In last year's garden, the star of the show was Super Chili #1 with the peas being a close second for me. I think the reason is that peas were the only thing we grew from seeds so the plants felt like the largest accomplishment as a gardener, even though they eventually got mildew and didn't give us more than about a dozen peas total.
This year, we've switched seed brands, which probably won't make much of a difference. What does seem to be making a
difference, though, is that there were many more seeds in the package this year and we've got two long twelve foot rows that we planted earlier in the season than last year. The plants needed some type of support system to grow on, since they like to climb and put out little tendrils to help them do so. So, we pillaged last years cucumber trellises and found the bundle of leftover twine and rigged together the support structure shown in this picture ...
Initially I wanted to run just one set of stakes and twine, but the rows seemed to be just a touch too far apart to get both rows to climb up the same supports. We ran two sets of stakes and twine and over the next week we'll keep standing the plants up and trying to train them to climb by wrapping their tendrils around the twine.
Another victim of mildew last year was the cucumber plants. We got a ton of
cukes but could have gotten more. This year's first batch of plants, which we got into the ground last weekend, isn't looking so good (as evidenced by the picture above). So ... we bought ten more plants this weekend and planted eight of them. The final two we'll keep aside for a week in case we need to replace any of the first batch. The nice new healthy ones look like the plants below ...
Don't they look happy and green? We'll see if it lasts.
Through the process of elimination we discovered that the second crop we're growing from seed, the carrots, have poked through and are starting to look pretty good. By pulling out everything that we knew was not either a carrot or dill the three rows of carrots quickly became apparent. The plants range from 1/2" high up to 2" high.
A lot of the self-sown dill has been trampled and/or pulled out to let the carrots have the space they need and not have to compete for root space. We have left a big patch though, seen in the picture above. And ...
... we transplanted a number of the larger guys from the carrot area to an open spot in the garden so that they can thrive and give us what we need for pickles.
New to the garden this weekend: Yellow
Straight Neck Squash, four plants. We changed the location of the squash this year, to give them as much sun as possible. They are now out in the middle of the garden rather than tucked into a corner like they were last year.
The Romaine continues to get larger and more green.
The garlic also continues to make progress towards being eaten.
The peppers have already started to flower and have begun developing tiny, tiny little peppers.
Another addition to the garden this weekend: one Cherokee Purple tomato plant, seen in the foreground here.
The basil plants seem to be staying about the same size. I think they need really hot days before they really start taking off, just like the tomatoes, so I'm not too worried yet.
Here's a view from the front corner looking back across the tomatoes and peppers towards the new pea support structure in the distance.
And, a view from above of the pea end of the garden. The cucumbers are all in the one row at the top of the photo, six plants on the left from last weekend and eight plants on the right from this weekend. The three rows marked with string running perpendicular to the peas are the carrots, and you can clearly see the six lettuce plants to the left of those.
Hosta e
Basta, as they'd say in Italy.
The blueberry bushes have begun dropping their little bell-like blossoms.
Flowers in the Yard, Tangent One: Azalea. We thought this plant was dead because it was brown for a long time and didn't look like it was going to do anything. Then, without warning, it suddenly had leaves and now it has red blossoms getting ready to burst open.
Flowers in the Yard, Tangent Two: Rhododendron. We also didn't have high hopes for the Rhododendron, but I guess both bushes get started a little later than we expected.
Froggy keeps an eye on the driveway-side flower beds, which clearly need some weeding and some help getting organized. Good thing he's got his umbrella because it rained for the last four days, on and off. As a side-note, he was inherited from the previous owners of the house and not something that we added intentionally to the yard. He's nice to have around, though.
And here they'll hang, until next weekend.
This little guy was there to greet us upon our return home at the end of Memorial Day Weekend. Only a matter of time now before we're eating tons and tons of veggies from the garden.
The chili peppers have some buds, too.
The second batch of cucumber plants look pretty good.
So does the squash.
The peas are all about 18 to 24 inches tall, reaching up to the third row of twine on their new support system.
Carrots are about 4" tall, needing to be thinned out a bit. I need to do some research to find out how far apart the plants should be after thinning.
The garlic's about 24 inches high, growing well.
Chives are flowering. Supposedly you can put the flowers in salads, but I've never tried that myself so I can't vouch for it.
The tomatoes, even though they don't quite need it, got some cages this weekend. There are a few flowers here and there.
The lettuce is getting huge.
The self-sown Dill patch is as thick as a forest.
The basil looks like it hasn't done much yet, but I think they're just waiting for super-hot days before impressing us.
Cilantro, ready for salsa anytime.
The Blueberry Bushes are loaded with green berries. Time to build some protection from birds ...
Flowers in the Yard, Tangent One: Irises, right?
Flowers in the Yard, Tangent Two: More Irises.
Flowers in the Yard, Tangent One: Even More Irises!
Flowers in the Yard Update One: Azaleas are blooming.
Flowers in the Yard Update Two: Rhododendrons are showing their true colors, too.
