that is, i'm not going out to pick right now
because it's hot and humid and i just had
breakfast. instead, taking a few minutes to
natter on about the gardens.

most things are going well. a few plants
of squash and cucumber were uprooted by the
raccoon searching for grubs and worms. i
replanted those holes with peas and edamame
soybeans.

not all the onions are not doing as well as
last year. in places i knew i had a bit too
much C in the C:N ratio and was hoping the worms
and worm poo would be enough. still some time
to go yet. i also think we had a bit too much
cloudy weather last month for them to get going
so perhaps they'll pick up now that we've
gotten more sunshine. some of the onion seedlings
i had from last year's experiment made it through
the winter and i've left them alone to see what
they do.

the auxillary strawberry patches (outside the
fenced garden) have come through very well this
year. about 1/3 of the crop comes from them and
they are getting raided by birds, raccoons and
the chipmunks, but there is still enough that
the critters don't get. as these are rather
wild patches often i have the challenge of
trying to find a place to step that is not either
plant or berry. i'd much rather have the ground
covered and green than having pathways. so i
would guess the once-in-a-while sensation of
stepping on a berry is the price i have to pay.

the peas are flowering nicely and most of the
other plants are growing well with the heat and
sunshine we've finally had. the tomato plants
have probably gained a foot in the past week and
are also starting to flower. we are due for
scattered thunderstorms each day and evening this
week, but i'll believe it when i see it.

in the cabbage patch there is one plant that
gets shaded by a neighboring lily. it is about
1/2 the size of the rest. amazing what a
difference a few hours less a day of sunlight
makes. i'm hoping it will catch up to the
others once it gets bigger and can spread more
leaves further to the sides and up... it's still
quite green and alive, doesn't show any signs
of disease and it gets as much water as all the
other plants. the plant next to it (which also
gets some shade later from the lily) looks like
all the other plants. so the difference is only
a few hours of light in the mid-to-late afternoon.

this is the first time i've grown cabbage.
looking at the plant and noticing the waxy
leaves i decided to mound the plants in the
clay and then to mulch them with newspaper
to help keep some of the dirt from splashing
on the plants. at the rate they are growing
they seem to be healthy and strong (even the
runt looks healthy, just not as big as the
rest). no sign of cabbage worms yet. we have
some smaller white butterflies about, but they
seem to be content with the rest of the yard
and gardens.

garlic is putting on the curlers (scapes).

beans are sprouted and growing rapidly with
all the sunshine. good thing. i like to keep
the gardens covered with green as much as
possible. overall a much better germination
rate this year compared to last year. only a
few spots to fill in. the month of June being
almost over (where has the time gone?! eek!)
i can use the shorter season red beans as
filler.

i've tried now a few times to get decent
pictures of the poppies and trefoil as they
are in full bloom along with the clematis. it
makes for such a nice broad landscape picture.
but i can't get the pictures to turn out well
enough. i tried again yesterday, so i have to
see how those turned out sometime soon and then
i hope to have at least one picture worth
editing and posting.

well, ok, i've procrastinated long enough,
gotta get out there and pick. i'm not expecting
15 more quarts like the other day, but we'll see
what Mama Nature has accomplished...


songbird