Time for the annual gardening thread

[Mr. DS]

Added radishes and carrots over the weekend along with 4 more cuke plants that were given to me.     I'm actually quite happy with things but with a new young lady joining the family soon, I'll be stressed for time.    Luckily my counterpart is pulling his weight and is eager to learn so far.  Things are taking nicely in the garden so far.  The weather has been in the upper 70s the past few weeks so a lot of stuff is kind of hanging out but not moving quick. 

[Raffine]

Not exactly a result of any gardening on our part, but there is a huge fig tree in the backyard of the house we're renting. Last fall it was almost completely covered in honeysuckle and struggling - but we cleared it off over the winter. It is now very happy  and bustin' with tasty figs. I'd never tasted fresh figs and boy, are they dreamy.

We've bought a house (closed on Friday - yea!) so we are about to lose access to the figs. Hopefully this place will stay empty and we'll be able to get to 'em for the summer.

[Silverlady]

Some fllowers that I had winter sowed this past winter have started to bloom, but with mixed results.  The bachelor buttons are pretty colors (shades of blue, purple, white and dark pink), but they are kind of leggy and very tall (24 inches and more).  Really too tall for the flower pots I put them in.  They would have looked better planted in the ground between the daylillies, astilbe, yarrow, asiatic lillies, and black eyed susans that are already in my front flower bed. I'm thinking maybe I'll cut them back, and once we get into the height of summer, hopefully they will be bushier and will have filled out more.

I had also started shasta daisies from seed in the house during the winter. The seed packet stated they would bloom this year.  I planted them out late March, early April when they were about 3-4 inches tall.  They are doing fine, but I don't know if they will bloom this summer. Shastas are perennials, and after doing some reading up on them, most sources say that perennials grown from seed won't bloom til their second year.  

The poppies which I had scattered out in early spring did come up, but now are in complete shade since the trees have leafed out.  I don't expect much if anything from them since they love heat and sun.

On the more positive side I do have baby's breath ( also winter sown and first time grown from seed) flowering in pots and they are very pretty. Very light and airy!   Also have winter sown alyssum, zinnias, cosmos, and snapdragons in pots that are thriving.  They should all be blooming in about a month.    

[Mr. DS]

Things are progressing nicely thanks to the 80 plus temps around there.  Arrived to day to find a cucumber beetle infestation.  I hate these little b@stards.  Since my garden is on a farm, luckily I have powerful allies who will help me bring about their doom.  I have to remember to bring the camera this weekend. 

[Jack]

Our lettuce and spinach already grew so large it wasn't tasting too good any more, so I ripped it out and planted new stuff.  The lettuce was already up after only 2 days.  I could probably pick some peas, they're doing really well.  I put up a chicken wire fence and planted two rows of peas on either side, and that seems to be working great - for the first time ever they're not tipping over and breaking their stems in half.  Already got some tiny cayenne peppers about 1/4" long.  The jalapeños are looking pretty good, no flowers yet but the plants are growing well.  Not much I can do as far as over or under watering them - I haven't watered anything in a month since it's been raining about 9 days out of 10.  The pole beans are sending their feelers way up in the air, I really need to give them something taller to climb on.  Tomatoes are also doing well, the Roma plant is already showing us how weird it's tomatoes will look.  It was 95 here yesterday, so anything that likes hot weather and tons of rain should be in absolute heaven.

[Mr. DS]

Its coming along...I'll post more when it becomes a jungle...

Tomatoes and Peppers (the beans over to the right aren't mine)

Cukes, Brocs and Squash
I should be picking squash by next week.  We've had a nice stretch of upper 80s weather which has made the plants really happy.  Broccoli oddly is producing nice heads in the heat.  

[Newt]

Harvested sweet cherries this week. The yellows are not quite ready yet.  I'm thinking I may have to make some ice cream to use up some of them.

[Mr. DS]

Harvested sweet cherries this week. The yellows are not quite ready yet.  I'm thinking I may have to make some ice cream to use up some of them.

Nice.  I actually keep forgetting to mention I have blueberry bushes right outside my door.  We've had a few ripen over the past week but most are still green. 

Side note, not sure if I mentioned this I have potatoes growing in the backyard by mistake.  I threw a few old potatoes in the back to compost and they suplied me with a surprise crop.

[Andrew]

That's a nice looking plot you have going there, Darksider.  With all this hot weather we have already been picking 1 or 2 zucchini a day, and the first yellow squash should be ready right now.  Also been cutting romaine lettuce and spinach, 

We have quite a few tomatoes (cherry, grape, lemon boy, and a small kind called tomatoberry) going.  The beans and cucumbers are finally starting to climb.  The beets are starting to fill out.

In the other areas around the yard, Andy's brand new blueberry bushes have yielded a handful to him.  I'm explaining to him that it will be 2-3 years before we have a lot of blueberries coming from them.  Garrett's new strawberry plants are starting to send out runners; I'm hoping that little bed (an 8' by 4' plot I made with landscaping timber by the house) will be filled in by next year.

Katie's two rosebushes are in full bloom right now, and one of them has more than a dozen roses on it.  Even the new one has 4.  Each year since we purchased the house I have given Katie a rosebush for our anniversary.

[Mr. DS]

Hey is anyone up for a challenge?   I know some of us have been picking already but how about we keep count of what we take out to see how produces the most from this point forward.   I think it would be fun to see how much food we're all capable of producing.  Who's up for it?

[Andrew]

Hey is anyone up for a challenge?   I know some of us have been picking already but how about we keep count of what we take out to see how produces the most from this point forward.   I think it would be fun to see how much food we're all capable of producing.  Who's up for it?

Considering the size of your garden, I don't think that's fair to the rest of us.  I'd have to plant most of my yard to compete.  Well, unless a swarm of genetically-engineered locusts attacks your farm.

I did pick a lot of zucchini and yellow squash yesterday.  4 nice zucchini and 2 nice squash.  It's getting to be the time of year when we eat squash or zucchini daily, just to keep up with the production.

[Mr. DS]

Hey is anyone up for a challenge?   I know some of us have been picking already but how about we keep count of what we take out to see how produces the most from this point forward.   I think it would be fun to see how much food we're all capable of producing.  Who's up for it?

Considering the size of your garden, I don't think that's fair to the rest of us.  I'd have to plant most of my yard to compete.  Well, unless a swarm of genetically-engineered locusts attacks your farm.

I did pick a lot of zucchini and yellow squash yesterday.  4 nice zucchini and 2 nice squash.  It's getting to be the time of year when we eat squash or zucchini daily, just to keep up with the production.

Maybe we can work in a handicap.     Actually more or less instead of competition I'd be interested to see what we all produce.   I'm still at nill btw.  Radishes and squash by the weekend. 

[Jack]

Oh sure, my whole garden takes up about as much space as 6 of your tomato plants!   

So far we've got a lot of lettuce and spinach.  The plants got large enough that they weren't tasting too good any more, so I ripped them all out and planted new stuff.  Picked some peas last night, just a couple cupfuls.  Still plenty left.  They were yummy.

[Newt]

This week so far: red currants, raspberries and the first few gooseberries.

[Andrew]

I think we've had about 9 zucchini and 4 yellow squash so far, along with a  lot of romaine and spinach.  By a lot of romaine I mean salads daily, and we've given away about the same amount.  Andy's new blueberry bushes actually produced a handful this year, which he gladly ate.

When our tomatoes come in it's going to be a huge crop.  Mostly growing smaller ones, like cherry and grape tomatoes, and the plants are full.  Peppers are looking OK.  The cucumbers are coming along nicely and climbing.  The beans...I wish that the beans looked better.  Have to see how they do.  The carrots are looking good, but won't be ready for at least a month.  I'm thinking we will pick about half the beets in a week.