The winter rains have gone making way for long, dry summer days. Come and take a walk with me in the midsummer garden.
Let's start with the seedling babies. The lettuce has all bolted and i am late with my new plantings. Here are a few bok choy plants to the left and some mizuna sprouts on the right. The bok choy is a year 'round staple crop but the mizuna is new to my garden. i've heard it makes a nice warm weather green. i just received some purple mizuna from Johnny's that i'll be planting next along with a few heat tolerant lettuces and baby chard to create a greens mix that i hope will thrive in the summer weather.
The arugula is still looking good. This is Astro, a widely available variety that tolerates the warm weather better than most. Arugula likes to grow in clay so i will be planting a new patch in the garden. These plants are in the raised bed and will probably start to bolt soon.
The Olive Leaf arugula keeps trying to bolt but i pluck the budding stems and toss them in salads. i have seen this plant described as a perennial. Cool! Perennials are always welcome in my garden.
Plaza Latina Giant Green Tomatillo is setting fruit like crazy despite perisistent attention from the flea beetles. Flea beetles are new to my garden this year and i am patiently waiting for a beneficial to come along and exert some control.
Remember the shallots? They have finally started to bulb up and are sloooowwwwly drying. i'll replant the smaller bulbs from this variety next year. If i am lucky i will end up with an adapted variety in a few seasons.
I begin to see why this Lacinato Kale is sometimes called Black Palm Kale.
Very excited by this heading broccoli! i planted three varieties earlier this year and this Umpqua is the first one to head. The other two are Arcadia and Fiesta.
The Piracicaba broccoli must be very photogenic because it looks great in this picture but really terrible in the garden. It is a favorite with some sort of chewing worm and the growing points are decidedly chlorotic. i finally purchased some Bt but after 5 or 6 weeks of rainless skies we are now getting just enough to wash the leaves clean every day, grrr.
This is Gardener's Delight cherry tomato. It was direct seeded in January but has just started to really grow and set fruit. A good example, i think, of planting in the wrong season.
Compare it to this Snow White cherry tomato that was planted three months later and is nearly the same size. Established plants will fruit in the winter months but i think they need the longer hours of daylight during their formative months.
Yay, carrots! Red Cored Chantenay Carrots almost ready to dig. Now to work on my spacing ; )
Daghestani White carrots look like they will be ready to dig soon as well. Carrot seeds can be hard to germinate during hot, dry weather so i am going to experiment with transplanting the young sprouts.
Masai filet beans. These are nice! They stay small, produce a good number of slender beans and can be picked only once or twice a week. First crop has already been picked which is why the plants look a little tired. i have just side dressed them with some chicken manure and hope to get one more crop in before some mold/mildew/rust/blight takes them out.
Do you know what these are? Baby mangos! i usually get to gobble down only about a dozen delicious mangos from this dwarf tree each year due to rampant anthracnose disease. This year i tried spraying with Serenade a few times to combat the anthracnose and maybe increase my harvest. i am greedy, a dozen mangos is not enough. Believe me, if you could taste these mangos you would be greedy too.
That's all for now,
A hui hou!
