I'm a blog slacker

Well, fellow gardening bloggers, sorry for not posting anything in a while... The garden has sort of taken a back seat for me with preparations for Boy Wonder starting 2nd grade on Tuesday, and trying to squeeze in a few more activities before summer break is over. We've also had our 1 year anniversary of moving to CA, and it's had me feeling a little down and out. The garden would normally kick those bummy feelings, but I haven't been gardening! It's too stinkin hot, and I'm too busy for it! The good news is, there hasn't been a lot going out there... I finally got around to frying up the okra I'd been stashing. I chopped and froze about 1.5 sandwich bags worth, and ended up making way too much for one sitting. Now I know that next time I grow okra, I can probably cook about 1/2 that amount at a time. I don't know that DH and Boy Wonder will be glad to hear that since they didn't like it a lot. The LO and I, on the other hand, scarfed the fried okra! Then again, I've got southern blood runnin' through my veins, and the LO eats almost everything. He's been the one eating the cherry tomatoes, in fact. I tried them, I promise, but I didn't like them! Blegh. I served the fried okra with BBQ chicken topped with grilled Fresno's. So yummy... This is the lone giant purple zinnia that grew from the 6-10 I planted on June 1. The first picture was taken 10 days ago, and I thought I'd caught it at the end of it's bloom, but it turns out it was the beginning... the second picture is from today. The zinnia has filled in nicely... Here is my first watermelon. She's still growing, but growing sorta crooked. I think this may be the beginning of the end for her. I recall reading a blog or forum post somewhere where melon's that weren't fertilized grow for a while then die off, and I'm jumping to this conclusion due to the funny growth. The good news is, I ensured these ladies got some lovin'. Teehee The one on the left was pollinated 3 days ago, and the one on the right was done today. Here are my Texas Grano 502 onions. I started them on the 7th, and they began sprouting on the 11th. I have them growing in a 2:1 combo of Miracle Gro Seed Starter and vermiculite, in a plastic container that salad greens from Costco came in. I also started my first round of Waltham 29 broccoli (3 square pots) and Red Acre Cabbage (circular pot) on the 13th. It took the broccoli 4 days to begin sprouting, and the cabbage 6 days. They're looking a little leggy so far... Hmm... I guess there have been some things happening around here after all! I'm feeling a little better now... Yay!

I knew something like this would happen...

We went camping in Bodega Bay for a few days, and something happened while we were gone... A female watermelon bloomed! Oooh, I'm all turned about inside. I wasn't here to make sure this lady was pollinated, and now I have to sit around with fingers and toes crossed! I guess I'd be doing that even if I had ensured pollination, just waiting to see if it would be healthy and grow... Male watermelon flowers, waiting for mates that won't appear in time... Patience seems to be paying off with these peppers so far. There are 3 healthy looking (gasp) bell peppers on the front plant. Since it's getting close to the end of the season, I'm leaving the Fresno's on the plant to turn red. 4'x2' cantaloupe bed. All three are blooming, and only males have bloomed, but I think I spotted 2 females this morning. Now the trick is getting them blooming at the same time! Do the melon's leaves seem small? The Meyer lemon blooms from last week died, but there's already another round going. The interesting thing about these blooms is their size difference. The blooms up until now have been small, like those seen below. See that big one though? There is another set of all large blooms like that one. Maybe these will do some growing. I cleaned up and reorganized the shed yesterday. This was an unplanned project (I have yet to do any planned projects ugh), but I needed to do it before putting the camping gear back in the boxes. Thanks, Boy Wonder, for helping make a quick job of it. I don't have a before picture, but it was a mess. The boxes were under the shelves, and bags of soil and folding chairs were in front of the boxes. I could barely get to anything on the shelves, or into the boxes. The shelves still need to be tidied up, but it's great being able to walk straight up to them. During our trip to Bodega Bay, we stopped at Candy & Kites for salt water taffy and a kite to fly on the beach. I wanted a windmill for the garden, and Boy Wonder chose a ladybug. A few pictures from the trip... These wild orchids were growing all along Route 1, and down the hillside to the beach. There was also a beautiful variety of succulent but I forgot to take a picture of it. Dad helping Boy Wonder get his kit up in the air. It took no effort at all because of the constant breeze. It also only lasted about 30 seconds before Boy Wonder decided digging in the sand was much better than a self flying kite! Cheeze! Boy Wonder took this... He's got a great eye for a 7yo.

Finally Seeing Green!

This was my first "substantial" harvest, on or around June 30th. A lot of garden bloggers out there are weighing their harvests, and I think I'll do that this fall... For now, my harvest is small enough that I can count what I get! LOL 9 Green Fresno Chili's - I've really enjoyed these, and have been our most useful vegetable so far. I've added them to pizza and ramen for a little zip. We've also grilled them, and added to our steaks and burgers. Having these chili's have been great because DH and I like things spicier than the boys, and they're small enough to dice up and add to our individual meals. 25 Green Beans - I have two varieties growing; Kentucky King and Greencrop. I picked 9 today, and the rest are in the picture above... I steamed those, and split between the boys and I for dinner (DH worked late, so he missed out). Boy Wonder really enjoyed them. We both agreed that they're a lot sweeter than store bought beans. 7 Clemson Spineless Okra - I'm clipping 1-2 of these every other day or so... I've been cutting and freezing these without blanching. I'm hoping to have enough before too long to make some fried okra. Here are a few pictures of what the garden was doing on July 4th... The blooms on the okra truly are magnificent, but I have mixed feelings about them because they only last for one day. This is good because it means I get to enjoy the okra that much faster, but I also wish I could enjoy the blooms a little more. I don't get to make it to the back yard every day, and when I do, the blooms are typically on their way out. It's really hard to tell yet, but the cantaloupe are growing. Hopefully they'll pick up some speed, and produce a melon or two before the end of the season. I planted my watermelon on June 19th, and they are taking off! These are called, "Family Fun" watermelon, which I was told is an heirloom variety (yay me! I'm growing somethin' old school). Behind the watermelon are my sweet potatoes. I think they've been taking their sweet time establishing their roots--but that's ok! That's where the potatoes will be! I did notice a new leaf forming on one of them, so there's proof of growth above ground too. I'm pretty sure these are going to turn into long skinny potatoes, which happens when there's too much nitrogen in the soil. And, I think there's too much nitrogen in the soil because it's a brand new bed... We shall see!

Pictoral Update

I thought I'd share a pictoral update of the gardening's happenings... The SFG. Currently growing in the back row: spearmint; 3 squares bush beans; 3 squares okra; fresno chili. Front row: cherry tomato; 1/2 a square bush beans; failed carrots; marigold; empty square; okra; failed broccoli; bell pepper. After pulling the broccoli and carrot tops, I'll have 3 empty squares in the front row, but none next to each other. I think I'll leave them empty until the end of September since I don't know what to put in them this late in the game... My last broccoli plant. The one plant in my garden actually enjoying the cool weather we had, and it bolted in yesterday's 95 degree heat. I'll pull it this weekend. My first okra bloom. Sadly, it's already wilting, and won't open. I think it just petered out because of the cool weather... No worries though! See the other buds waiting to open? My third RB. The sweet potatoes are at the back, and I planted the watermelon seedlings this morning. Our plum tree, and a plum DH plucked on Sunday. The plums are really starting to fall off the tree now, so we're going to try getting as many off this weekend as possible. I have NO idea what I'll do with them, so I'll have to look up a few recipes. One of my Yolo pepper plants practically *bursting* with baby peppers now. I found this little guy this morning protecting my beans. Hopefully he'll stick around for a while to eat the aphids and whatever else has been putting holes in my leaves (I suspect grasshoppers). The only thing I saw in his web was an enormous mosquito--but that's a good catch too! Since moving here, I've seen so many different kinds of spiders I'd never seen in VA. I tried to identify him, but I hate hate HATE spiders, and couldn't stand looking at the different pics for long at all before getting all creeped out!

Wittle Garden Babies and Pepper Toddlers

I wasn't planning on planting the sweet potato slips for another week, but I just couldn't take it anymore (they rooted really fast!). See that container in the back corner? Those are "Family Fun" watermelon seedlings. I picked those up at OSH this weekend, originally intending to replace my cantaloupe in my other RB, but that just ain't gonna happen. The cantaloupe are still struggling, but I'll give them a chance. I'll move the fourth SP slip to the left side of the bed, and plant the watermelon seedlings on the right, and have them trail/grow out the right side of the bed. Since I'll be training the SP vines up the deck, my only concern with having the watermelon in there will be the actual sweet potatoes taking up too much room in the bed. I've decided I'll be asking for a new camera for Christmas... Trying to take pictures up close with my current camera is hard, and since I'm taking a lot, I need a better camera... LOL... Here is my wittle bean baby with another pretty flower behind it... This is my lonely Green Bell pepper. I think I added a little TOO much bone meal to the plant... The leave's edges are a little burnt, and it's not producing new flowers right now. The unusually cool weather isn't helping any either... The Fresno Chili's are getting big (wiping drool from chin). He has been taking his dose of bone meal quite well...