Garden Update

The garden is reaching a transition point where I really need to pull up all of the lettuce type plants and plant some hardier things in their place (or not).

Eggplants

(Japanese Eggplant)

Peppers

Ok I have to admit that I ran out of room in the garden and had to plant this bell pepper plant in a pot.  But it's doing great especially since I took it off the deck ( I noticed one of the bells had gotten a bit of sun scald, so I moved it to a somewhat shadier spot).

(Poor Bell outside the garden in a pot)

(Sun Scald - Where the sun has burned the fruit.). This can be prevented by making sure the fruit is well protected wite plenty of leaves and making sure that the plant is well watered so the leaves don't wilt when the sun is at it's hottest.  Sun Scald doesn't ruin the fruit, however that spot is usually mushy and and soft.  I will usually pick the fruit and cut out the soft spot or donate the whole thing to the compost bin.

These peppers can be eaten at any stage.  They will go from green to red (this particular type). The red peppers will have a much sweeter taste than the green.

This little guy looks to be on his way to turning red, so he won't get very big.  But the little ones taste just as good as the bigger ones, so I won't be discriminating in the kitchen.

(Mild Poblano Peppers)  I'm a real wuss when it comes to hot peppers, but I usually grow them to put in my pickles every year because my mom and husband like 'em spicy. No pickles this year so I can grow mild flavored peppers for salsas and sauces that I can eat.

 (Mild Chiles)

Squash

So I made a poor planting decision by planting this squash in front of my cucumber plant.  You can see the cucumber leaves peaking out next to the fence.  I had to make a decision and dramatically cut back this plant although I hated to do it. So what you see now is a quarter of the plant that it originally was. It was also beginning to encroach on my bean plants on the bottom right.

The trellised Butternut Squash experiment still seems to be doing well.

Beans

(Various Shelling Beans - Cranberry, Black Peas, Navy, Edamame etc)

(Soy Beans)

(Green Beans - lettuce in front that needs to be put out of it's misery, and a very vibrant Sweet Basil plant to the far right)

Plants on Their Way Out

(Left to Right - Arugula, Broccoli, Mustard Greens and Collard Greens)  The Collard Greens will be staying

Mixed Up Seasons

Chard Harvest

It's been awhile, but gardening in California has been quite interesting over the last month in the half. We've had torrential downpours in April followed by overly warm "summer" days. We've had frost, thunderstorms, high humidity and of course earthquakes.

 

So gardening has been difficult. Cool plants have thrived into June, and up until Friday I was still harvesting broccoli, lettuces and spinach which are doing well considering they are usually toast by now. However, the warm weather veggies have had a very hard time. The yellow squash are struggling along and the tomatoes have just begun to take off. Green beans are doing great now, while my black eyed peas and dry beans are struggling along.

They say patience is a virtue, but this is ridiculous. This weekend we had temps in the 90's and suddenly my drip system needed an immediate overhaul ASAP to keep my plants from frying in 24 hours (this is usually done between spring and summer but I guess we don't get a spring this year).

In 48 hours (between Friday and today) my Bok Choi, Chard, and Spinach have begun to bolt.

Hopefully, summer is finally here and the summer garden can finally begin. Although I'm sure I will be complaining about the heat in the next couple of weeks.

Kellogg Breakfast, Pineapple and Sioux Tomato plants from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes (Great selection of heirloom tomatoes and peppers).

They finally made it into the ground May 15th (1 month after they arrived due to the late frost)

Squash struggling along May 15th

The new bean and tomato supports my husband built. A new idea for this season, let's see how it works.

We converted to a tumbler composter this year. I've found it to be easier to turn my compost however it is quite messy when the "compost tea" drains as you turn. Which of course the dogs LOVE to roll in (it figures, it's smelly and dirty).

The lovely Calla Lily that emerged behind the smelly compost bin.

The herb garden loved the wacky spring weather. (Thyme)