Never pass up a chance to sit down or relieve yourself. -old Apache saying

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

June gardening

Our garden in the sky is coming along nicely. It's already been in the 90's (degrees, that is) and this weekend, it's going to hit the UPPER 90's! And! It's not even officially summer yet! Boo! Hisss!

But the garden carries on. The tomatoes are gangbangers ... I mean, cherry busters ... I mean, gangbusters. Both the Valley Girl (determinate) full-size 



and the Cheery Cherry (determinate) is producing at full throttle.


Yesterday we planted a seedling of two more types. Got to keep the production rolling. We put a Celebrity Hybrid (determinate) into a large pot, with a tomato cage


and we're trying a Marglobe (determinate) in this freaky "Topsy-Turvy" tomato planter. Determinate plants are the way to go when you have a confined space like we do. I first hung the TT from the roof eave, but it was too damn high to reach to water it, so I hung it instead on the wall. It ain't perfect, but it might work there, if it works at all.


Why is it nothing happens like it does on TV?


We also planted a "Black Beauty" eggplant seedling ...



... and a (yellow) crookneck squash seedling in a pot with a squash (tomato) cage in place.



For some reason, the red sails lettuce is STILL producing, and it's been hot as hell. Could be that placing it against the wall, cutting down on the amount of direct sun it gets, has worked and prolonged it's growth. I keep expecting it to bolt any day now, but it continues to churn out tasty leaves.


We have a bushel full of carrots, but unfortunately, they're all pygmy this time around. So far, at least. I've got two types, some "parisienne" and "little finger" sharing one pot, and if I was a midget, I might be impressed with the production. I think we allowed too many to grow in the same pot. Duh. Live and learn. You know, you can eat the green shoots on top of the carrot.

The cucumber is flowering like mad and is taking to the trellis just fine. You have to keep an eye on these guys. Suddenly, before you know it, you have a cucumber. They like to hide among the foliage.



The cowpea is looking a little ragged, but there's some cowpeas on the bush. We've been snipping some of the young leaves for salads. First time for this one.


The edamame is looking very healthy. First try for this one too. It's actually soybeans. We recently bought some of the dried edamame at Costco and it's a pretty dry nut/bean/pod, but it's packed with nutrients.



The radicchio is still in its infancy, but that's the time to snip the young leaves for salads, which we've been doing.



Same with the arugula. The young leaves are the best. When it gets old, it gets very bitter. Kinda like Republicans.


The orach red is finally starting to take off. First-timer. It just sat there for the longest time. The young leaves here are also edible.


The chives have been producing for ... oh ... what? about a year now??


We're going to have a bumper crop of limes ....


And here's a shot of some of our flowers ....


... and finally, a shot of the jungle, as we like to call it, in the corner, at night, which includes some ginger, several plumeria, the blueberry bush (we've gotten about a dozen delicious berries so far), the fountain in the middle with some spearmint and various flowers around: vinca, marigold, mandevilla, a perennial mix, and a couple of spent lillies. Luna (our kitten) loves to hide in there.


Oh no, what shall we do with the plants when we trip out to San Francisco? Probably set the sprinkler. On the timer.


Yo! We got permission from the owner of the vacant lot across the street to plant a Community Garden there! A most awesome development.

We have divided up the (roughly) 120' x 120' lot into 23 plots sized 4' x 10' each AND EVERY PLOT HAS BEEN TAKEN BY NEIGHBORS. In no time. We've also set aside some room for a compost pile(s) and a small pond with benches and a sorta community gathering place. One neighbor has pledged that he's going to spring for a fence all around the space with two gates. Woah! This could turn out quite nicely, if I can just get past all the sweating. Much more on that later.

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