Now That We’re Back Home

We took a walk around the garden this morning.  Haven’t done that in over a week, and we wanted to see how things were doing.

While we were away recently, our friend, John, did us a HUGE favor and planted our winter squash and some summer squash.  We’re trying an experiment of sorts this year.  We’ve heard tell that there’s a certain type of worm or grub – pest – that burrows into the stalks of squashes planted before the beginning of July.  (I didn’t know pests had calendars, but apparently they do, and they write “attack squash plants!” across the whole June page, in black Sharpie.)

Bill planted one or two zucchini plants, just to get some blossoms and summery squash earlier, but the majority of squash a bit later.

Here’s the first zucchini.  It’s about 7 or 8 inches long.  I think Bill wants to make veggie burgers with it.

Here’s a look at the some of the rest of the gardens.

Below, our red noodle beans.  Bill’s hoping they consent to grow along the fence this year.  We’ll see.

A blossom on the bush beans, which are nestled in near the Forest of Dill….

Onions are getting big…

The okra looks healthy (sorry, Alex)…

And next to the okra we’ve got some tomatillo plants – with lots of blossoms.

The beets are getting big, too.  I may be pickling a batch before the week is out.  My grandfather loved pickled beets…I remember him making a sandwich of thick slices of cheddar and equally thick slices of pickled beets.  I thought it was pretty weird back when I was a kid, but now…I’d give it a try.

Here’s a look at the back garden.  We’ve got cilantro (coriander) going to seed on the left, and then things like carrots, mizuna, arugula (my favorite), lettuces at various stages, swiss chard, a few kinds of spinach, and in the front in those pots – chives, rosemary, and a couple kinds of mint.  Oh, yes, and there are potatoes in there at each end.  And parsley at the far right.  I’m sure I’ve left something out.  Oh – like the cucumbers winding their way up the stakes right in the middle.

Behind that garden we’ve got tomatoes and nasturtiums.  We also had the garlic in there, but that got pulled right before our trip and is currently hanging to cure in the boiler room.  I’m planning to move it to the garage, where I’ll also cure onions as we harvest them.

I’m not sure why Bill looks so unhappy in the picture below.  Everything is growing nicely.  He’s contemplating something.  Or maybe his heel hurts.  He wacked it on something yesterday and has been limping around ever since.  Or maybe he’s about to burst into song and he’s just deciding which song to burst into.  You never know.

While we were in the back yard, I had to take pictures of the hydrangeas.  I love them.

Now, moving into the front yard…

A beach rose, with some tiny little bugs snuggling in the pollen.

And a look at some blueberries that are turning…well, blue.

Now, if you look at the bottom blueberry, you’ll notice it’s all shriveled up and not juicy any more.

Anyone know why this happens?  It happened last year, too.  It seems like they just barely get ripe and then they shrivel.  It’s not like we’re leaving them on the plant all that long.  And we’ve tried watering the heck out of them, too.  They still shrivel.  Help?

And now, before I conclude this “Hi, I’m still here” post for today, Julia asked if she could type something.

So I’ll let her have the final words:

I love my gardens! :)

Comments

[RoseAnn]

This year we planted a tomatillo plant for the first time. Do you know if it's true that they're not self-pollinating? We hadn't heard anything of the sort until it was too late to plant a second one. The one we have has TONS of flowers but not a single fruit. :( Oh, well, live and learn, I guess.

Your garden looks awesome!

[Jayne]

RoseAnn,

Ive read different stories about the pollinating, so I asked Bill, since hes the one who plans the gardens and hes the one who planted two. And he said he didnt know, either. He hadnt read or heard either way. I know. Im just a wealth of non-information. Sorry!

[judith]

Your garden is awesome! My hydrangeas are just the opposite of yours, except at the moment mine are toast in this 102 heat. We've already pulled our onions for the year and I'm on my second planting of cilantro and dill. Thanks again for the seeds.

[Leigh]

We keep getting "male" blossoms on our zuccini and no "female" blossoms. I had no idea blossoms could be "male" but my husband assures me this is so. Are we never going to get any zuccinis? Does anyone know?

[roo]

Ahhhh, now I want some fresh tomatoes! Your garden is delectable. Welcome back!