Thursday, July 8, 2010

Roaming the Raised Beds

Took my little camera out to the garden today and snapped some pics.

I think the California poppies are pooped. I also think I should have thinned them out this spring so the bed wasn't so totally clogged with them. Live and learn. Next year . . .

But lookee here! The very first zucchini blossom juuuust about ready to open.

Remember the foreign plant that grew in the middle of the row where I thought I had planted all Osaka Purple Mustard seeds?

I pulled it today thinking I'd find some kind of a gigantic radish on the end. Whoops. After tasting the leaves, I knew what it was. Arugula.

Here's my wild wild flower bed. Just as I feared, it's choked with about 99% . . .

. . . Bachelor Buttons. Nothing wrong with Bachelor Buttons, but how come so many in the seed mix?

After my first planting of slicing cucumbers were mowed down by who-knows-what at a Big Bug Luncheon, I replanted and these plants are now about 4" high. It may be a loooong time before we have cucumbers this summer.

My edible podded peas ("No trellising required" - ahem) are now about four feet tall and starting to flower. I'm salivating already . . . crunch, crunch, love those pea pods.

This is my main bed of yellow onions. I also have two partial beds with more. I tried some red onions this year and hope to get some keepers. Have only tried growing reds once before . . . unsuccessfully.

My one and only bed of carrots this year . . . instead of the usual three. (See? I have cut back.)

Oh, basil. Happy, happy basil. I've never been able to grow basil before. (I know, anyone can grow basil. Nope. Not me.) But I actually think these two plants are looking pretty good. Now I'm afraid to take off any leaves to use.

11 comments:

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Your basil looks great! Nab those leaves while you can! I have not had any good luck w/ the red onions either. Planted 300 onion sets, 100 of which were red. Not ONE red out there! What is up with that???

Erin said...

Arugula! wow! Okay, I am replanting beds this week and I have a packet of California Poppies laying around that I am thinking of interplanting in the bed just "for pretties"... how many should I sow? I only want a little color in with the bed, not to take over the bed since there will be veggies in there! I am jealous of your carrots, they do horribly here! But I keep trying.... fall is usually better and I will hold off sowing more until next month.

Mama Pea said...

Apple Pie Gal - I guess I'm lucky in that my red onions are all looking good at this point. Keeping my fingers crossed.

As soon as the weather turns cool enough to light the oven, I'll grab some of the fresh basil to put on top of a pizza!

Erin - As far as the Cal Poppies go, I think I'd plan for each plant to be about one foot apart (after thinning?) since they do get bushy and spread a bit.

The carrots and any root crop usually do really well up here. Good carbos to keep us warm all winter!nesti

MaineCelt said...

Now that you HAVE basil, (congrats!), just pinch off the top two to four leaves whenever you want some.

My big victory this year is Shiso, a.k.a. Perilla. A staffer at the Japanese restaurant in the next town asked us to try growing it, and now I'm just about ready to take some in and ask what they want in terms of leaf size and quantity/frequency of delivery. Only problem is, since this is such an uncommon crop, I have NO IDEA what to charge for the stuff!

Rainsong said...

I just pulled all my snap peas and am getting ready to replant that square. I didn't think that they did very well BUT it looked like loads of them have been harvested. Apparently one of the boys kept helping himself. The snow peas are going strong. Best of dinners with yours.

Debs in Everett, Wa

Rainsong said...

I just pulled all my snap peas and am getting ready to replant that square. I didn't think that they did very well BUT it looked like loads of them have been harvested. Apparently one of the boys kept helping himself. The snow peas are going strong. Best of dinners with yours.

Debs in Everett, Wa

Susan said...

What a lovely garden you grow, Mama Pea - so neat! Your basil is looking great - what other herbs do you grow?

Mama Pea said...

MaineCelt - Could you ask the staffer at the Japanese restaurant if they ever order it from a food supplier and what they pay for it? Then you could add a little on top of that because yours is fresher and locally grown . . . so you should get a little more.

Otherwise, just charge a little more than you do when selling basil?

Debs - Nothing better for kiddlies than homegrown veggies straight from the garden! (I like 'em that way, too. :o))

Susan - Thank you, ma'am! Let's see, what other herbs do I have out there . . . sage, cilantro, parsley, oregano, thyme, spearmint, lemon balm, lavendar and French lavendar . . . I've probably left out something. Oh, dill, of course for my pickles.

Jo said...

Thanks for the garden pics! It's funny, although we live in the same state, your peapods are just started to ripen and ours down here are just about finished. Maybe a difference in variety? I did get mine in extra early, tho.

How are bachelor buttons for a cut flower?

Mama Pea said...

Jo - I got my shell peas (Lincoln) in on May 19th and the edible podded ones (Oregon Snap) on May 22nd. We're Zone 4 up here so I'm thinking have a world of difference from you in our gardening seasoning. Compared to us, you're in the Banana Belt!

I have a small bouquet of the gorgeous vibrant blue Bachelor Buttons in the bathroom as we speak!

Jo said...

Yeah, I planted our snaps (Cascadia snap) at the end of Marchc this year. The early bird may get the worm, but by mid-July the worms are all dried up and hanging on the vine!