Things are popping in the garden, beginning with blossoming columbines and budding irises. I worked three hours on Saturday in my plot, weeding and planting. In spite of my very bad watering habits (depending on the rain), things are growing and looking good.
Iris buds and white and pink columbine blossoms are my first flowers this year.
I decided it was warm enough to make use of my bean enclosure. I planted Blue Lake pole beans, which I love because they are so forgiving when I let them get a little big. Like Kentucky Wonders, they bear all summer as long as I keep picking, but they take a little longer to get stringy and tough. We’ll see if the bean enclosure works.
I’m hoping for a full crop of beans without interference from voles and rabbits.
One of my fellow gardeners, whose balcony overlooks our space, told me that the rabbits use a hole in my fence to enter the community garden. Since those same rabbits have nibbled my pea shoots so much that they’ll never be plants, I removed the trellises I had set up and inserted them in the ground to block the hole in the fence. We’ll see if it works!
I also planted okra and basil, two lovely summer crops, and look forward to seeing them come up. My little tomato plants look … okay. Tomatoes are problematic in my garden because of fungal wilt, but I do what I can. Herbs are coming back nicely. I cut large quantities of parsley, cutting celery, and mint. I also harvested some lettuce and radishes. Looks like I’m eating from the garden again!
These radishes, called Patricia, are a different variety than I planted last year.
In the Plot Against Hunger garden, I pulled out the broccoli plants that were bolting, watered, and along with volunteer Filmona, weeded the nut sedge grass from about half of the plot. We could have gotten much farther, but it started to rain. Not a bad thing, but with temps in the 60s, neither of us wanted to get wet. The good news: everything’s growing, just as it should.
I can’t wait for the spinach to mature! And it looks like I’ll have an excellent garlic crop.
