Hey Pat if you want to meet up LMK I live right in the Arlington area.

@Chris Masterson I think this is a great idea. Good time is to start now. I may not be able to garden like I did last year, but thinking I'll at least do tomato plans they went crazy last year!

@dan.dewit @Charlie Caldwell If you all are up for grabbing a drink later on Saturday (like dinner time, nothing crazy at night), let me know. I won't be available in the morning also @Charlie Caldwell .

Hey @dan.dewit I won't make it this weekend, but my wife and I go hiking all the time, so we definitely would like to go. We started renovations on our basement and one of the contractors is coming by this Saturday, sadly I have to be here. I'll definitely let you know when a weekend opens up.

@dan.dewit Let me know more details about the 20th and I'll see if I can convince my wife to go. We've moved onto our next house 'project' aka renovating the basement so I can't promise anything, but would love to make a hike (and beer after!).

What about 20 Nov?

@Charlie Caldwell I'm down for hiking the Appalachian trail for a day then a brewery. I can probably convince my wife to come along - I'll text you when I get back from Guantanamo and we can plan a time. Anyone else interested?

Ya that was originally supposed to say aren't too bad not are too bad, I'm not THAT big an asshole.

@KurtActual Plants aren't looking too bad! If they have plenty of water and sunshine they should start growing soon. Let me know how they turn out!

@Justin Jacobson I tried growing lavender this year and it didn't bloom. Any suggestions? I am told year 2 is usually where it starts to bloom.

@Justin Jacobson Hello Justin, I actually bought a 50/50 compost/soil mixture originally. Things were not growing that well so I started to buy feed and mix it into the soil (nitrates, etc.). Every 3 weeks or so I'll also go out there and sprinkle it on top (making sure none land on the actually vegetables) so it can get soaked into the soil. This made the difference with my kale, which was small until I added it to the soil. Any other suggestions I'd definitely take! If I do this next year I am setting up a drip system watering plants take forever!

@Justin Jacobson Hey Justin. I didn't use a shade screen. The area where the garden is only gets about 7 hours of sunlight a day, so I didn't really need it. This is my first time doing this. I definitely learned some stuff. There are some areas (like the lettuce I re-planted 3 weeks ago) that probably needs some shade, it is definitely getting a lighter color. Thanks for following, I should do an update sometime soon.

Just added it to my calendar.

October 2nd a PBA comedy night will be occurring I recommend all go out! Maybe something the day before or after?

I Can do the 28th and may be TDY on the 4th.

Anyone up for a brewery this weekend? There are a few near me.

The herb garden is doing OK. Mint is going crazy (two types), Lavender hasn't done anything this year, nor lemon balm, but it should really take off next year. I accidently planted marigolds and nasturtium in the same area. They both killed off the cilantro and now are fighting for dominance. I was going to pull one, but thought I'd let them fight it out and see who is the weakest. Kill kill kill. Definitely will do things differently next year if I can. Tomatoes, basil, lettuce, spinach, and kale were all a success. I suspected tons of cucumbers and squash, but that didn't pan out. My neighbor doesn't take care of their backyard at all which is infested with bugs, I am pretty sure it is killing off my cucumbers and squash, etc. So the question I got is anyone else out there planting? I am still waiting on my first pepper, but I got about 5-6 growing right now. If anyone is interested, we can plan fall out and talk about next year. I definitely need some suggestions on how to get a better yield next year. I will probably by seedlings directly, but grow some unique ones myself I can't buy at home depot, etc.

I even made some pesto from the basil, I have tons:

Here is some of the yields I got from the garden so far, I am expecting much more in the coming months (hopefully):

Here are the results as of August of the garden, I'll take some pictures of the herb garden soon and post: