Mark
is trying to convince me to move my blog to Facebook and suggested I do
a garden post. Well, its not moving to Facebook, but a garden post
seems like a good idea. It sounds like such a great idea that I think
I'll try posting the end of each month during most of the year as away
to keep track of garden happenings.
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| The garden on June 30, 2016 |
The squash have been the star of the garden the past 2 weeks, producing every day.
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| Cosata Romanesco Zucchini |
The
zucchini appears to be slowing down, but was a heirloom variety, Cosata
Romanesco. The description reads, "Italian zucchini with nutty flavor
and exceptional texture. Gray-green skin and prominent ribbing." I may
have to try to harvest some seeds so as to be sure to have it again.
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| Crook Neck Squash |
Crookneck
and Patty Pan squash are beginning to bare heavier. They are are my
favorite squash, I love to just steam the two together.
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| Patty Pan Squash |
Another
of my favorite ways to fix the Patty Pan Squash I gleaned from my
friend Candace, slice it thin, dip it in buttermilk and breadcrumbs and
bake. We've already had this twice and should have many more!
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| Tomatoes and Green Beans |
The
tomatoes are small and beginning to set. I planted 2 Cherokee Purple,
they have a wonderful flavor, but don't always bear heavily. I also
planted 2 New Girl and a Roma. At this point they all have green
tomatoes of various sizes. They have loved the warmer nights we've had.
I have one cherry tomato, Chocolate Cherry, described as being
delicious and multifaceted flavor, super productive, but it's slow.
Usually cherry tomatoes are here long before the others, these don't
look soon to be ready.
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| Blue Lake Green Beans |
When
I took this photo this morning I noticed that I had a few beans ready
to picked. Upon a closer inspection, I found a whole handful and it
looks like there will be another tomorrow. The beans are on their
way!
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| Rosa Bianca Eggplant |
I
was surprised to see this fruit on the Rosa Bianca plant, they usually
don't start to bear until later, but the news said we've had more warm
days in June than normal.
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| Black Beauty Eggplant |
Hopefully
all the blossoms on this Black Beauty Eggplant will set fruit. This
plant is also doing well because of the lack of June gloom.
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| Basil and Cilantro |
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The
basil in this picture came from one pot from Trader Joe's, a better
value than the pony pack from Harmony! Next to it is the volunteer
cilantro that has done much better than when I planted it originally.
As some plants go to seed, there always seem to be a few more babies. I
expect that the warmer weather will stop that. Somehow I lost the other
end of this bed with my peppers, 2 Pablano and 2 Padrons. There are a
few smaller sized Poblanos and Rob picked 2 Padrons, wonder if one will
be hot?
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| Chives, Tarragon, Thyme and Sage |
You
can see the weeds trying to take over the herb garden again. I think
this soil had too many weed seeds in it from being stored in the back
yard, I am continually battling the weeds. The chives are a few years
old, the thyme, tarragon and sage were all planted this year.
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| Salad Garden |
In
the salad garden I planted Mesclun Mix and Arugula from seed. The
Mesclun Mix in the foreground has some lettuces that are going to seed
and some that are still plugging along. Behind those are a couple of
slow bolt leaf lettuces that I just planted, red leaf butter head that
are slow to form heads and Arugula that doesn't act like its going to
get much bigger. At the end of the bed is a cucumber.
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| Howard's Miracle Plum |
Last
year this Howard's Miracle Plum Tree didn't have such a big crop, but
the birds really enjoyed them. This year I'm doing battle with the
birds to get to enjoy the crop. Last night I covered it with netting
and tied sliver ribbon on it to detour the birds. I'm praying that it
works and we get to harvest this years crop.
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| Howard's Miracle Plum |
Look at this beautiful succulent plum, the birds have already started to feast and they aren't even ripe!
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| Fig Tree |
I
can't remember the name of this fig, but this is the second one I have
planted. Around the trunk is the extended gopher basket to assure that
no gopher crawls over the side and enjoys its roots. As my mom would
have said it's loaded with figs!
As my mom would have said, "It's loaded with figs!"
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| Raspberries |
While
we were in Southern California over Father's Day, the berries suffered
in the heat and hadn't had consistent water. In spite of the hard ship
I've picked 2 and a half quart size freezer bags full, plus a few here
and there to throw in with a fruit salad.
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| Sad Strawberries |
My
poor strawberry patch also suffered from lack of water this month and
was full of weeds. I found it and it now has a few strawberries and
seems to be on the mend. No Balsamic Strawberry Pepper Preserves will
be coming from this patch this year.
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| To be continued |
Besides
getting this blog post together my chore for today is to plant 3
pumpkin plants, 3 butternut squash plants, 6 Italian Parsley and oodles
of giant sunflowers, hopefully they'll be around next month!
That's the garden on the last day of June of 2016.
