Pictures July 23, 2011

I have some pictures taken today.  Its still very hot out here, my corn is still stressed and my cucumbers are very stressed.

I decided ti check the moisture level of the soil by digging some new potatoes:

The soil is quite dry, almost sandy.  We need rain badly.

Hubby bought me a new Kaffir Lime tree. I killed mine about a year ago.  He got it on eBay with his accumulated eBay Bucks.  About $35 worth.  It ended up costing us $5 all in. This is in a 1gallon pot and is quite nice!

Oh yes,  when i checked on the cukes, i found this....  Oops!  But its a Boston Pickling cuke so maybe this isn't as bad as it seems-  remember those huge deli pickles you could get from the jar at the deli for 50 cents?

Elderberry flowering now.  It smells to me like sweetgrass and fresh straw.

And more summer squash

And this is how my grapes are doing;

Marechal Foch

Reliance seedless

I also picked another small handful of blueberries. They were too yummy looking to take a picture of before we ate them.

Grapes

Hubby helped me string the wires for the grapes-  well 2 of the lines anyway.  I may hold off on the last two strands until next year since they won't be needed until then.

Things are starting to look like they have a purpose though.

One thing i messed up on though- and this is a perfect example of my flakiness---  the two extra stakes i had in the ground at each side of the row....   i forgot i had those there so the two Edelweiss would be able to have 2 cordon arms like the rest of them are supposed to.  So maybe later this fall i'll put the stakes back and wire them again.

I also have to decide if i want my cordons as low as i have the Marechal Foch

or as high as i have the Frontenac (or is that Reliance?).

I'll be able to decide this Spring by just cutting the trunk and keeping 2 nodes for canes to grow. (If i'm using the right words to say what i'm thinking.)


I have a Minature White cucumber that is mostly ready to pick. I'll let my oldest daughter have it. Cukes are her favorite garden produce.

Weeds!

Growing things

Marechal Foch a week ago

Marechal Foch today

Frontenac last week (just blooming)

Frontenac just setting frui

York elderberry last week

York elderberry today

Apples. Looking good, a little russetting but better than bugs

The leftmost Edelweiss, putting on some berries.

Morning Glory

Some petunias to match the house

Its growing!  Beans are newly up as well

Weeds!  And a few plants.

I can SEE the corn.....mostly.

I forgot how tall potatoes get. What was i thinking?

I even have some volunteer tomatillos in there

Broccoli, yay!

Cucumber trellis up.

So many weeds, so little time outside.  But so much is growing. I'll have to look back a bit to see how it compares to last year. It will take me a few years to get a feel for the garden events like first ripe tomato, first cucumber, first bloom of squash....

Today i saw Japanese beetles and cabbage butterflies.  I'll have to break out the BT soon.

I think it might be time to pull some new potatoes in about a week.  If i remember what side i put the red ones on!


It hit 90  degrees today, supposed to stay warm tonight.  Great growing weather!

They're off...

Alibi cucumber and the Salsify have already sprouted. Other than that, not much else going on. I was surprised they came up so quickly so i figured i ought to make a note of it.

Rain in the area but it looks like we are going to miss getting it. Things are getting a bit dry. I did some weeding in the flowerbed and saw a snail shell but no live snails or slugs. I don't know if it is the dryness or the snail bait i put down, but either way i am grateful,  The sevin dust and the diatomaceous earth mixture i used on the lilies seems to have knocked down those horrible red beetles that ate my plants last year and left gooey black frass on what was left.

I pulled a lot of what i was told was a type of goldenrod out of the garden. I have had it in there for a couple years now, each year trying to remember if it was a weed or a desirable plant and then forgetting what it looked like in the spring when it needed to be dealt with. This is why i blog now.

I bought a copy of "The Countryman's Year" by David Grayson. Found it at Amazon for just under $3, but of course the shipping was still $3.99 , grrrr...  But i wanted it and it sounds like something i would enjoy.

I planted the rest of the  Graffiti cauliflower last night, in peat pellets. I will keep them inside and see if anything grows. I am now out of them.  If they don't grow i won't be getting them again.  I thought i'd go easy on myself and buy a type that didn't need to be blanched but maybe it wasn't the best type to get?

Things i need to get going before too long:
Teasel...ornamental
Germander...herbal tea
Roma tomato- i found one last seed hiding in the corner of the seed packet
Rose orach...a salad 'green', red in this case
Cabbage- found a seed packet that should be used up

that's not all, but being climbed like a tree by a cranky 15-month-old is not conducive to list typing and remembering things *sigh*