Unemotional unconventional gardening

This year I changed my gardening ways. I vowed to garden without emotion. I vowed to accept the truth of the matter which is, hurts me to say it, I have a shady yard.  I claim full responsibility for the shade in my yard. I wanted less turf and I got less turf. This the sunny side of my garage. In that beautiful tangle are 3 cherry tomato plants, bird house gourd vines, and six salvia.  I really wish I didn't put the two red salvia together and the two purple salvias together but it's too late now. I strung some clothesline up from the garage light to the post on the right and I am training the gourd vines to curl themselves around the rope so the tomatoes can have some sun too. Plus I have a couple peonies hiding in there. The garden is doing well but sometimes I see loss of turgor pressure. My rain barrel is almost empty trying to keep this garden watered. I hired someone to replace my outdoor faucets because they are so old the hose won't fit on them anymore so all water to this garden is carried by hand. I would hazard to say this garden looks unconventional.

The bird house gourd flowers are pretty enough to be in a bouquet. The delicate white blossoms have an edge that could have been made by a pinking shears.  Who wants a handmade birdhouse two years from now? It takes me about 2 years to dry the gourd, drill a door, and give it a coat of paint.

Behold this sunflower! Sorry, emotional again but for 20 years I have tried to grow sunflowers without success because the white tailed deer chomp off the heads and I ended up with a row of sticks year after year after freaking year. I never quit though because I love sunflowers.  The deer chomped off this one too but it came back and it has two heads. I named it Hydra.

To the right of this post which is as tall as I am is ANOTHER SUNFLOWER! The deer never chomped this one off yet.  I spray deerbgone right on it and it's working!  OMG! Shoot, I got emotional again.

This year I started a contest between hydroponic tomatoes and tomatoes in the soil. My plan was to keep emotion out of it and just take inventory as the summer progresses.  These are the tomatoes on the soil tomatoes. What are the results of this contest so far? At first the hydroponic tomatoes grew quicker. Then the demon deer chomped two of the three hydroponic tomatoes down. Don't you think it understandable that I had an emotional rant after seeing that? I vowed to sell this place and move into an apartment.  Then the soil tomatoes took off and grew crazy long vines that I had to tie up or they would have gone all over the yard.  The hydroponic tomato on the deck kept growing steadily but did not have anywhere near the foliage the soil tomatoes had.  I didn't care. I'm growing them for the fruit not the vines. If I was merely taking inventory, I would say the one who gave the most fruit would win the contest.

But on this day I am not unemotional. I drool at the hint of the first tomato of the year. I can't wait until my fingers pull it off the vine and I pop it into my mouth and feel the seeds explode against my tongue! Home all day today I have been watching these babies turning orange and oranger and oranger.  I think the first tomato wins!