Bountiful Summer June 2008 Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec Links are good as of their posting date. Comments June be directed to bradley@wogsland.org.

Last night for dinner I sauteed some onions from the garden - probably the best I've ever eaten.

I took some pictures yester evening:

Cilantro propped up by tomato cages.

Molly examines the pruned parsley and missing spearmint.

The spearmint in its new home.

Alora and Zara harvest peas from the dying plants.
(Rollover for closeup of gourd flower visible at lower left.)

Tomato flowers.

Uncaged zucchini.

The sunflowers are now taller than Maxwell.
(Rollover for closeup of leaf damage by hail.)

A cucumber flowerbud.

This pear branch hangs low with fruit.

The blueberries continue to ripen.

Pretty marigolds by the bamboo.

Plot A Notes: Small basil plant doing well. Moved spearmint to other places outside the garden. Severely pruned parsley. Caged middle cilantro plant. Plot B Notes: Uncaged zucchini which is becoming giant. Did a test spray of RoundUp in the grass around one of the underperforming tomato plants. Hail damage becoming visible on basil and sunflower plants.

There was a major hailstorm this afternoon. Some garden plants faired well. Some did not: Cilantro fell over, and I righted it and propped it against the nearby tomato cages. All gourd species not attached to wires were blown over - birdhouse, cucumber and watermelon. All but two very sickly tomato plants looked untouched. The giant parsley bush and the spearmint had some bent shots. I right 3 cornstalks which had fallen over.

Yester evening there were thunderstorms. I think that I planted the grapevines too shallow and then a lack of water lead them to dry out. I am not sure if this is rectifiable.

Corn

Another walnut tree popped up in plot A. I discovered what these "weeds" really were the other day when I accidentally pulled up the seed with the plant. Not sure yet if I'll keep it to transplant or something.

A morning glory climbs the cage around the zucchini plant.

The sunflowers have finally surpassed the geraniums.

Yet another tomato plant has appeared - this one hidden among the peas.

Apparently tying up the second backberry cane killed it.

Cabernet Franc vine had a small leafbud at the bottom node which I plucked. Zinfandel had a couple leaves emanating from just below the soil. I plucked these too.

The jalapeños are forming.

gourd, pumpkin, gourd

Bell pepper flowers

Onions

Tomato flower buds

Cucumbers and corn

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

Why are the pea plants turning brown? Is it the nearby grass?

The only fruitbearing limb of the plum tree cracked and broke. Plot B Notes: From the difference in leave shape I have concluded that the center "gourd" plant is actually a pumpkin plant. I think I can definitively state that nearby grass inhibits tomato plant growth.

Plot A Notes: The snowpeas are producing almost as fast as the kids can eat them. The gourds among the peas are also huge. The onions are growing well, as are the tomato plants among them. I tried to transplant the gourd plants from among the onions by the chicken coop, but the chickens ate them. The cilantro and parsley is flowering at around 1m in height. The pepper plants seem small, and only one has flowered. The oregano is around 18 inches tall on the side which wasn't scorched. Sage continues to flower. Plot B Notes: Rosemary is thriving despite Zara's predadations. The sunflowers will be taller than the geraniums soon. I caged the cucumber plants yesterday. The tomatos which survived are mostly thriving with growth varying inversely with the amount of nearby grass. The watermelon plants each have several leaves. Basil plants are still small, but growing. The birdhouse gourds are growing slowly, and another tomato plant has appeared among them. Some morning glories have also sprung up. Plot Γ Notes: Corn is 2-4 inches tall although not all seeds have germinated. Cucumbers will reach the first wire soon Cantaloupe lives. The thornless blackberry, Rubus X Arapaho PP8510, is doing well tied to the first wire. Vineyard Notes: No new growth since pruning the leaves at the bottom of the Viognier and Chardonnay and putting boxes around all the vines.

Thunderstorms this morning continue the excelent stretch of rain this spring which has fed our garden.

Tonight I finished the Γ plot edgeway.

cilantro flowers