Not Really a Harvest Monday

Maybe next week there will be something, but this week I only harvested 1 cup's worth of Purple and Italian basil which I made into a pesto. I didn't take a picture of it because it's been a pretty busy weekend, and I didn't get around to charging my camera battery. I used most of the pesto on focaccia, asiago, pesto and grilled chicken sandwiches last night for dinner. This has to be my new favorite sandwich...

I did, however, take a picture of my first batch of cherries I made from last week's harvest! I made Martha Stewart's Cherry Slab Pie.

This pie will have you feeling absolutely giddy...

BTW, if you don't have a cherry pitter, needle-nosed pliers work splendidly.

I pitted and froze the rest of the unused cherries to use when my mom-in-law visits next month since they're her favorite. I have a feeling I'll be making another slab pie for the 4th of July...

Since I don't have any harvesting going on, here are a few updates.
I killed my potato plants after digging the potatoes out. They're the two in the green pots, and the two in front. I was either too rough, or maybe it's from the 90 degree heat we're having (it's about time it warmed up).

Most of my lettuces bolted. Even though they were shaded, and my thermometer read a high of 80 degrees. I guess when the package says it can handle 80 degrees, it meant ever once in a while. At least it won't be long before I can start this mix over again, and then I'll have a nice head start on my fall lettuces.

We had more high winds at the end of last week. Time to get Boy Wonder out there to pick up the fruit before the ants and mice move in. click for carnage

On to the happy plants! Both sets of melons are flowering, although all male flowers at the point.

Even the almost-dead melon plant is making a come back.

I've been mistakenly calling these tomatoes "Pearson," but they're Viva Italia.

This is the Pearson tomato, and my first and only so far. It's a heavy lil guy too!

I haven't really talked about the few succulent plants from last year's acquisition that survived an outbreak of scale, were moved outside after the outbreak without hardening off, and endured a few nights of freezing temps, but here are two that are now blooming. A Hen & Chicks, and one I don't know about...

Summer vacation officially started today, so I'm off to hang out with the 8yo before the 2yo wakes up from his nap...

So So Succulent

(I was playing with the picture layout, as you'll see below, but it wasn't cooporating which is why there may be big gaps in places, and it looks messy... I've just run out of time to play with it more.) Yesterday afternoon while the Little One slept, and Boy Wonder read, I cleaned up the succulent clippings I received on Sunday. I took them outside to my potting "table" (an old small dresser) next to the shed, and spent as much time as I could bare in the heat, mixing my soil, and potting things up. This isn't all of what I received, just the creme de la creme for photog purposes ;-). click the pic Lots of sweat, and one slightly sunburnt arm later (the shade provided by the shed slowly fades as the sun moves across the sky, and my arm got the worst of it), here are my plants! I don't have much skill with arrangements, but at least they're in dirt! Once they're established, and I find out what their growing habits are, I may need to do some rearranging. click the pic The two large terra cotta pots will stay outside, the rest I brought inside to nurse until I decide what to do with them. With help from the wonderful people hanging out in the cacti & succulent forum on Garden Web, I was able to have all of the plants I received identified. Blue pot: Oscularia deltoides in the back, hen & chick in the center, and either Sedum spurium variegate or Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi in front (waiting on re-confirmation). Green pot: hen & chick surrounded by Sedum burrito (or burros tail/donkey's tail). Brown pot: crassula tetragona Tiny Oscularia deltoides at the back, hen & chick on the right, Sedum burrito front right. The variegated plant in front is either Sedum spurium variegate or Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi variegate. The flowering one is Aptenia cordifolia variegata or "ice plant." Crassula Ovata or "jade." The tiny plant sticking out of the front with yellow flowers is sedum reflexum. I told myself I was done. Nine pots of plants was enough. After cleaning up, and bringing my haphazardly arranged plants inside, the remaining plants and extra pots wouldn't leave me alone! They needed the love--the acknowledgment their brethren had received. Who was I to ignore their cries?!??! How could I, in all my green thumbedness, ignore their desire to belong? I finally gave in to their pleas. I thought, with the two big terra cotta pots staying outside, using two more pots for inside will keep things even. Then, my seven year old pointed out, "There needs to be one to grow on." (He big on "one to grow on." It means more marshmallows in hot chocolate, one more piece of candy, an extra kiss... lol) After these were planted, I had to put the rest of the plant clippings outside. I knew if I saw them, they would end up in a pot--or a few. lol Here are all the little babies sitting by the window, looking out at the SFG. Oh. I didn't want to leave this one out of the post. I've had this kalenchoe blossfeldiana for a few weeks... Here are the ingredients I used to make my soil. I used equal parts of each, and added a less than recommended amount of 18-4-9 granule fertilizer. Lastly, I dug these pictures up last night... Here's to my dear old house plants. The next three pictures show only a few of the 30 some plants we freecycled before we moved. I still miss these guys, and hope they're doing well...

So. Hot.

Sorry about the text color if it's hard to read... I don't know what the default is, and I'm tired of trying to fix it grrrr... Yesterday was a hot day, and we're in for one more before it'll taper off. The new thermometer I bought from Smith & Hawken read 108.3 as the high, and I haven't even set it up outside yet. Oh, what I wouldn't give for some rain... Even just a little drizzle to clear the muggy air. Most afternoons there is a nice breeze flowing in over the foothills that are San Fran's leftovers, but it's not the same as a sweet smelling summer shower. After I pulled my snapdragons and verbena last week, I decided I needed to put something in the top box that can take the heat better (the mint on the bottom is doing fine--I think it gets perfectly shadowed by the top box at the peak of the day). I bought the succulents pictured below. This morning I discovered these poor things are already getting burnt. :( As much as I enjoy the window box where it is, I think it's time for some relocating. I posted a "want ad" on Freecycle for succulent trimmings to add to the window box and inside the house, and once again, my fellow freecyclers have outdone themselves... Yesterday I met with a wonderful lady who has lived in her home for over 50 years. Her backyard was quite a pretty site! Not a spec of ground was left untouched by some form of greenery. I brought a tupperware with me, expecting to receive a few clippings, but what I received was much more than I bargained for! After pointing out how much she needed to trim her plants while walking me around her yard, she proceeded to trim them, and give me almost half of what she cut off! While these guys sit in the shade for a day or two and callus over, I'll try desperately to find a place for them. We have a few pots left over from getting rid of our houseplants before moving, but I don't think they'll be enough. I may just have succulents growing in random spots throughout the yard in a few month's time!