Pleasant and Productive Morning in the Garden

I went right out to the garden this morning at 7:45am. Didn't even finish my coffee! I ended up working until 11:00am.

I started with the chicken chores, broadcasting 2-grain scratch and filling up the 5-gallon waterers.  There were no eggs to gather yesterday.  You know what that means ... there's probably a snake dining in the hen house.  I'll have to keep an eye out for the hungry serpent.

I moved the odd marigolds that I had planted here and there, as well as some volunteer marigolds, to the upper edge of the asparagus bed.  The asparagus plants are leaning down hill and toward the sun, opening up the edge of the bed.  I don't particularly like the smell of marigolds, but they do bloom continously during the growing season, adding a colorful and pleasing visual to the garden. They are sturdy and long-lasting in cut arrangements. Plus, they have the reputation of being beneficial in the garden, supposedly discouraging some insects and even small reptiles from invading.  Can't  hurt!

I continued working on getting everything mulched.  I finished the long bean / edemame bed, then mulched the okra bed and the pole beans.

One more bouquet of broccoli to cut. It's destined for the dinner plate tonight.

Summer crops are beginning to produce! I picked a good handful of Jade bush beans, as well as my first yellow squash. A couple more squash will be big enough to pick this evening, given a hot day in the interim.

I harvested the largest beets, separating the beet tops from the roots.  I plan to cook them later and turn many of the red fleshy roots into beet pickles.