Vegetable Garden

I haven't been posting much about the veggie garden.  I took lots of photos May 31, and exported them to my desk top, but then went out this afternoon and took some more, because I knew there were some changes.  I'll start with the current photos, then include a few from the end of May.

I have some tubs on the edge of the driveway along the veggie garden.  They will be fuller later in the season.

We didn't get the leaves cleaned out of the beds as early this year, and there are not as many 4 o' clocks coming up.  I had to put some planters in front of the area to keep Heidi from lying in the dirt there.  She almost smashed one of the poor 4 o' clocks the other day.

The butter and eggs have more blooms on them.  There is mint in the red tub, and sweet potatoes are struggling in the double tub.

This is the area on the other side of the 4 o' clocks.  Onions are on the far left, then kale mixed with carrots, and lettuce.  There are some little ones coming up, but with the heat we're having, they won't do well.  I planted cucumbers near the lattice a few days ago.

This is to the north of the previous area.  Similar things are growing there, and the bachelor buttons have chosen this area to grow this year.  I planted a couple rows of green beans in there yesterday.  The showy milkweed is leaning against the fence.
 

It's starting to bloom, see?

This is facing west from the same area where the previous photos were taken from.  That's larkspur in bud on the lower right, growing in with the bachelor buttons.

I headed west, going back and forth between the north and south side of the garden.

North, from top to bottom, Tuscan kale, 3 bush tomato plants with alfalfa meal mulch, a big violet plant, lettuce, beets, lettuce, with onions along the fence.

South, lettuce mix, and carrots.  I planted 2 hills of summer squash in this area, with cucumbers and marigolds by the lattice fence.

Back north, 2 rows of asparagus with beets in the middle, and a better view of the kale.
 

South, carrots on the bottom, with peas growing nicely, due to the rabbit fencing we put up.

 I had several kinds of seeds, and don't remember if this all is one kind, but this looks to be snow peas.  I will have a harvest this weekend.  I am so excited!  I say, "Ha, ha, ha, you rabbits!  You may be munching on my flowers, but you will not eat my pea and bean plants to the ground!"

I bought 3 Roma tomato plants from a class at our school.  I hadn't been getting work emails at home, and don't always get it checked on my phone, so I almost missed out.  In fact, I had already planted a number of tomatoes.  So far, I "mulched" with spent iris stems.  They were out of alfalfa meal when I went.  I'll have to check back.  I'm mulching with the meal to prevent the soil from splashing up on the plants and causing disease, and to provide some nutrients for the plants.
 

These are the peas on the other side of the tomatoes.  Maybe they are a different kind.  There is also lots of dill in this area, and some larkspur, oh, and a volunteer tomato plant in the cage on the left.  I've read you shouldn't let volunteers grow because of disease problems, but I like to let a couple grow and they seem to do as well as the other plants.  They are usually cherry or grape tomatoes.

I have one bag of cilantro mixed with olive oil in the freezer.  I need to be cutting these back before the flowers develop.  I think that means tomorrow.

I planted sweet potatoes in one of the compost piles.  They are doing well!  The compost is not finished, so it will be interesting to see how this experiment goes.

I harvested garlic scapes today.  There are still some, that I will pick in a day or two.  I got them smaller than usual, so I am excited to try them tomorrow.  We went out to eat today, because we had a Groupon that was about to expire.
 

Every year, the rhubarb is ready to pick when I am trying to get things planted and new plants watered.  I hope to get some picked and used this week.  Part of why I garden is to grow some of our food.  My goal for this summer is to take the time to harvest and cook with the produce I grow or buy at the farmer's market.

Here's a view back to the east.  That's a kale plant from last year blooming.  The insects seem to like the blooms.

The close ups from the 31st turned out better than today.  I do need to get most of the lettuce out.  It looks like these are getting ready to form flowers, which means they will soon taste bitter.  These pretties are why I try to get my lettuce thinned.  I like the heads they form, plus, I always eat what I've thinned.

I hope you are getting lots of time in your gardens, and they are growing well.  It's not winter anymore!