Weekly Update: Water, Weed, Pick, Eat, Repeat (GDD 1298)

It's been seasonably warm, but not too hot. Rudbeckia, echinacea, and astilbe are nearly in full bloom. The beans and peas keep producing while the squash plant continues growing by leaps and bounds.

Like it Is . . . The Week that Was
7/16 - Pholx buds appear
7/19 - Rudbeckia blooms, pepper blooms in 52 days
7/20 - All spring-planted beets harvested. If the beets themselves were small, the leaves were quite tasty. More lettuce planted by seed.
7/21 - Sungold tomatoes begin to turn a shade of yellow 54 days after being transplanted.

Weekly Update; Busy Week (GDD 992)

Somewhat surprisingly, it was a busy week. The peas keep producing, the tomatoes keep growing, and my fascination with Man vs. Wild deepens. Did he really eat a sheep's eyeball?

July 2 - Front hosta in full bloom; green beans begin bloom
July 3 - Echinacea begins bloom; Garden lightly fertilized with Colorburst 15-30-15
July 4 - Alpine strawberry; oregano, sedum, and mint planted.
July 6 - First green bean emerges; oxalis blooms; first beet harvested (big letdown); more beets planted
July 7 - Romaine lettuce Paris Island Cos and Grand Rapids leaf lettuce planted
July 8 - Spirea blooms begin to fade; daylilies planted, hydrangea macrophyla endless summer planted; hosta moved

View from the Garden Bed

Weekly Update: Critters Attack Garden (71 GDD)

4/22 - Critters began digging up seeds, eating lettuce and chard.
4/28 - First tulip blooms; bibb lettuce transplanted; solitary spinach test-seedling planted; soil temp = 52
4/29 - First pea and beet sprouts emerge.

With Much Fanfare, the Vegetable Garden is Started

After weeks of abnormal cold weather, abundant sunshine and summer-like heat warmed the vegetable bed considerably in just a few days, raising the temperature t0 57 degrees at a depth of six inches. With temperatures rising, it was time to get some cooler crop vegetables in the ground.

Sown: 4' of peas, 4' of pole beans, and beets
Transplanted: romaine, red sails lettuce, "Bright Lights" swiss chard. (the UBC Botanical Garden has an amazing photo of Bright Lights.)