Make Sure To Stop & Smell The Blossoms

Excited as to what new developments I might find, I made it a priority to walk through our garden this morning. Honestly, I was very curious if some of our zucchini were ready to be harvested, alas there are not. Instead I found one of the squash flowers open, which I can't ever remember seeing before; they've always been closed. Neat!

Zucchini Blossom

Dixie Summer Squash Blossom

Earlier last week, I transplanted both of our dixie summer squash plants, which were

inevitably going to be over taken by the Jolly Green Giant. I decided to move

them into the radishes old spot. After replanting them, I trimmed back the larger of the two, and snipped off its first blossom, hoping that would help. The days following were looking a little sketchy, with the leaves looking all droopy, but this morning we have a new blossom. I think there is hope yet.

Cucumber Blossom

Also flowering for the first time are our cucumber plants, actually just one of them. I'm sure that more are soon to follow. I'm looking forward to the possibility of making our own pickles from the cucumbers, I hope will coming soon. Pickling is something we've never done before, but sounds like something we can figure out. I sure like most things, you learn by doing.

New Trellis

Lastly, I wanted to showcase the pea trellis my daughter helped me construct with some left over pvc pipe, chicken wire, and zip-ties. The original trellis (which still remains) was quickly overgrown by the series of pea plants surrounding it. So, one morning I decided to construct an additional trellis, but things being the way that they are, did not want to spend much (if any) money to do so. Well, lucky for us, I had spent many afternoons

repairing the sprinklers along our driveway...oopps, and had about 12 feet of pvc pipe on hand. The chicken wire meshing has been hanging around our house, almost since we bought the place. I had used some of it to build my own dirt sieve. With MacGyver like mad skills (just kidding, I didn't use any duct tape) we constructed this simple "H" frame trellis. Very simple, works, and I like it.

One Zuchini, Two Zuchini, Three Zunchini, more...

The weather is finally warming after a very prolonged spring. Never would we have thought that the local Sierra-Nevada ski resorts would re-open over the memorial day weekend. Personally we're not thrilled with the onset of the summer heat, but it's doing great things to our garden. Most noticeably our zucchini plant has transformed into the Jolly Green Giant, overshadowing many of its neighbors. A couple of nights ago while our daughter and I were watering the garden (apparently daddy looked thirsty too), I noticed that we had several beautiful yellow-orange blossoms flowering under the massive broad deep green leaves of our jolly green giant. Two nights later, to my surprise we had 3 to 4 inch long squash's. I think tomorrow they will be ready for the plucking. Now, what to do with them? Everything I've read and everything I've heard, suggest that zucchini plants produce quickly and throughout much of the growing season. In other words get ready for some zucchini.

Last night while surfing the internet,

I came across the Nature's Harmony Farm (out of Elbert Georgia) blog. The sites' author states that he/she loves "the chapter in Animals, Vegetable, Miracle that talks about

how country people never lock their car door unless it's zucchini season for fear that someone might put a bag

of excess zucchini in your front seat!"

Too funny!

Other than the jolly green giant, ourpeas plants are doing well, treating us to our first fresh...off the vine... pea pod. Eew-wee, was it sweet. Our cucumbers are starting to kick it up a notch; the corn in way beyond knee high (by the fourth of July); and the tomatoes and pepers are give our black bean bush a run for its money. This is awesome!

Ding! Radishes Are Done!

What an exciting and rewarding surprise, our radishes were ready to be harvested today. I was surprised to discover just how fast radishes grew. Since sowing them in april, it has taken them forty-one days to mature. After an afternoon spent in the garden doling out some TLC, and with a huge smile on my face, I ran my fingers under the muddy soil (just finished watering), extracting each of the bright red roots. I felt like a kid on a very muddy easter egg hunt. It was fantastic. A very happy and rewarding moment to say the least. Now, we can't wait for the rest of the garden to catch up. Pictured below are our freshly harvested radishes. Shown in the picture is about half of our total crop.

Getting Schooled

Broccoli:

Reading through the "Vegetable Gardener's Bible" tonight, I learned that planting broccoli coming into the summer months is way...way...way to early. Broccoli prefers cooler fall conditions, and soils with abundant amounts of boron, which I'm going to go out on limb here and say that our soil is lacking in boron.

Carrots:

Based on what I've read, it is likely that our carrot shave not started because either the soil temperatures have not been high enough (maybe?), or more likely, the area receives too much shade.

Peppers:

I think the reason that our pepper haven't taken off is due to soil temperatures. I think what I will do it build a mini-green house covering over the cells to help build higher soil temperatures. I think that this might be a worthy approach for the carrots.

TLC

What a way to spend a Sunday morning, giving the garden a little tender loving care. This included going midieval of the new growths of crab grass, which I slashed, chopped, and hacked them into submission, welding my hoe like the sword of truth...boo-bam. When I was done lying down the law, I water each cell, giving each a really nice soak. My hope is that this will help drive the roots down, making the plants stronger and more productive. This give me the opportunity to work on the drainage of each cell, so that all areas receive an even (or close too) amount of water. Thinking of next year, before I seed the cells, I think I will try to level each then, or have each drain towards a center line. In addition to the watering today, we are expected to get more rain tomorrow. Not sure how much, but I anything will be perfect.

This evening, I spent more time looking over our plants, figuring out out what's working, and what needs to be thinned to eliminate overcrowding. Most plants are doing well, with the exception of the carrots and broccoli. These guys just are not taking off, and I not exactly sure why. Looks like I will be going a little research, they might not make the team roster next year...dun-dun-dun.

Gardener, 1 - Weeds, 0

A few nights ago, my wife and I spent an hour pulling the ever growing and encroaching crabgrass. We were absolutely amazed at the extensive root system even the smallest plants have established. Wow. So last night, I used one of the tips from Ed Smith's book, I sharpened the business end of our hoe. I was absolutely amazed at how effective it was at removing the weeds, cutting them down just below the surface. Cool Beans! This will make future weeding much easier, because you know that just like the Terminator, they'll be back.

Grow, Baby, Grow!!

Our garden is growing little by little. To date, all of our seeds have sprouted with the exception of broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers. Other than our intended plants, we are also enjoying a mild invasion of crab grass sprouts.