Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday,

which happens to fall on the first day of summer!

Between the veggie beds and the abundant blossoms,

there's plenty to share this week!

All of the garlic has been harvested and cured,

so I was able to make a braid for the kitchen.

Now I feel like we have a proper Italian cucina.

The variety that I ordered from Sow True Seed

was a breeze to grow and resulted in massive bulbs.

The two best will be saved for planting this fall for a late spring harvest next year.

It feels good knowing that we can cross garlic off of our grocery list.

Some of the beets were sampled this week.

The two varieties grown were Detroit Dark Red

and Golden Yellow.

I roasted them and ate them with my salads.

Absolutely mouth-watering!

 After poor results direct sowing in the straw bales,

I transplanted a few cucumbers that I had started in cell packs.

I'm hoping with a better start, they will soon take off.

 The okra also had trouble getting going in the raised rows,

so they were sown in cell trays and will be transplanted when they get a bit larger.

Hopefully, I'm not too late to get a decent harvest.

 Look how the tumeric has taken off with the onset of warmer temps.

I can't wait to take a taste of the leaves!

Tumeric is one of the best inflammatory fighters known.

 The October beans I got from Sigmon Nursery have done pretty well.

This is the first time I have grown these,

and I can't wait to see them growing on the arches.

 How thrilling it is to see the loofah finally 

beginning their ascent up the gazebo-like structure.

This fruit can be eaten when young,

and if left on the vine to dry,

it becomes the best exfoliator for your skin.

 

 The parsley had gone to seed a while back,

and I finally pulled it out of the raised bed

to make room for other things.

Look how thick the diameter of the stalks got to be!

 One lone cabbage (my first one ever!) awaits harvest.

I'm thinking slaw with carrots and a bit of red cabbage.

 The east side of the hugelkultur bed is full and lush

with lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, carrots, leeks and nasturtiums filling up the space.

 On the west side, newly-sown lettuce is just coming in,

with some kale and Swiss chard still holding on during the heat.

 

 Having had so much difficulty with germination this spring,

I decided not to chance it with the butternut squash.

This is the first time I am growing it,

so getting a good head start in cell packs seemed the way to go.

With that massive parsley gone,

the seedlings were dispersed throughout the bed.

I'm planning on building a trellis of some type

to support the vines.

Here, nasturtiums help with pest management

while adding a bit of perty to the bed.

 Another first for us is growing white sweet potatoes.

A neighbor gave me one to see if we could grow it.

I stuck the tater in water and the slips started popping up!

 Plenty of healthy roots should help them get a good hold under the soil.

This bed was topped off with good soil

and the slips were "slipped" right in!

Another trellis will be constructed for this crop,

as I like to keep the leaves of plants off of the ground.

It was so exciting to see flowers on the raspberry plants!

I've actually been snacking on ripened blueberries this week!

What a rush to be able to sneak those sweet treats that are home-grown!

 Along with all the goodies from the garden,

our eyes have feasted on so many wonderful blooms.

zinnia

gladiolas

butterfly bush

zinnia about to open

front porch garden

dwarf bee balm

A few critters have been found on some of the flowers.
Having ordered a book from the library to help me,
I'm hoping to be able to identify some of these caterpillars.



On the rudebeckia, I spied this pug moth caterpillar.
So far, it doesn't look like it's doing much damage,
so we'll just study them and see what happens.

Nature has so many lessons for us.