Friday, June 10, 2016

Its a jungle in my garden

I am way too busy in the garden with all the rain we have had this year and neglect writing about what is going on. We are blessed daily with enough food for the day and some to put by. This is good and bad as it give us green beans in January but the shelves and freezer are so full of the bounty it is hard to eat it down. Also the beauty of having so many perennial flowers in the garden makes it hard to come in the house. 

The mild-warm spring has had the tomatoes on hyperdrive! Just as the ones out back are taking a breather, getting pruned of all their suckers and putting on new blooms the plants out front are into full production. Good idea to plant them a month later. The Queens and Juliets take the heat pretty well and I have a couple of green strip there too. Our favorite so far is the black krim. I will plant several of those next year--large and sweet. Cucumbers are being weird--lots of growth and blooms but slow on the fruit. The lemon cukes are nice for slice and eat though and doing better than the straight 8s.
I am having great results from my eggplants in pots. The ones I did in the soil last year were barely productive. the oriental one I over-wintered in the greenhouse is full of eggplant and we are having a meal weekly, the black beauty has provided a couple of meal already and some for the freezer with the plant full of blooms. The Rosa is slow but keeps putting on one at a time. All the peppers but one are in pots and have peppers on them so good there too, including the jalepeno I thought I killed due to drowning not only came back but has peppers on it.  I just harvested a few more late beets to roast  3 1/2" in diameter with lots of greens. Have even managed to get a few decent zucchini from the plants and keep them going.

Only planted 1 seed potato and have had about 5# from it so good on that. I'll put more in about August. Onion storage is full--all 4 shelves and a quart to the freezer plus a pint to ferment. There are a few stragglers and we have used plenty already to cook with. Not as big as the ones my friend Yvette grows but good.Carrots didn't want to come up well but have gotten about 8# from what has and a few still in the ground, nice 4-5" long 1" diameter ones and a fair smatter of purple. I think the soil is not sandy enough. 
The sugar baby watermelons are really doing well. I have 2 huge ones ripening and several more thumb size ones setting. Happy happy face.

Herbs too are really showing their stuff. I planted large leaf basil and it is!!! Great pesto and lots put by already. Made mozzarella bites with it too. Purple basil is pumping it out too and I have shared so much lemon thyme I thought I wouldn't have any--wrong!! It just pops right back! The dill planted itself and I have cut and cut, given a lot away and still there are many heads to harvest. If only I had planted garlic last fall...sigh...but this fall for sure.