This is a long-overdue post, for which readers (all three of you) have my apologies. Life has been a bit nutty; we were out of town for a while and then the puppy had some medical issues. He appears to be on the mend now, but I had time to either tend to the house and garden
or blog about it, not both.
The garden is what this post is about. It is by and large doing very well. We've learned quite a few things, including the face that baby bok choy, spinach and radishes do not really like too much sun and heat, and in response to them will bolt. So the bok choy crop is not as good as it could have been, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, sauteed in sesame oil and garlic and tossed with soy sauce and rice vinegar. We've given up on spinach until the fall, when the weather cools down We interplanted the spinach among the tomato plants, but the spinach germinated and started trying to grow before the tomato plants were tall enough to shade it adequately. Lesson learned. The Swiss chard is providing plenty of leafy greens in the meantime.
Of our 3 types of radishes, only the French breakfast grew well, and even it bolted eventually. Nick pulled up the plants that bolted, but their life cycle is short, so he sowed new seeds and they're germinating already. While working in the garden last weekend I harvested a few, which required sticking my arm in among their stalks. A few minutes later I realized my right arm was burning a little, and I looked down to discover that the radish stalks had left a serious mark.
I had never noticed this, but on really tall radish stalks (perhaps only when they bolt?) there are tiny little hairs that are a bit spiky. From now on I will harvest those with gloves on.
Now on to the more exciting parts of the garden...
Our zucchini plants are doing wonderfully well, growing like mad. There are at least a half-dozen large yellow-orange
This , and two baby zucchini growing. Can't wait for homegrown zucchini for homemade soup. We discovered this weekend that on the opposite side of that garden bed, what we had originally thought was a zucchini is most definitely not. There was a bit of a seedling mix-up, but only once it started putting up larger leaves and flowers did we realize that the slowly spreading plant is actually a cucumber plant. That is not a problem, since some of the cucumber plants we put in another garden bed did not grow very well. We are not sure if it is a pickling cucumber or a slicing; we already have one pickling cucumber plant growing well, so we'll either have some cucumbers for salad or a
lot of pickles. This sounds like a win-win to me. Plus, the zucchinis are doing so well that it's probably a good thing they aren't taking up a whole other quarter of the garden bed.
This is a zucchini plant.
This is a cucumber plant.
I'm slightly embarrassed about how long it took us to notice the difference.
The bush beans are also doing nicely. We had originally grown our bush bean seedlings indoors, and they grew rather straight, tall and thin. We thought they looked a bit spindly but transplanted them to the beds anyway, where they required some support because they were so thin. Then Nick read up and learned that had been a mistake. They are meant to be direct-sown outdoors, where they will not grow as tall but they will indeed bush out, as expected by their name. They're also sturdier that way and don't require staking or any other such support.. So we remedied that and the beans are bushing out beautifully. We've got some lovely purple flowers, soon to be followed by tasty purple beans. The contrast between the green foliage and purple flowers/beans is quite striking.
Our beet plants are quite happy. We have three different varieties, and they all have very different beet green colors. They're gorgeous! More importantly though, they are starting to grow significant roots, ie. beets. I am going to make a chilled beet salad some day with those things and some local goat cheese and it will be AMAZING.
Lettuce, anyone? Why thanks - don't mind if we do.
Don't forget the tomatoes! We certainly haven't. The tomato seedlings have gone from six inches tall to about five feet tall and are outgrowing their tomato cages and stakes. The picture on the left is a week or so old; the plants are a good foot taller now. They are flowering and there are even some baby tomatoes rearing their heads. The "big beef" tomato plant is the only one that didn't make it, but that was our fault. It's a long story. However, the green zebra, SC, Plum, and others look great! Plus, my sister-in-law thoughtfully brought us three new small tomato plants for which we are looking forward to finding homes. We're trying a few of our own tiny tomato seedlings as well; we'll see how they do. I foresee marinara sauce in our future. I need to get out there with aluminum pie plates to scare off the birds so they don't eat my tomatoes!
Tomato flowers mean tomatoes! Yay!
Are you hungry yet?
The hummingbirds are also tremendous eaters. It makes sense, given how much energy they burn flying around, but they are going through nectar (ie. 1 part sugar, 4 parts water) at a prodigious rate. I am starting to suspect that there either aren't many other sources of food for them around here, or that there are a ton of hummingbirds. I make large batches of sugar water and store it in the fridge, then refill the feeder a little at a time so it doesn't spoil. I was putting in about 1/2 cup at a time, but that isn't even lasting a week now! I did a little observation to note how much they eat (drink?) in a day and it's pretty impressive. It's a good thing that it's just sugar water, and it's also a good thing that (for once) the squirrels aren't interested. These little birds are so much fun to watch! I for one will be quite sad when they migrate southward later in the year.
Seriously?! The little furry bastards chewed through the solid hard plastic of the feeder tube to get to the seed. This? This means WAR. Tomorrow (or tonight) I'm going to see if Nick will help me move the feeder pole; it's too close to an adjacent shrub. I also think I might buy a wider pole that can take a baffle, and I want to baffle top and bottom. But in the meantime, I added 2 tbsp of cayenne pepper to the birdseed; apparently birds don't mind it but squirrels don't like it. Although they can learn to like it, apparently. I am also looking into other feeder options, although most of the "squirrel-proof" feeders on the market really aren't. Of course, what I would really prefer is no squirrels. I'm rapidly falling into the camp of "the only good squirrel is a dead squirrel." A neighbor offered to lend me his BB gun...He was kind of joking, but not really. What I really need is my mother-in-law's dog. She's 25 lbs of pure squirrel-killer. If only they weren't away in Vermont...
Of our 3 types of radishes, only the French breakfast grew well, and even it bolted eventually. Nick pulled up the plants that bolted, but their life cycle is short, so he sowed new seeds and they're germinating already. While working in the garden last weekend I harvested a few, which required sticking my arm in among their stalks. A few minutes later I realized my right arm was burning a little, and I looked down to discover that the radish stalks had left a serious mark.
Our zucchini plants are doing wonderfully well, growing like mad. There are at least a half-dozen large yellow-orange This , and two baby zucchini growing. Can't wait for homegrown zucchini for homemade soup. We discovered this weekend that on the opposite side of that garden bed, what we had originally thought was a zucchini is most definitely not. There was a bit of a seedling mix-up, but only once it started putting up larger leaves and flowers did we realize that the slowly spreading plant is actually a cucumber plant. That is not a problem, since some of the cucumber plants we put in another garden bed did not grow very well. We are not sure if it is a pickling cucumber or a slicing; we already have one pickling cucumber plant growing well, so we'll either have some cucumbers for salad or a lot of pickles. This sounds like a win-win to me. Plus, the zucchinis are doing so well that it's probably a good thing they aren't taking up a whole other quarter of the garden bed.
The bush beans are also doing nicely. We had originally grown our bush bean seedlings indoors, and they grew rather straight, tall and thin. We thought they looked a bit spindly but transplanted them to the beds anyway, where they required some support because they were so thin. Then Nick read up and learned that had been a mistake. They are meant to be direct-sown outdoors, where they will not grow as tall but they will indeed bush out, as expected by their name. They're also sturdier that way and don't require staking or any other such support.. So we remedied that and the beans are bushing out beautifully. We've got some lovely purple flowers, soon to be followed by tasty purple beans. The contrast between the green foliage and purple flowers/beans is quite striking.
Don't forget the tomatoes! We certainly haven't. The tomato seedlings have gone from six inches tall to about five feet tall and are outgrowing their tomato cages and stakes. The picture on the left is a week or so old; the plants are a good foot taller now. They are flowering and there are even some baby tomatoes rearing their heads. The "big beef" tomato plant is the only one that didn't make it, but that was our fault. It's a long story. However, the green zebra, SC, Plum, and others look great! Plus, my sister-in-law thoughtfully brought us three new small tomato plants for which we are looking forward to finding homes. We're trying a few of our own tiny tomato seedlings as well; we'll see how they do. I foresee marinara sauce in our future. I need to get out there with aluminum pie plates to scare off the birds so they don't eat my tomatoes!
