Replanting

Within a week of sowing beet and turnip seed, we had a gully washer. No other way to say it, the beets took a beating and the turnips floated away-yay-yay. Mustard took a hit when Buffy-The-Vampire-Slayer took a walk through. Today I replanted.Whoever wrote Butternut Squash are impervious to squash borers, lied. They. do. too. I pulled them out in disgust and sowed spinach. Spinach is a crapshoot. Maybe we'll get lucky again. Lettuce goes in next. Happy, happy, joy, joy! We love lettuce, all kinds. Broccoli and cabbage seedlings are healthy. They'll get transplanted soon. Yellow french beans, can't call them green beans, are flowering. Scott's mom always grew the yellow variety so we do it too. Soon, very soon, we'll have beans on our dinner plates again. I love them-easy to grow, easy to pick, easy to prep, easy to cook. Pick them up and eat them with your fingers like french fries, folks, and they become the ultimate fun food. C'est bon.

The leaves of yellow beans have a yellow hue, fear not, they are well.

Waiting

We are now in wait mode. Tomatoes are regrouping for another blush of red. Just pulled out lima beans and replaced with mustard, one of my favorite greens. Our next harvest of field peas is a week away, I'm guessing. Okra and banana peppers are cut daily, the current steady date. Tonight we'll have them as a fry-up with grilled chicken. Last night we had Joy's eggs, baked with tomato and basil, and toast with homemade apple jam. A locavore's feast!  Should have taken pictures but, hungry I was. I divided chives this morning. Mother Earth's "What To Plant Now" for the southeast is also recommending outdoor sowing of kale, summer squash, spinach, chard and collards to name a few. But who has room? I've been advocating for a raised bed in the front yard but am getting serious push back from Scott. Done right it would look good 80% of the time. Smile. This is the time of year when vegetable gardens look a mess. Stay calm and carry on gardening...

Field peas are most lovely plants.

Ode to Joy and egg.

Winter Gardeners! Start your engines!

2012 Easter carrots

Yes, it is that time, again. I am please to announce purple-top turnip seeds sowed this week were up in two days. Detroit beets, the same, though they took a beating in last night's rain. Nantes carrots took a few more days but they are just darling. God and family know I just love the sound of carrots being pulled from the ground. There is nothing like it, absolutely nothing. Makes my heart happy.

Rounding out the summer season is a new crop of field peas and green beans. Sunflowers are coming on great-guns and parsley is ab-fab. Okra is just before overwhelming us which suits me just fine. Cannot wait to grill it on the barbie. Yesterday I transplanted broccoli and cabbage to bigger pots. Golden Grimes apples are ripening one a day and I am eating them right off the ground. Lovely! Fig jam is made and canned for winter. Today, friends, I am a satisfied gardener.

Tomatoes

And pretty maids all in a row. 

This summer we have sliced tomatoes with every meal. It is wonderful! The Mountain Magic's are working for us with more ripening on the bushes every day. That's right. We are letting them ripen on the plants. There's Buffy-(The -Vampire-Slayer) our newest dog and a scarecrow that scares even me holding a balloon, to deter squirrels. To date it is working.

Okra. It's huge. It's healthy. It isn't making pods. Is that the area of the garden where we spread Joy's  chicken fertilizer? May be. Maybe we overdid it. Time will tell.

This week I:
1. Sowed beet seed. They are up.
2. Sowed yellow snap beans (Scott really likes them.) They are up.
3. Sowed carrots. They are not up.
4. Found aphids on field peas. What?! Sprayed with garden hose and smushed in hand to bug combat.       Argh! A win/lose deal. Icky bug juice on fingers. Yuk.
5. Sowed broccoli and cabbage seed. They are up.
6. Did not join the fitness center because digging the garden is workout enough for me.

Ooooo! And I ordered seed potato for fall planting from Burpee's. This will be my experiment for the year. Will it work? Mother Earth News says it will.