All good things, unfortunately, come to an end! I’ve just returned from vacation, with only two days of leave left before I dive back into my daily routine. But I have no reason to complain – our family trip to Poland was a real success!

I’ll share a report and photos from the trip with you soon, but first, let me tell you about my little garden, which surprised me on all fronts during my absence.

When I left, I was sure nothing would change in the garden over those ten days. What a surprise I was in for! Upon my return, I found a real jungle. The flowers – my nasturtiums and marigolds – had grown so much they started taking over space from all the vegetables! Of course, I also have to mention the nettles, thistles, dandelions, and grass that sprouted not only in the beds but even in the pots. How did they even get there? I’m in shock!

I spent all of yesterday pruning, weeding, and tidying up this lush vegetation. I was digging, weeding, and even feeding a young blackbird with the earthworms I found along the way. Luckily, I managed to restore the garden to its pre-trip state. The reward for this effort was baskets full of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, and a bit of pepper that still needs a little more time to fully ripen. My wife wasn’t idle either – she was rummaging through the green beans and gathered a whole bowl of those delicious treats.

After a whole day of weeding and pruning, just when I thought I had everything under control, I noticed something surprising. In the pepper pot, what’s growing seems to be a cucumber? Or maybe some other cucurbit? For now, it only has flowers, so it’s hard to say what it will be exactly. And that’s not the end of the surprises! Among the Brussels sprouts, I spotted two tomato plants that are already so big they’re starting to flower as well. This surprised me so much that I decided to leave them all – I’m really curious what fruit will grow on them, because I didn’t plant them there!

I love my little garden. The zucchinis, which had blessed us with dozens of fruits so far, have finally stopped growing, freeing up three huge pots full of soil for me. I added a few smaller herb pots to them, which my better half had completely used up, and out of curiosity, I sowed some new vegetables directly into the soil. I chose vegetables that can theoretically be planted at this time of year for a harvest in September or October. I planted head lettuce, radishes, two varieties of spinach, and mini pak choi. I also did a little test – I collected seeds from the dried dill flowers and scattered them across the beds. Let’s see if I can manage to grow dill this year after all!

Now that the garden is tidy, I’m planning a major revolution in my greenhouse. Instead of small pots for herbs, I’m going to set up larger boxes there to have more space for a variety of plants. But that’s a topic for another post, because right now, I have a lot of work ahead of me! Until next time!