karly gardens: june 16, 2014

Lemon Boy tomato

Cherry tomatoes

Alaska variegated nasturtium

Royal Burgundy bush beans

Corn seedlings

Happy tomato plants

Jalapeño

Beets

…and beet greens

Tiny cauliflower!

Tiny romanesco!

Lacinato Kale

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

The carrot jungle

Arugula flowers

Lettuce, nasturtium, cucumber vines

Lettuce

Just-pulled carrots

Zinnias and cosmos surrounding the mailbox

Happy garden

Pumpkin vines

Cucumber flowers

Sunflower garden

Since I was a little late on my last Karly Gardens post, I thought this one could be just slightly late too.  I guess when the 1st and 15th fall on busy summer weekends, it's bound to happen!
Last week my first little baby tomato appeared, and was shortly followed by many others.  Last year I didn't see the beginnings of a tomato until mid-July and we weren't eating the ripe fruit until mid- to late-August I don't think, so this was a bit of a surprise!  I'm betting the cherry tomatoes will start ripening before too long and hopefully we get a lot of them so I can actually learn to cook with them.  The nasturtium are starting to bloom, which I just love.  I've started to spot blooms on the cucumber plants and buds on the squash/zucchini.  The cauliflower and romanesco plants, which have been in the garden the longest (apart from the pea and radish seeds I planted in early March), have finally started forming heads…I'll be watching closely!  Last week I pulled the pea plants out as their production was winding down and I was ready to clear a space in the garden for later season things, including more beans and a small sowing of sweet corn.  The carrots I planted in April (in a rectangular patch instead of in rows) have formed their own jungle, in which I spotted a small praying mantis this morning while trying to find a few decent-sized carrots to pull.  I will tell you…I really like pulling carrots.
The sunflowers are growing tall and soon I will have other blooms to enjoy apart from the nasturtium (including zinnias and cosmos).  The garden is looking just gorgeous and I am still feeling grateful that things are growing outside!
Another note…last week several thunderstorms rolled through in the evenings and one of those took a large limb out of our bradford pear tree in front of the house.  I knew that tree was weak and we would have to cut it down before too long, and now we certainly have a good reason.  The limb fell forward down the hill and missed my garden by a foot or two…I certainly got lucky on that one.  If the garden had been crushed I would have been so devastated!
I can't believe the next garden post will be in July.  I guess time flies when you're having fun!