Garden Status: 18 June 2007

Usually, by this point in the summer I would have made three or four garden updates. Such has been this year. While I haven't made much time to keep track of things on this blog, I have made time for gardening. My garden is well.

I have kept things simple this year, forgoing some of the more exotic heirlooms in favor of a few standards. Out: artichokes, cow peas and collards. In: potatoes, snap peas and chard. Here is the full list:

Pole beans
Peas (lots!)
Potatoes (white and purple)
Squash (yellow summer, acorn, butternut)
Zuchinni
Watermelon (pink and yellow)
Cucumbers
Peppers (varieties of bell and some chili)
Tomatoes (several heirlooms and a Sweet 100 for Nicole)
Onions
Giant Pumpkin

Volunteer sunflowers have sprouted and a doing better than the ones I seeded last year. They are the wild, multi-color variety. The parsley and chard I planted last year decided to make a grand appearance this spring and are about to go to seed. Dill from last year self seeded and is probably the worse weed (if I can call it that) I must deal with.

In my quest for the perfect European-style kitchen garden, I have decided to introduce more non-vegetables (you know...flowers). I have St. Johns wort, foxglove, lavender, snapdragons and a few others I have picked up. I try to stick to the self-seeding types since I blow my seed budget on vegetable crops.

We've been picking peas for over a week now and expect to harvest for another week or two. The tomatoes and peppers have (barely) started setting fruit. I hope to pull get a few zuchinni by the end of the week.

I have gone chemical on the insects. In the past, they have ravaged my peppers. beans and curcurbits as soon as I set them out. This year, I zapped them before they could do too much damage.

This is shaping up to be a great garden year. I hope I can still manage some time out there once the new baby arrives.