Hot and Humid

I dug up some baby basil plants for Abi's container garden, transplanted my young basil and winter squash plants to their permanent spaces in the garden, and dug a variety of new potatoes for tonight's supper. Enough work to make me light-headed and sweaty!

Yes! We do have potatoes!

The above-ground portion of the potato plants are so lush, I was afraid the soil was too rich... an abundance of nutrients leading to great foliage growth but not optimal tuber growth. I took a peek this afternoon. "Ta-da!" I was rewarded with this fine speciman!

It's always nice to have a little help in the garden...

Yarri visited 5 nights, 5 days while his parents traveled to the Bahamas. He loved helping with the chickens and the garden chores! Each day he collected the eggs and made note of how many there were. He helped pick sugar snaps, lettuce, onions, and radishes. He ate what he picked. He said the radishes were too spicy for him, but he did enjoy the peas and fresh salads. Plus, he ate beets! Of course, he loved browsing the black raspberry bushes.

I did indeed have to pull up the rest of the brocolli plants. They just kept looking more and more unhealthy. My basil plants have finally gotten some size on them and are being shaded out by the tomato plants. Time to transplant them to the other end of the bed now that the broccoli plants are gone. Plus, Abi says she wants some basil to plant in a container. I have plenty to share with her.

Speaking of tomatoes, I finally got some stakes and a support system rigged up. They're growing well and some have green fruit on them. I pulled off some of the lower leaves today that were beginning to yellow.

I pulled the arugula. It bolted a long time ago, but I decided I'd enjoy the flowers for awhile. We're still getting plenty of lettuce. The rainbow chard is getting big enough to cut. I've started to pull the second crop of radishes. The carrots are growing well, but aren't ready to eat yet.

All the squash is growing well, including the winter squash that I planted between the rows of crooked neck and zucchini. I'll have to transplant it soon. I planted a row of okra between two rows of beets. The new plants are growing well, but won't really do much until the weather gets hot.... about the time the beets are harvested! I'll plant another row in place of the radishes - between the other two rows of beets.

I expanded the height of my sugar snap support system, and so far it's been adequate. We've eaten several small batches of peas (sometimes mixed with carrots to make them go further) in the past week. They sure are tasty! Picked about 1/4 pound today.

The black raspberries have started to ripen in the past 2 - 3 days, just in time for Yarri to get a taste.

The potato plants look lush but I'm not sure there are any tubers down there! Hope our dirt isn't too rich for 'taters!

Noah was home for supper two nights ago. Knowing how much he loves beets, I decided to go ahead and pull some baby beets - some red and some golden. I steamed them up with butter, salt and pepper. I stir-fried the beet greens with onions, garlic, and dried red peppers in a little bacon grease, with a splash of red wine vinegar to finish it off. Now that's some good eatin'!

Disappointments in the Garden

The sugar snaps have outgrown their support system. Add several days of rain to weigh them down... many are bent and broken.

The caterpillars have found my broccoli plants. I pulled up one heavily infested plant. Hand-picked the critters off the other plants and fed them to the chickens. The side shoots I was looking forward to don't look very healthy. May have to pull up the rest.

Not tired of salad yet!

We're enjoying salads of mixed greens (red and green leaf lettuce, mesclin mix, beets, the last of the spinach and arugula), eating fresh spring onions every day, and salivating over the sugar snaps which are filling out nicely.

I've cut all the central broccoli stalks, but I do expect to continue to get plenty of side shoots to keep us satisfied through the end of the month.

I planted summer squash yesterday - "Early Yellow Crook Neck" and Burpee's "Fordhook" zucchini. About 55 days to maturity, so we can look forward to squash around the 4th of July.

Would love to find space to plant some winter squash. I have seeds for Burpee's "Butterbush" butternut squash. It's supposed to be a compact plant, taking up 1/4 the space of regular vining types. 80 days to maturity, so I better get going. I may plant it right between the yellow and zucchini squashes, hoping there will be a place to transplant it when all those plants grow up.

It's a challenge to figure out the most efficient use of dirt... getting the most out of spring crops before replacing them with summer crops; pulling the summer crops in time to plant the fall garden. We have only so many raised beds!

Time for Broccoli

We've had several days of showers, amounting to nearly 2 inches of rain in the garden. Today the sun is shining. I can almost see the plants growing right before my eyes! This is a good time in the garden... nice weather and few bugs, although I did see a red-eyed cicada resting on one of my broccoli plants the other day. Didn't know it was time for them to come around again.

I hate to note that the arugula is bolting. It can't take the heat at all. There are flower buds on the potatoes. I ate the first sugar snap pea this morning. It'll be a few days before we have enough for a meal. Tonight, broccoli will be featured on the dinner menu, and I'm looking forward to that!

Lush Garden and Happy Hens - Life is Good!

We had a nice soaking rain Monday night, then heavy pouring rain Tuesday afternoon. There was severe weather all around, but nothing damaging here. The pollen has been washed away. Everything looks green and clean.

I'm cutting the broccoli now, and it is delicious. Pea pods are forming on the sugar snaps. The potato plants are robust. Salad greens are lush. Everything is growing well. I've thinned the radishes, and continue thinning the beets as needed in the salad mix. I've read that you can eat the radish tops, too, but even the small ones are a little too bitter for me.

The chickens are at maximum egg production right now... 9 hens, 9 eggs per day!