Garden Journal June 2015

Time for another garden update. The weather has been wonderful for growing things - a mix of rain, sun, cool and shady days, hot and sunny days. The whole garden has responded.

Lupins, mid-June

The main veggie garden is doing great. And that's my new water box! The soaker hose connects to it and my hand tools are stored right there where I need them.

Tool mailbox and water spigot

I spray painted my tomato cages red for a nice pop of color. And you can barely see my chicken with all the herb and flower growth. All the tomato plants have small green tomatoes and many new blossoms. I pinched the sucker growth, removed any stems beneath the first level of fruit, and put crushed egg shells around two of the plants (we'll see if they have any effect).

Chris sprouted some chia seeds (yes, he has a George Washington chia pet) and I thought it'd be fun to see if I get them to grow. That's them at the very front left corner. Then I did some research and it turns out the plants get 5 feet tall. Gonna have to move the chia pet soon.

All of the herbs are growing well although I need to do better with my basil. I didn't spread the seeds well. The transplanted starts are better, but I'm still having trouble not denuding the plants with my usage. The sage is crazy good as is the lemon thyme. The rosemary start is okay but not growing fast enough to keep up with demand.

Chia, basil, cilantro, pluto basil, sage, lemon thyme,
oregano, rosemary, marigolds, beefsteaks

My pepper plants look great and have lots of new growth and blossoms.

Jalapeño close, Ace green pepper far

Only one plant has set a tiny little jalapeño so far. These are Craig's Giant jalapeños and should be good for stuffing.

Lonely and destined for the grill

My delicata squash is going gangbusters. Three plants and they've completely filled their plot. Next year I'll plant them in the middle of the lettuce plots so that after the lettuce is pulled up, they can have extra space. This year I'll just need to train the plants to spread that direction.

Lots of unopened flowers and new fruit buds

No flowers have opened yet, but I've got lots of buds and I can easily tell the male from the female flowers.

Tiny female buds

The lettuce is crazy good. It'll be harvested this week and allowed to grow back from the cuttings. I want to collect some seed so will let it bolt in the July heat.

Lots of salads

The arugula has been sort of hit or miss. Several plants either got eaten or didn't germinate. But it tastes great and I'll do some succession planting. I'll also let some bolt as I love the edible flowers. I've started harvesting some of the kale and it's wonderfully tender with great flavor. I've been eating the pea plants in salads. Despite starting them very early, they're only just starting to climb the trellis. I have doubts of an actual pea harvest.

Arugula, kale, English peas

I've cut my garlic scapes (they made great pesto even though I had to supplement with some from the farmer's market). Only about half the plants are doing well. The oregano is going crazy though.

Bad angle on the garlic, it actually looks better than this

Two small lavender plants

One rosemary start and the rest from seeds. Sad.

The front lawn is lush and green and so great at cutting down on the dirt that was getting tracked onto the porch.

Cooper loves the grass

My lupins are past their flower prime but the plants are fairly lush. Need to add some more tall stuff around the bird feeder so it's not to looming. The tree-line flower bed is coming along well and I've got some good ideas for filling it in better and even repositioning some of the rocks.

Lupins

Mini Iris, impatients, pansies

Iris, foxglove, hostas. Needs more filling.

Deer nibbled hostas

Small driveway bed filling in with perennials

So that's the update for June. Combined with the farmer's market/CSA share, we've switched over to a veggie-centric diet for the summer already. Lots of stir fry, lo mein, green pizza, and quiches so far.