Ever since we set up the netting, the birds have not claimed a single fruit. I simply chose four 12" pots to serve as the four corners of the "cage." I filled each pot halfway with concrete and inserted a 7' pole in the middle of the wet concrete. When it dried, I had my heavy corner pot with a stiff pole in it. Everybody needs a stiff pole here and there.
It's going to take a really stout wind to knock these pots over. Like a hurricane. Hopefully not. Stringing the bird netting between the four poles was probably the most difficult part. It makes for a flexible cage, which can be nudged this way or that at will. And it's easy to get underneath it to harvest the fruit, or to water the plant.
Unfortunately, the two Big Boy plants have simply quit producing fruit. They only turned out two tomatoes apiece. The single, very productive Early Girl plant finally seems to be winding down. We have probably nabbed about 30 incredibly tasty fruits from the plant this growing cycle, and there are a few more still-green fruits yet to harvest. We got these Early Girl hybrid seeds from Ferry-Morse. After these last fruits ripen, we will probably pull up all three plants.
The yellow squash is growing along quite nicely. This is our first attempt with squash, and the seeds are from American Seed Co. The jury is still out, but...
...planted June 8, all five of the yellowneck plants have gorgeous yellow flowers that should begin producing squash very soon. The leaves have that same odd texture - rough and sandpapery - that the cucumber plants have.
Speaking of cucumbers, our second batch is flowering and we expect cukes to begin forming soon. This time, we have three healthy plants, as opposed to only one last cycle, so we expect big things this time. We planted the cukes, from Burpee Salad Bush hybrid seeds, on June 8 also.
Just because, on the same day, June 8, we planted some Park Seed Co. Red Sails lettuce. We grew this one very successfully last fall and winter. Normally a cool weather plant, I thought maybe I could still grow some for our salad if I kept it in the shade more than I typically would, to protect it from the heat. So far, so good. It's growing pretty well, even though it has been hot, hot, HOT around here lately.
As far as I can tell, and I do try to keep decent notes about what we grow and it's progress, we have NEVER harvested food from any of our plants in the time frame given on the seed packages. If the package says it will reach maturity in 45 days, it will take us 75. Or more. It's gotten to where I pay NO attention to the "maturity date" given on seed packets.
Our eggplant bush is continuing to produce prolifically, and I have never seen any other plant consume so much water. We've had so much eggplant that we've experimented with how to prepare it. So far, the wife's eggplant parmagiana is well in the lead. I have lost track of how many of the 2" to 4" fruits we have harvested off of this plant. Burpee's Fairy Tale Hybrid eggplant is a real winner. The fruit is firm and tasty, but again, preparation is key.
Speaking of prolific, nothing can match the basil. This awesome herb has flowered and flowered and flowered. And we have cut and cut and cut. We have so much basil we have been putting cut stalks in vases and using them for indoor flower arrangments and air freshener. Some of this basil + our tomatoes + mozarella + some balsamic vinaigrette = wow. You can get basil from practically anywhere, and even a retard like me can grow it.
One last note on foods: our Mariachi peppers are beginning to flower! The pic below is from yesterday and the white thing is a flower bud. I thought it might be a pepper, but today it bloomed into a small, pretty white flower and there are several other buds now on the other two plants. These Park seeds were also planted these June 8. That was a busy day.
Oh, speaking of seed companies, Gourmet Seed Company has some incredible variety. We aren't growing any of their seeds at the moment, but have some standing by. Check them out. Anyone have any favorite seed company to share?
The aloe plant below, a bridge between edible, ornamental and medicinal, has recovered very well ever since we transplanted it into a bigger pot.
And in the world of flowers, we are just days away - any day now - from one of the plumeria blooming for the first time. We have four different pots growing different kinds of plumeria, but I have no idea what type any of them are, as they were gifts from a co-worker, and she didn't know what they were either. But I just know it's going to have a heavenly scent.
And then there's the bougainvilla - BOOGIE! - totally going nuts and spilling red ... or crimson ... or ... what IS that color? Whatever it is, it's glorious. The flower petals are almost lighter than air, and the deck is often partially covered in loose flowers. When I try to scoop them up and toss them over the wall, the wind invariably picks them up and sends them swirling all over the place in all directions. It's a boogie storm!
That about covers the rooftop deck. We're doing all sorts of things to the four gardens in the front on street level, but at a pretty slow pace, because it has been so fucking HOT! More on those later. Later.
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