Garden Update

This long Memorial Day weekend kind of snuck up on me after all the post-Mother’s Day recovery.  Well, that and I’ve been kind of obsessed with flatwater kayaking lately.  We had a great time at the Microbrews Cruise Wednesday night, and I was back out on the water Saturday afternoon.  I thought about heading out again this morning, but the mess in the house could use some attention.  Besides, there’s always tomorrow morning…

Since I decided to make today a stay-at-home catching up on chores kind of day, I of course ended up outside in the morning hours.  With temperatures back up in the 90s, afternoon is for air-conditioned comfort.

So, let’s see what things looked like last month…

 

Huh, I guess we have had some progress, haven’t we?

 

The peas have finally, reluctantly it seems, decided to give climbing a try.  I’ve collected a good handful of pods the last several days, though once they’re shelled I’m sure it’ll be a small serving!  We’ve pulled a few beets and carrots already, but as always I don’t know what to do with my radishes.  Miss Chef promised she’d use them in the school restaurant, but somehow she never needs any.  Hmph.  They’re always super spicy because of the heat and dryness, so I can only stand to eat so many myself.

Here’s a closer picture of that back-right corner that’s partially hidden by our flowering parsley bed.

 

The right side is our solid-looking beet crop, next to it is basil.  There are a couple of peppers behind the beets, and to the left are a few of our tomato plants.

Which are getting ready for what I hope will be a big show.

 

These funny-looking guys are san marzanos, renowned among gardeners as the great sauce tomato.  We ended up with four plants, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll get enough at one time to make homemade sauce a possibility.

This is a summer squash, slowly preparing to take over the world garden.

Notice I’ve given it plenty of room!

Of course, no matter how much time and attention you lavish on your garden, some things are beyond your control.

We’ve had an ongoing residence of rabbits under our shed since we moved here.  I’m not much into trapping or killing animals just because they’re hungry, so we haven’t done much about them, other than try to plant enough tomatoes to share.

Fortunately, we also have a lethal canine with a strong prey drive to patrol the backyard.

In spite of what you see here, Rosie loves to chase anything smaller than herself.  She’s even killed a couple of birds, and has enthusiastically charged after rabbits and squirrels.  But I think she has realized she has no chance in hell of catching this one so close to home…so her wide lazy streak takes over.  She watched this rabbit for about half an hour, eventually laying her head back down.  After checking on her now and again, I finally grew disgusted enough that I called her in.  The rabbit didn’t move.

Speaking of the patio, check out this accidental garden:

 

Early in the spring I planted a few kale seeds in pots and planters around the patio.  None of them took where they were supposed to.  The seed for this big one must have washed out of the planter where I’d put it; I have no idea how that little one ended up back under the swing!  The big one is really bug-eaten, but every couple of weeks or so it seems to recover and put out a fresh set of leaves.  We haven’t been eating much of it, so I figure somebody should get some use out of it! 

At the far end of the patio, the rose of sharon is starting to bloom.

 

And further out in the yard, on the opposite side of the vegetable garden, we have a regular army of wildflowers on the verge of erupting.

Notice the gap in the middle?  That’s where the original bed was, where there used to be purple echinacea, which eventually got overgrown by the brown-eyed susans I seeded in there.  Somehow they came back everywhere except where they were supposed to.  I had a little chat with the folks who mow my lawn, and we selected a small patch they would mow around so I could still have some of my flowers.  When they came back two weeks later, I laughed to see they’d mowed around another patch further out.  Apparently they appreciate a good patch of wildflowers as much as I do.

I can’t wait to see what the full floral invasion will look like.