They're coming. I'll soon have enough tomatoes to start drying &freezing them. At the moment they're not surviving the rate I'm stuffing them in my mouth, but they're starting to pick up. I ran out of preserved tomatoes last winter before I ran out of winter. Hopefully this year I can pack more in.

*sending my NYC bff on a field trip to Shorakapok Preserve for research, with the question "where can I hide a sasquatch in there?"* *Remembering my other bff is getting a coding degree* *My homebound disabled ass sitting here with endless useless knowledge about gardening and fiber arts*

The flat chested dress form is not near as high quality as the boobed one I have, to a very significant degree. I'm also definitely going to have to make butt and gut pads, because how dare someone have no boobs and a butt. However! I'm excited to use it. Gonna make something weird.

Late in the season, but finally, the 1st big tomato! I don't think I've ever had a Cherokee purple tomato ripen before the other slicers. Brimmer is usually my power house (of course this year's Brimmer is making tomatoes so big they've broken some of my bamboo supports). Might eat it like an apple.

I stopped playing an app game I really like b/c it kept becoming more predatory, demanding more & more time to be able to finish month long events to the point it felt like a chore. I would love to keep playing it it wasn't timed. But now 1/2 my ads on tumblr are for it like this: Frickin' creepy

About 3 weeks ago I repotted my banana tree & removed all the pups (baby banana sprouts) so it would have room to expand its roots. One of my life goals is to taste a fresh banana. Instead it made 3 more pups & one is almost as big as the mother tree. And 1 of the pups I removed has 3 more pups.

Is anyone else having trouble replying to people on the mobile app because the keyboard covers the reply as you type? It won't shift upwards and I can't see anything I'm typing.

Also, grow some tomatoes. They're way better than store bought ones and you'll actually want to eat veggies. If you've never gardened you'll be astounded at the variety of tomatoes & peppers. It'll force you to notice the weather. This drought is horrific. And tomatoes are delicious.

I swear the growing season here is getting shorter & shorter & the veggies keep ripening later. I had my tomatoes planted not long after the last frost & just got my first cherry tomatoes today. The big ones aren't even thinking about ripening. It used to be I'd be overrun with tomatoes for months.

I've been working for months on book covers and while they look great and I'm having fun, I'm getting a little twitchy not having made anything physical for that long. But I've been working on these things like it's my job and I don't want to lose momentum. But also... must...make... things...

Woo, go little buddy! It's put on a lot of growth in a few weeks. I don't think it's going to have any trouble becoming a healthy tree. I'll likely put it in a bigger pot next spring, or in the ground if a miracle occurs & I'm in a permanent home by then.

I have put smelly organic fertilizer in the potted fruit trees then blocked their way so they can't eat bone meal. I am told this is a high crime against dog.

Fig foliage? I don't know why, but baby figs give me cute aggression & the grown 1s are so pretty. The leaves smell like figs! I...have way too many fig trees. Different types have slightly different shaped leaves. 1 has striped branches & figs, but not leaves. The leaves can be tea. Foliage!

This is the one I got discounted about 2 weeks ago. Not only does it have new growth, but multiple stems! Figs are fast growing trees. It's likely this one will fruit next year, and certainly the next if given good conditions. Even the leaves smell like figs and can be used to make tea!

The best way to get a fig cutting to root is actually to stick it in a moist bag of dirt and leave it alone, just like this. Take a peek inside and you'll find buds ready to go! You don't need much, just a sign of life. All 4 left on the discount rack had happy buds hiding in the bags.

I have inexplicably bought 5 more fig trees. But! 4 were very sad! And discounted! & probably going to be thrown away! If you'd like a fig tree in the U.S., chances are a big box store near you has this 1/2 off right now. They look very dead. They're about $7 each. But! Look inside👀

I'm sitting in the deep shade under a big tree in my backyard with my dog, hiding from the sun & trying to figure out how to fit more pepper plants in my garden. I have extra from seed starting & a hankering for smoked fermented hot sauce. It rained yesterday, today the humidity is down. Good stuff.

Last year I very carefully sprouted lotas seeds over the winter, transplanted them into specialized baskets, & put them in a pond just for them. They all died. This year I threw a handful of lotas seeds into the same pond. The other day I noticed startlingly perfectly round leaves. Baby lotas!

The little half off fig stick I got from the Lowe's discount shelf has leaves coming in! It looks like several branches are viable. That's. 7 dollar Chicago Hardy tree for meeeeee

I also did allergy shots, as I was deathly allergic to cats and startlingly allergic to many other things. Also somewhat allergic to dogs. Poodles are hypoallergenic! Perhaps an allergy shot & poodle combo could be a potential option. They don't shed at all. But also I didn't get shots until I-

This zebra mallow often has a few napping in it.

It is truly one of my odder antique finds in a large collection of weird antique finds.

It's been balm time, and the bees are proving its name.

As far as obsessions go, figs is fairly harmless. 😅 Just don't ask how many I have; I lost count. Behold my newest charge: this Chicago Hardy stick I got half off at Lowe's. It was bone dry but appears to have several active branches. A $7 gamble, so we'll see.

As a bonus, here's Mannie when he got into the bean trellis and couldn't figure out how to get out, so asked for pats instead.

This one, however, is a gremlin child who makes problems for fun when she's bored. If there was a mastermind to the adventure it was her. She's also the reason we're going to have to make a gate latch a toddler couldn't figure out.

My dogs tried to give me a heart attack by somehow opening the gate & going on a nearly 2 hour jaunt in our heavily car traffic neighborhood, getting lost, & following a neighbor they know home. So. Who has dog collar tracker recommendations? We've improved the gate latch but also, trackers.

Found this little guy stuck in an almost dried out shallow part of the plastic ponds. He was feeling fiesty and didn't even hide while I was getting him out, then he stomped across the garden and on his way to probably eat my seedlings. A ramp has been built in the pond for critter safety purposes.

Also these, because I've convinced my dad that ren fairs are fun. I've got at least one more sword hiding somewhere. But I still should have bought the glaive. For...writer reasons.