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When In Doubt, Water Your Garden
Rain has been forecast for my corner of the universe every day for the past five days.
That rain never happened.
If I had waited for it, half, if not all of my vegetable garden would be dead.
Thankfully, years ago, a gardening expert told me,
“Don’t water based on hope. Water based on your current situation.”
If it is raining, don’t water. If it has rained sufficiently over night or the day before, etc., don’t water.
If your plants need water today and it isn’t raining, water them.
If it does rain, maybe you won’t need to water tomorrow. And you might be able to fill your rain barrels. That’s awesome.
But if it doesn’t rain, your plants should still be okay.
(smiles)
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Gardens And The Heat
It has been a tad bit warm in my corner of the universe. (grins) Unexpected and/or excessive heat can stress and perhaps even kill plants.
Climate change is very real. The world is getting hotter. It makes sense to prepare for the heat when planting a garden.
Mulch is a must-have. (I spread knee-deep dried leaves on my garden beds every Fall/Autumn for this purpose.) As is other organic materials in the soil. That helps to retain water.
And a mulch regulates temperatures and protects the soil from baking.
Gardeners often say, “Bare soil is death.” Plants die. Microorganisms die. It is rare for there to be any bare soil in nature. And that’s why.
Many plants, like lettuce, only require a few inches of soil. So I fill out containers by putting a layer of partially composed leaves in the bottom, under the soil. This organic material holds onto water, acting like a sponge, allowing the plants to access it later.
On hot, sunny days, I also water deeply in the morning, before the sun shines on the plants. I will turn the hose on, direct it at the base of a plant and count to 20. This water will soak the mulch, which will hold onto the moisture for much of the day.
I create partially shaded areas in the garden. Tomato plants, for example, love sun and (reasonable) heat. They grow tall and shade plants like the heat hating lettuce. The sun and heat loving butternut squash climbs over a frame, shading the more vulnerable plants under it.
During the heat of the day, I try not to disturb the soil. I don’t weed. I don’t plant. I try not to even walk on the pathways.
Any soil that I expose will dry out.
It also stresses the plants. And they are feeling a lot of stress already from the heat and blazing sun. Minimizing additional stress (like from, for example, pruning) might make the difference between life and death.
I DO weed. That’s necessary. But I do that in the morning or in the evening. And, when I can, I chop and drop, leaving the weeds on the ground to decompose. That returns more moisture to the soil.
These are little things but they add up to make a difference!
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The Vegetable Garden Looks Ragged
Our vegetable garden here in the Sax household looks ragged.
A couple cool nights have yellowed leaves. Slugs have eaten some of the leaves. I replanted some of the plants the squirrels dug up. Some of those plants are surviving their traumatic experience…barely. Some of those plants didn’t survive and I haven’t yet replaced them.
This is the reality of gardens. Sometimes, often at the beginning of the growing season, they look terrible.
Those gardens on the YouTube videos and in photos?
Often they are staged. Yellow leaves have been trimmed off. Dead plants have been replaced by extras kept in greenhouses. Only the best looking plants are captured by the cameras.
Your garden WILL look ragged from time to time or maybe always. And that’s okay.
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Almost Ready To Move The Gardening Outdoors
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are watching the 14 day weather forecast. We’re looking for any risk of frost.
If we get the all clear by tomorrow, we will likely start moving the tomatoes, beans, peppers, squash and other seedlings outside.
Our last expected frost date is May 10th. We’re early. But that is to be expected with the climate changing.
***
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Strike Zone
A cyborg devoted to duty…and to her.
***
While attending a party, Kesser, the daughter of her planet’s leader, witnesses the abduction of her best friend and her best friend’s mate.
She’s determined to rescue them. Preferably without fracturing the fragile peace agreement her mom has crafted with the abductors’ planet.
The only issue is…she has never participated in a retrieval mission.
Searching for assistance, she approaches the mate’s guard. The male, with his big broad shoulders and deep growly voice, affects her like no other being ever has.
Kesser wants him. She trusts him. And she requires his stealth combat skills.
Desperately.
Strike is no guard. The D Model cyborg has been sent to the sector to discreetly investigate a potential planet-destroying situation.
When a curvy human female with big brown eyes requests his help with a rescue, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes. She’s his genetic match, the one being he was manufactured to protect.
She’s also traveling to the next planet he has to search. He plans to claim his female while he fulfills his responsibilities to his kind.
Neither Strike nor Kesser realizes the dangers facing them are far greater than they imagine. Their enemies are converging, and one failed mission could doom the entire universe.
***
Strike Zone is a standalone, mistaken-identity, Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a cyborg warrior with a finely honed sense of honor, a human support being taking on her first dangerous mission, and an evil that threatens everyone in existence.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strike-zone/id6469583228
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strike-zone-cynthia-sax/1144231998
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strike-zone-13
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1466811
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Almost Ready To Move The Gardening Outdoors
Gardening – Planning Plantings
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are planning plantings. (grins) That’s fun to say, isn’t it? And it is fun to do.
We plan to grow the mini tomatoes and the mutated heirloom tomatoes again. We harvested seeds from the best plants in 2023 and will be growing from those. That way, we’re hoping the tomatoes will eventually evolve for our (ever changing) climate and (more constant) soil.
We’ll be trying to grow sweet mini bell peppers this year. We harvested those seeds from peppers we bought in the grocery store. We’re hoping to get more of a harvest from the minis. And we’ll be growing them in pots to try to combat the slugs.
We plan to grow pole beans, peas, radishes, lettuce, spinach as we did last year.
We’ll attempt to grow watermelon again.
Zucchini (courgettes) and butternut squash will be new for us in 2024! The Dear Wonderful Hubby is especially excited about the zucchini. He really wants to grow a plant that produces too much for us to easily use. Zucchini should do that.
***
Subscribe To My Newsletter: http://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/
Strike Zone
A cyborg devoted to duty…and to her.
***
While attending a party, Kesser, the daughter of her planet’s leader, witnesses the abduction of her best friend and her best friend’s mate.
She’s determined to rescue them. Preferably without fracturing the fragile peace agreement her mom has crafted with the abductors’ planet.
The only issue is…she has never participated in a retrieval mission.
Searching for assistance, she approaches the mate’s guard. The male, with his big, broad shoulders and deep growly voice, affects her like no other being ever has.
Kesser wants him. She trusts him. And she requires his stealth combat skills.
Desperately.
Strike is no guard. The D Model cyborg has been sent to the sector to stealthily investigate a potential planet-destroying situation.
When a curvy human female with big brown eyes requests his help with a rescue, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes. She’s his genetic match, the one being he was manufactured to protect.
She’s also traveling to the next planet he has to search. He plans to claim his female while he fulfills his responsibilities to his kind.
Neither Strike nor Kesser realizes the dangers facing them are far greater than they imagine. Their enemies are converging and one failed mission could doom the entire universe.
***
Strike Zone is a standalone mistaken identity Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a cyborg warrior with a finely honed sense of honor, a human support being taking on her first dangerous mission, and an evil that threatens everyone in existence.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Strike-Zone-Romance-Dauntless-Cyborgs-ebook/dp/B0CL5QZBQ8/
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strike-zone/id6469583228
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strike-zone-cynthia-sax/1144231998
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strike-zone-13
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1466811
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Gardening – Planning Plantings
Backyard To Table
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are eating more and more out of the backyard garden. We have green onion tops, radishes, spinach, lettuce, cilantro and other herbs.
We jokingly call it backyard to table, a twist on the farm to table marketing campaign.
And it is SO satisfying. We grew this food! (beams)
Subscribe To My Newsletter: http://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/
Strive For Forever
(This description is still VERY rough.)
This cyborg seeks to vanquish an ancient entity and save his curvy human female.
Euryale made a terrible mistake. She opened a container she shouldn’t have touched and released one of the oldest lifeforms in existence. That all-powerful entity is now utilizing her as its host and is slowly draining her energy.
Soon, she’ll die.
Euryale has accepted this fate and is determined to use her remaining moments in the universe to save as many lives as she can.
Her plans do NOT include a smoldering hot, poetry-wielding cyborg willing to decimate entire planets to save her.
While under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, Strive, a K Model cyborg, disobeyed direct orders and refused to kill on their behalf. If he hadn’t escaped their cruel clutches, his defiance would have led to his death.
The male knowingly risked that fate to save the lifespans of complete strangers.
There is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Euryale. The curvy human female is his genetic match, the one being he is destined to defend.
And she is in danger.
Strive would break every vow, cross every boundary, risk absolutely everything to keep her from harm.
Including battle a deity no one has ever defeated.
Strive For Forever is Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strive-for-forever/id6445480449
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strive-for-forever-cynthia-sax/1142963331
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strive-for-forever
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1322272
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Backyard To Table
