I've decided that tomatoes are fickle bitches and I hate them. The tomatoes in our garden plot have withered and died with the last few weeks of heavy rain on and off and I ended up just tearing them out of the ground and tossing them. I have heard mixed things from people when I have lamented how they've died. Some have said "I thought they were easy to grow," while others have re-assured me "they're a pain to keep alive." Either way, it's frustrating and I'm waiting until I am able to go out and pick up some of the 2' tall plants I see at the grocery store and hope those fair better.
A week or so ago I moved the blackberry bush be bought out of the garden plot and onto the deck in the large pot I have. While the raspberry bush and the blueberry bush are actually growing the blackberry bush is still a prickly stick jutting out of the earth with roots attached. Plants that don't do anything after three weeks don't get to continue to take up precious garden space. I'm proud of the raspberry bush though,it has gone from a single stick with a few leaves to a tiny bush.
In place of the blackberry I planted potatoes. I've never grown potatoes before so we will see how well they fare. The strawberries are doing excellent in the garden plot. I tied them up with some steaks to get them off the ground since they're already giving me a few little berries a week.
Our herbs on the deck are exploding. Apparently cilantro and parsley LOVE rain, because in a few days they doubled in size. I'm not exaggerating. DOUBLED. I'm keeping a close eye on them because I don't want them to crowd out or overshadow the rosemary or oregano they neighbor.
The experiment continues! SO far this is defiantly my most successful small space garden I have had in an apartment to date! It's only taken me five years but I finally have plants that aren't dead in a week. Huzzah!