The Maple Hill Hop 29

Welcome back to 

The Maple Hill Hop,

where we share what's going on 

outside our doors.

Here's what's happening in our garden this early May.

 We're harvesting green beans every few days.

These are the Slenderette variety and they are oh-so tender.

So far, we haven't run into any problems with pests or disease.

 Our leeks are getting some serious girth to them.

This is the first time we've had success with growing them,

so it'll be fun to give them a taste.

The basil on the west side of the house is doing much better

than the one in full sun in the backyard bed on the south side.

Pesto will be on the menu this weekend!

The three Old Virginia tomatoes that were recently transplanted

seem to be doing well.

The heavy rain we had at the latter part of last week surely helped.

 The Celebrity variety that my garden coach Lynn gifted me

has multiple fruit on it.

The entire garden was fertilized yesterday,

as is done every two weeks for our edibles.

Tomatoes are in various stages of growth.

A few more will be brought to ROC (Ridge Organic Community)

next week for swapping.

 The plan is for the garlic to be harvested later this week.

The sugar snap peas are producing modestly,

and it may be just too hot in this sunny spot to expect much more.

 Sweet potatoes are one of the few plants that can be grown here in the hotter months.

A few slips have been added within the last few weeks,

but many pop back up from past years.

 The peanut plants are coming back full throttle.

This is another hot weather plant that is so easy to maintain.

We enjoy making our own peanut butter,

so it's a treat to harvest fresh peanuts for the task.

This is the first time we're attempting to grow pumpkins vertically.

The Calabaza pumpkin is extremely easy to germinate

and we're looking forward to seeing what happens with this lil' experiment.

 Another easy-to-seed crop is the Slenderette green bean.

These are being grown for our swap-n-share at the ROC meeting.

 It's a thrill seeing these gems reaching for the sun.

Thankfully, the Red Sails lettuce germinated pretty quickly.

As lettuce doesn't do well here in the hot, humid conditions,

it was a blessing to have Lynn share seeds of this heat tolerant variety with me.

The milkweed is looking gorgeous 

and we'll be expecting monarch butterflies to be visiting soon.

Sunflowers line the back wall of the house.

 A few moonflower plants climb the bamboo trellis.

We also have some Calabaza pumpkins sharing the space.

Hibiscus blooms last only a day,

but add a pop of color to the shady part of our backyard bed.

Passionflower vine is a source of wonder.

Recently, gulf fritillary butterflies were spied in the backyard,

so it's just a matter of time until we see it peppered with eggs.

This is the host plant for several types of butterflies.

 

The amaryllis is almost finished blooming,

and we will allow it to go to seed

so that we can start new plants.

 The echinacea by the mailbox is finally starting to show its stuff.

This is one of my favorite flowers.

When we bought this house, I couldn't help but notice

that the front door's glass panel has this beautiful bloom etched on it.

That's what's going on outside where we are.

What's happening outdoors in your neck of the woods?

HOP ON!

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