I promise that she will always have a Pumpkin Patch planted just for her. :)
With all the rain that we had been getting in the last 2 months, the garden has almost been growing like a weed. It seems that in the past 2 weeks there has been an explosion of growth. The ground is no longer barren and waiting.
The Main Bed as it stands now almost 2 months since it was seeded:
The reverse angle:
A lot less plants grew than I had planted. I didn't have time to do a second planting, and the weather was so cool and wet that I think the bed took a long time to heat up. So far, I have put organic compost down twice, once right after planting, and another time when the plants emerged enough that I could tell them apart from the weeds. You will see the dark soil in the close up pictures. Note the sticks that hold up the deer fence. So far, the Bambi Brigade has been thwarted. It was this time last year that the assault began and I lost my entire crop of corn. So far, so good. My biggest fear actually, is when the sunflowers come in, then I have to not only worry about Squirrel Squadron, but "The Wing". Blackbirds regularly patrol Suburbia. The bird feeder that The Wife insists on keeping (I know, the baby will learn so much with it there) will hopefully give them enough to ignore my crop.
The tops of the sunflower plants, roughly 4 feet from the ground:
Just in front of the sunflowers, corn that is also 4 feet tall. I know the expression is "knee high by the 4th of July" but what does it mean if it is chest high by June 22nd?:
I decided to mix the space set aside for the tomatoes and corn. I know that next year I need to rotate the crops so tomato worms don't get a foothold. I think of the garden as one of those puzzles that has a single piece missing. Or maybe I won't till the soil to support that whole eco-system/perma-culture approach. So many decisions. :)
The tomatoes in their own space. No flowers yet. My neighbors already have fruit, but they bought theirs already planted from the Home Despot. I'm sure they aren't organic either:
In this corner, weighing in at maybe a pound, the makers of juice, providers of vitamin A, and favorite food of Bugs Bunny: Carrots!
Lastly in the Main Bed, 2 types of chilies. Regular Bell Peppers, and these chillies that I got from my Giant-in-Law. They are "Chinese" peppers, but I think they are just Jalapenos. Again, my neighbor's have fruit, but they aren't organic either.
Ye Olde Pumpkin Patch breathes Again
I dunno, looking at these photos, I kinda like the fallow state that Ye Olde Pumpkin Patch was in before I planted. Probably because it reminds me of autumn. Anyway, I planted red potatoes that I bought from Whole Foods into the potato baskets I bought from Gardner's Supply Company. The blue ring is part of the cat tower that our fearsome, house Tigers completely ignored. Next to the potatoes are the pumpkins. Since its can't be Ye Olde Pumpkin Patch without pumpkins right?
Closeup of the potato bin's. These so surprised me, they are growing so fast that I could potentially harvest next month.
And of course, last but not least, the pumpkins themselves. They are flowering, but the vines are just making it out of the patch. It will be a while until they are long enough to start setting fruit. I will watch them like a hawk again. I know that the Bambi Brigade and the Squirrel Squadron are just biding their time.
This blog seems to be turning exclusively to gardening, but I assure you it is not the case. :) I have received my LEED AP certification just before the Littlest Giant was born. I haven't been able to make much of it having been on leave and with the economy slowly limping back, but there should be more in the future.
Next up: solar panels to charge the electric mower.
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