Sunday, July 18, 2010

Beginning to Seem Like Our Garden

This week we seem to have turned the corner on the weeds.  There have been places within the garden I've dreaded looking at, and this week I got most of them under control.  There are by no means no weeds in our garden (everyone loves a double negative), but now there are definitely more intentional plants of reasonable size.
I picked many peas and shucked and ate them (they're tasting better).  That's the problem with peas; it just takes so much effort to get to them and they are so brief in their season.  I had dreams of freezing peas this year and having them in salads all year.  I'll likely have the same dream next year, but the reality is (when the peas are in front of me) I can't imagine ever having more than I could eat by the handful before they went bad.  The plants should have had some support but never got it and so they sprawl on the ground.  I think it's not a terribly good year for them, but it's hard to tell when you can't really see them.  Plus, once it actually got warm, they were surrounded by a thicket of weeds, which blocked the sprinkler from reaching them.
We made our return to the market this week with basil, cilantro, garlic, scapes, zucchini, and dried peppers.  People were apparently eager to buy, as I was out of the herbs, scapes, and zucs by 10:30.  The garlic and dried peppers held out til noon, but only 3 small heads of garlic were left.  Figuring out how much to bring is always a challenge and we did poorly.  No one's bought any cilantro from us so far this season, and yesterday folks couldn't get enough.  Teri says it's because it's a warm weather food and so now people are thinking about it.
That inspired me to plant more cilantro, as well as some radishes and carrots.  We dug out the hose timer to see if we can keep the carrots wet enough to germinate.  Shawn is dubious and I am hopeful.
Teri and her sister visited the garden and reported an unreasonable number of potato bug larvae.  I'd been hiding my eyes, but I think I'll head back down there to do some pulling.  They say I will definitely want a soapy water bucket; too many to squish on the ground.  Sigh.


Sungolds are starting to turn!  Now is the long-term argument with myself on when to eat the first one.  I don't think I've ever eaten one too soon, but I'm always afraid I'll get it before it's really ripe and be disappointed.



We have achieved knee-highness.




These potatoes are looking pretty good.  Most of the bugs are on the batch perpendicular and behind these.



The beans are starting to climb.  We ended up with about 50 plants.  I probably planted at least 150 beans.




Pollinator lured in by the penstemon we planted for them.  Hopefully they visit the vegetables while they're here.

2 comments:

  1. The garden is looking great! j and I just returned from a trip to southern Oregon to realize our garden got too much water! But I am hopeful that things will dry out. We have mostly tomatoes this year -- a lovely surprise from our compost! No idea what kind for the most part, but they are starting to produce. We also have peas and some beans that are way too stringy! We are trying brussels sprouts again, but have been battling the cabbage moths (the true origin of the very hungry caterpillar!). Missing you both and the Oregon weather!

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  2. It's good to hear from you! Took me a minute to figure out which girl, but I got there. Glad you had a good time with the family. It's got to be interesting to garden back there--so much heat but so much moisture; I simply can't imagine. I'm excited to check out your blogs!

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