More Growth Progess

Another extended period of cool, unseasonable weather here. As I write this during the noon hour it is only 63° in my backyard! So here are more photos of growing progress:

First up is kale. I love kale and it is very healthful to eat.

Next is some beautiful lettuce. Look at that wonderful green & red color scheme! And the taste beats anything coming from the store.

Those are pickle plants. I prefer pickles over cucumbers. Usually you can eat a fresh pickle or two and you are satisfied. Cucumbers tend to grow large and difficult to consume in one sitting if you're eating by yourself.

Finally, some string bean plants. Had to apply the Ortho snail & slug killer as the many of the seedlings in this bed have getting attacked as is usually the case each year.

One more item of note--the Big Max pumpkin seed I planted has already sprouted! For such a young seedling it has such huge leaves already. Photo in next post.

Growing Season Progress

Here are some photos of the growing progress of the garden:

The Georgia Blue Speedwell plant has sprawled out nicely.

There are some tomato seedlings in a hanging basket. They may be heirlooms. I just don't know for sure.

The Dusty Miller plants are growing and have created a nice, white border.

Those are yellow crook-neck squash plants. I may have chosen too small a container for them.

Finally, the Sarah Bernhardt Peony has sprouted from it's root. Hopefully in no time they will look like this:

Container Corn!

My corn hybrid for container planting packet came in today! So I immediately filled up the last empty, huge container I had with peat moss and planted per instruction 3 rows by 3 rows. Many folks who bought this corn-type left feedback on Burpee's website that the plants produced no fruit. Burpee responded to one of the comments by stating that the kernels must be planted in a 3x3 fashion in order to promote cross-pollination. So I'm quite excited to see what will happen. The container is sitting on the deck. Either way whether I get ears of corn or not the plants will serve as great decor for summer's end and autumn's harvest and holidays. In fact, I still have 2 cornstalks standing from last summer's plants! I just enjoy how they look so I kept them up.

Also today I planted some old Black-Eyed Susan seeds I had. For a couple of years I had them in hanging baskets or containers and they were great. For some reason they did not make the garden list the last few years. Though these seeds are quite old, I do hope they will still be effective.

With my corn packet came a pack of various heirloom tomato seeds so I planted a few in another container which has not yet produced any seedlings.

Looking through my seed packets I came across several sealed ones of sunflowers. Still have not gotten around to planting them. Have to find some good areas for them. They season is young yet so there is time.

By the way, today was a very nice summery day. Very warm during the day time and then just slightly cooler in the late afternoon / evening. But once again, this will change. Tomorrow is expected to be about 15° cooler than today and then similarly the first few days beyond it. Not good. Yes, it's nice weather for sitting outside in. When it's really hot and humid you don't really want to do anything. But the plants thrive on heat and humidity. I know it's not officially summer yet. Not astronomical summer anyway. The weather forecasters will tell you that it's meteorological summer already. But it's sure not feeling like summer consistently yet.

More Seeds & a Garden Fresh Salad

Well, the heat and humidity just refuses to arrive and stay. We get a day or two here and there which then make way for dryer, cooler days and downright chilly evenings. In addition to that, the mosquitoes are out early this year and I have plenty of proof already.

Today I replanted peas in the garden as the original plantings only produced 3 plants with one devoured by possibly slugs. I also took advantage of a an emptier side of the same garden bed to plant black beans. And replanted some zucchini seeds where the cats trampled the one that was sprouting up.

I came across my pepperoncini seeds today. Not the ones that produced elongated fruit. I knew I had seed packs for the short ones that you can purchase pickled in jars. Well, today they came out of hiding and I filled a container with their seeds and covered it up with some metal mesh to prevent the squirrels from digging up.

I have several additional containers to plant. Just have to decide what to put in them. Leaning towards spinach. And waiting for the hot and humid days.

And today enjoyed a beautiful salad made with lettuce from the garden. This year we shall have a great harvest of several types of lettuce which not only tastes superb but also is economical considering the high price of lettuce nowadays. I prefer my salads just with lettuce. Tomatoes tend to make the salad too watery. But I like tomatoes on their own. I feel the same way about cucumbers. However I don't mind radishes in the salad.

More Plantings & Corn For Containers

Yesterday, I planted a Big Max pumpkin seed. Just one because there's not a lot of room left for such sprawling plants as squash. Hopefully one seed will be all the garden needs.

The zucchini I planted has sprouted out and looks very strong and healthy. Just have to keep the cats from entering the beds. The tomato seeds and the pepperoncini seeds I planted in separate vases are all sprouting nicely.

Yesterday I finished planting lettuce into some vases. Also filled a large urn with Zinnia seeds. Added additional string bean seeds into the ground as the original ones mostly did not sprout. Added additional corn kernels as well since only a few developed into plants.

Today I added some cilantro seeds into some empty spots in a window box full of sprouting herbs. I'm waiting on an order I placed for a corn variety that is meant for containers. That sounds really exciting so I'm looking forward to filling a container with corn kernels and placing it on the deck. Not only will it produce lovely plants and actual ears of corn but it will also serve as a great decoration for autumn and its associated holidays and festivals.

Picture updates to come soon!