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Another weekend that wasn't
Aug. 3rd, 2008 10:06 pmGardening again. But now all the fall crops are in, so it will just be a matter of mulch and weed, harvesting when things are ready. Tied up the tomatoes to the trellises, as they are starting to set fruit. Squashes have flowers starting. Beets and lettuce in need of thinning, but I didn't do that today because the ones that get pulled out can go into salad if we are making it right away. The first pole beans I planted have reached the top of the six foot trellis. It's amazing how fast they grow once they get started. Easy to see where the legend of Jack and the Beanstalk came from.
There were some old cucumber seeds from several years ago, and since I had extra trellis space I planted them. Much to my surprise, I have four healthy cucumber vines now. Maybe we'll even get some cukes before the frost arrives.
This year's disappointment is the kohlrabi. We really like them, but the seed catalog people substituted a different variety, "Hybrid Pheres," for the one I usually order, "Grand Duke." Normally kohlrabi are easy to grow. We used to grow them in the flower beds when we lived in the city, in fact. The substituted variety just didn't germinate well. There are perhaps four plants in the patch where I expected to get sixteen. I planted some Purple Vienna today just in case the frost holds off until October. If it does, those will still mature.
Picked nearly two pounds of blueberries again. In spite of the dearth of honeybees, something pollinated them well. We haven't had a crop like this since we had beehives right by the bush. I figure at retail prices we've picked about $30 worth of berries from that single bush this year. There are still a few coming along, but I think this (the third) is the last big picking we'll get. Blackberries are ripe too, but I was too tired of swatting mosquitoes after getting the blueberries. Maybe tomorrow.
Speaking of which, why is it that mosquitoes seem to hang out near berry bushes just waiting for someone to come along wanting to pick the berries?
There were some old cucumber seeds from several years ago, and since I had extra trellis space I planted them. Much to my surprise, I have four healthy cucumber vines now. Maybe we'll even get some cukes before the frost arrives.
This year's disappointment is the kohlrabi. We really like them, but the seed catalog people substituted a different variety, "Hybrid Pheres," for the one I usually order, "Grand Duke." Normally kohlrabi are easy to grow. We used to grow them in the flower beds when we lived in the city, in fact. The substituted variety just didn't germinate well. There are perhaps four plants in the patch where I expected to get sixteen. I planted some Purple Vienna today just in case the frost holds off until October. If it does, those will still mature.
Picked nearly two pounds of blueberries again. In spite of the dearth of honeybees, something pollinated them well. We haven't had a crop like this since we had beehives right by the bush. I figure at retail prices we've picked about $30 worth of berries from that single bush this year. There are still a few coming along, but I think this (the third) is the last big picking we'll get. Blackberries are ripe too, but I was too tired of swatting mosquitoes after getting the blueberries. Maybe tomorrow.
Speaking of which, why is it that mosquitoes seem to hang out near berry bushes just waiting for someone to come along wanting to pick the berries?
