After the Storm - TLC

WOW, what a wild week of weather we've had. Last week started with an unwelcome visit from Tropical Storm Debby. Highlights of Debby's visit included 5 inches of rain being dropped in a 36 hour period here in Central Florida, along with large gusts of wind that blew debris all over the place.

 After Debby moved offshore, a heat-wave settled in taking temperatures into the mid to high 90's with no cloud cover to protect my recovering plants, small wonder that my Concrete Garden is in need of a little TLC.

While most of the plants survived the weather, sadly we had to bid farewell to the Onion Chives, Carrots and Winter Squash. My experimental Gutter Guard worked well, but wasn't built to withstand that much water being delivered in that short a time. A redesign is in order.

Not everything suffered however, the Basil loved all of the rain and has really got into its stride. We've starting picking leaves to make fresh Pesto with.

Another plant that seems to be doing well is the Sweet Corn. Of the eight seeds I planted last month, seven produced plants and we're waiting eagerly to see the cob starting to form.

 

The Cucumber continues to grow well, although the Aphid infestation is taking its toll. The natural remedies I've tried do seem to have had some effect and I've seen a few beneficial insects arriving, but unless I see a dramatic improvement in the next 48 hours, I'm going to have to resort to a spray of some sort to save the crop.

 Finally the rest of the Herbs and the Lettuce are recovering well and my rabbit is happily chewing on his first test leave as I type.

So with the bed weeded, the remains of the Carrots, Onion Chives and Winter Squash removed and everything freshly watered, I'm going to duck back inside before the sun starts getting too hot and work out what I'm going to plant in the empty spaces.