The weather this week did a big turn around and the gardens are changing from day to day. Here are some pictures that I have taken at the plots this past week. I will do a separate post on the home garden.
Radicchio & Leeks. This picture was taken this past Tuesday. They are much bigger now. The raddichio will be done before the leeks get very big.
Blackberry blooms on Tuesday.....the bushes are loaded with blooms today.
Tomato Alley yesterday. This coming week the plants will definitely need to be staked.
Beds 5 & 6 today.
I had to cover the strawberries today since I found that a couple had been nibbled by the birds. I put some stakes in bed 5 for the tomatoes the other day. Now I need to get them wired up. All of the peas have finally started growing. What ever has been nibbling at them has finally stopped. I have been putting DE and BT on them. These peas (right side of bed) are the Little Marvels.
You can see why the birds want to nibble. The sun has been out most of the week and the strawberries are finally starting to ripen. "The Italian" is one happy guy! He just loves his strawberries for breakfast!
My little Alien plants, Kohlrabi. I planted them because I thought that they were the most fascinating looking plants. Some of the white variety has been harvested and purple is not far behind.
The purple cabbages are so beautiful and forming heads.
Raspberries bushes are forming buds.
I planted 3 varieties of cauliflower this spring, Early Snowball, Silver Cup and Igloo. The Silver Cup are 40 day variety and are the first to start forming heads.
Savoy Cabbages are forming heads as well.
The former gardeners of our plots had planted some perennials in the front. I have no idea what these are. They are quite pretty. Does anyone have a clue?
Oh, they updated the new rules at the plots. We are allowed to have a water catching system as long as it isn't higher then 4'. I have no idea why they changed the height. I haven't talked to any of the gardeners for a few days. I have been going there early in the morning before it gets too hot out and before helping my dear friend with her move.
I don't know where you find the time. Everything looks great Robin! The Kohlrabi looks very interesting, how do you cook that?
ReplyDeleteVic, If the weather would cooperate, it would be much easier. Then I could get over there every day for an hour or two. I haven't decided how I'm going to cook the kohlrabi yet. I will use the green tops like I use other greens. I did find a recipe today to slice them and roast them with garlic and olive oil and then add a little parm. cheese and roast a few more minutes. Anything with garlic, olive oil and cheese always sounds good to me!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful, how beautiful you have an amazing garden. We're growing cabbage for the first time this year. Will they have heads or just loosely bunched leaves? Yours look loosely bunched like ours. Is that as much as we should expect?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jody, The cabbage will form heads, unless they bolt. Due to the extra hot weather last year, I took off a lot of the outer leaves and they eventually formed heads. They weren't real bigh though. I'm hoping for enough cabbage with my spring crop for a batch of sauerkraut. Then I won't have to sow a second crop in the fall. Last year I had to buy two huge heads from the Amish for my sauerkraut
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour. Tomato Alley? Now that's quite a lot of tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteYour plots are really looking good! You're putting my poor garden to shame, you bad girl.
ReplyDeleteThat's some Garden you have, everything is coming up beautifully, that cabbage is something to envy , some stupid (or smart) bug keeps nibbling and I keep sprinkling Sevin..oh well, maybe I'll have to contend with a fall crop...I'm making sauerkraut this year if I have to buy cabbage or come raid your fields ;o)
ReplyDeleteRobin, I certainly know about being busy in the garden. The way the weather has been here, when the sun shines, gardeners have to be out in the garden working furiously to catch up with what couldn't be accomplished during the rain. Fortunately, I was ahead in the game and had most of everything done before the rains set in. It seems that it rains just enough to keep the ground muddy here. I've had to shut down the rain barrel water catching system as the main tank of almost 450 gallons is full and I haven't had to use the water due to rain almost every day. The water is now diverted down to the street and goes down the storm drain. That's just 1/4 of my house roof, an area that's about 12'X20'. I need some more storage tanks.
ReplyDeleteYour community plots look so much different than when you started working on them. At the rate you are going I think you should get the most improved lot award.
Have a great day in the garden.
Thanks Mal, When you are married to an Italian, you need a Tomato Alley!
ReplyDeleteGranny, I don't think that any garden could put your garden to shame! You are going to have to fly out here later in the season and teach me how to grow spinach. I didn't get a thing from my spinach this spring :(
Ginny, I have been spraying my cabbage with BT. I also planted a lot onions in that bed to help ward off something....anything :)
David, Thanks for your kind words. I guess I don't realize how different they look. At the end of the season I will have to do a month by month garden transformation post.
The excessive rains here have finally stopped and now it is just plain old hot! Now that we are once again allowed to have a water catching system set up....we've got to get it done ASAP.
Beautiful gardens! We like kohlrabi raw - diced, with salad greens. Yum!
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa, I have never eaten kohlrabi before....so it will be a new experience!
ReplyDeleteYour hard work is paying off! I too love purple cabbages - they are so pretty in the garden. No idea what that yellowing flowering perennial is. :D
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so lush...congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI believe the flower is Lysimachia punctata. They are beautiful, but can be aggressive (me?-I'd leave them there)
ReplyDeleteYour garden is growing so well-you must be very very happy.
Laura, It's definitely starting to look like a garden over there. I think that we might be having some purple sauerkraut this year!
ReplyDeleteThanks Patricia....so far, so good!
Sue, Thanks...that's what it is! I figured it could be invasive as it had grown through the fence and into the garden a bit. I had to dig some of it out. It is staying there.
I planted leeks for the first time this year and they are so thin-and I started them in February! I am glad to see yours are still small too, so maybe there is hope for mine.
ReplyDeleteJane, I think that I started my leeks around the same time. They take forever to grow. I didn't start harvesting mine last year until October and harvested them right through the winter. You will have leeks for leek and potato soup during the cold days of winter!
ReplyDeleteI know we were begging for some warm sunny days, but this is too drastic a change to adjust to for us and the garden. Everything looks wonderful. Your tomato plants are really good sized.
ReplyDeleteI have a clump of Yellow Loosestrife in one of my neglected flower beds. The clump expands a little every year if I don't keep it in check. The flowers seem to be in bloom all summer and and the bees seem to like them.
I have the same plant... it's on the tip of my tongue LOL... mine are pink but it's definitely the same and the clump does get bigger every year. I have transplanted mine twice easily so if you need to move them they will go willingly. I wish I could remember - it will come to me LOL!
ReplyDeleteRachel, This weather is just too hot for me! This is July/August weather! Hopefully the Loosestrife will help attract some bees!
ReplyDeleteErin, I have two clumps of the flowers at the plots. I had to take some of each plant out as it was creeping through the fence and into the garden. It's quite pretty.
I wonder if the rules about water collection are related to worries about mosquitoes and West Nile Virus?
ReplyDeleteLisa & Robb, We do have rules regarding open containers of water because of West Nile Virus. The rule regarding the water collection system was due to code. The water collection systems that were there were regarded as permanent stuctures.
ReplyDelete