Knee high by the 4th of July

Yep, I don't know where that expression started but it always seems to be wrong for me. As of the 4th my maize was as tall as me (the tallest stalk anyway) and it already has many developing ears. I didn't get a chance to take photos as the Higher Mind of New England has me in its clutches again, really hard this time. I will try to take some this weekend. Here is some info though:

Potatoes: Seem to be ready. A stalk broke on one of the plants the other day and I suppose it died. A few days later I pulled the spud but it was literally crawling with bugs. Even for someone as non squeamish as me, it was pretty gross.

Eggplant: Well, there are plants, but nothing else. This is the 2nd season in a different spot and still nothing. I'm suspecting something is missing.

Peanuts: Got the plants, they look good. I haven't reached under to see if there are actually peanuts yet.

4 sisters doing well, well at least 3 of the 4, I just planted the pumpkins on the 4th so they haven't sprouted yet. But the beans, maize, and sunflowers (evening sun better than the Mammoths since they were late) are all doing well, only the maize has fruited yet. That reminds me to switch to bloodmeal for fertilizer since there is no need for more nitrogen at this point.

Amaranth: Taller than me seed heads beginning to form. The Wife keeps asking me "what do I do with these?" Having eaten Amaranth before I know you cook the seeds like oatmeal, but I still have yet to actually shake them out. That's basically all I know. :)

Watermelon: Have my first baby melon, and its getting bigger by the day. The Littlest Giant loves to "check out the melon". No honeydews yet, but there is such a tangle in the melon patch that I might just not be seeing it yet. The parsnips are in the patch and I think they might be getting smothered. Hopefully they will make it to the winter.

Tomatoes: Have a few babies right now and the plants are healthy so far *crosses fingers* The carrots under them are similarly shaded like the parsnips, so we will see if they make it to winter.

Blueberries: Yeah, birds took 'em all. Even though they were not mature yet. Gonna need a net (and I don't mean Funicello) next season.

Apple trees: There is a baby apple on the Fuji tree. "when it grows up, I eat it!" says The Littlest Giant. I had to spray both trees with neem oil as they were getting Cedar-Apple Rust. They seem to be improving, or at least not getting worse.

That's it for now, found this great article on cnn about gardening. I don't normally post this stuff, but I thought it was a good piece.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/index.html