I have to start with this carrot. You see, we haven't had much luck with carrots over the years and when we saw these greens bursting forth from our garden, we really thought we were on to something great. The pride was incredible...and then we pulled it. Gardening sure can be humbling.
These are some of my Hidatsa Reds. I threw seeds in every conceivable spot in our yard this year. This planter usually houses rosemary and tulips. This year I added in beans, sunflowers and potatoes. Yes, I had a couple extra...why not?
Do you think I should thin out my cucumbers? I haven't had much luck with these over the years either. I planted some seed in some containers which I WILL thin, however, I am not sure what will be best for them after I do that. Tomato cage? Put next to a wall with a trellis? I am completely open to suggestions.
A special welcome to Flash, our newest source of fertilizer joy! He is incredibly sweet and the kids adore him. We haven't had a pet since our pup passed away two years ago. There is a pretty good chance that I just broke the dam. You see, at one point I had a 250 gallon salt water tank, 10 goldfish, 2 geckos. 5 toads, 2 hamsters and a dog. Then came the Lil Man and only the dog and goldfish stayed. I like pets...stay tuned.
The peas are doing their pea thing. A friend, who is incredibly talented in the kitchen, suggested sautéing the tendrils and that they are one of her absolute favorite things. We are trying them tonight. Hmmm...pests. I am guessing that these are of the hoofed variety. The netting must go back down. Sad. The Good Apple will tell you that he doesn't mind if the deer eat his share of the chard, little does he know that it has been in all of his salads lately. Ya, take that.
The Lemon Balm is a constant battle these days, so buyer beware. Apparently, deer don't like to eat it......so they HAD to move right on to the chard!! It is encroaching on everything and I am pulling it out of my beds almost daily. Wahhhh. I know. Does my chard need a little thinning? Yes, and THAT is what I have been putting in our salads...the bits that I am thinning out! A friend gave me that great idea and we have been enjoying the "thinnings" from our spinach, chard and kale in most of our salads.
Our sunflower seed starts were over a foot tall and a wee bit pathetic, so I planted all 50+ of them today in various parts of the yard. Fingers crossed, these are another plant I have not had as much success as I would like. I had set out to plant them with the Lil Man since he started them, however, his new KungFu Panda toys won and I was left to plant on my own...or so I thought. Lil Miss (who had just ripped off her diaper and threw it in the grass) handed me each and every sunflower start. My mama heart was
l e a p i n g. Honestly, it made my day to have her want to help out. Back and forth to the tray, she brought them to me, one by one. Love.
I am still doing my
photo a day challenge and I just had to share this little beauty that I captured yesterday. I love poppies even though they never last long. Look at that red. Divine.
So...tell me...how is your garden doing?
Oh, what a precious mama-daughter moment! Do I see a budding gardener blooming in your midst? I am so so jealous of your greens - my spinach and lettuce are really pathetic - so scrawny - I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
ReplyDeleteToo hot? Enough fertilizer? Water? Soil pH?
ReplyDeletemy overwintered carrots look like that too. I think they might be trying to go to seed, which is unfortunate because they are a hybrid, and I have heard that it's hard to save carrot seed anyway because it can cross pollinate with wild carrot or something else poisonous. I wonder if they will get fatter if we keep cutting the greens. I keep topping my daikon radishes and they are massive~!
ReplyDeleteAt least your carrot is straight... I had all sorts of really strangely distorted ones... I will try growing them in a pot with very loose soil in the fall. That might allow them to grow better.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks fantastic, even with your hooved friends damage. As far as the cucumbers go -
I have just build a leaning trellis for my cucumbers, under which my kids can have a club house.
Right now, my garden doesn't grow--I'm slacking-need to get it started!!!
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend I finally got my tomatoes in! We've got the rainbow of tomatoes this year. I planted Black Krim, Red Siberian, Amana Orange, Purple Cherokee. All heirloom. I usually can several jars of tomato sauce for pasta. When I use all the different kinds of tomatoes my cousin says it's "like a symphony in your mouth!" So I'm guessing we'll have great sauce this year!
ReplyDeleteHi Val,
ReplyDeleteWe are enjoying our strawberries and rhubarb right now! Oh how beautiful! :) What is it about the color in a garden? Its just soothing to the soul, isn't it? My latest post is about our strawberry deliciousness, and how to make a jam-jam sandwich!
http://www.stemmom.org/2012/05/strawberry-deliciousness.html