What's happening in the garden? The two watermelons I planted in the front yard have barely grown. But this last-minute purchase of a kabocha squash at the Sebastapol farmers market has more than fulfilled my vision of squash plants running around the front yard. This is ONE plant!
The front yard flower bed is abuzz with bees and putting on quite a show for the neighborhood. I bought that Helianthus annuus at The Watershed Nursery. The zinnias are from seeds- not native but a flower that I love and have always wanted to grow. They suffered and died in all my attempts in foggy SF, but are absolutely the star of our sunny front yard this year!
20 July 2021
2 August 2021
13 July 2021
The backyard veggies are still producing. We have eaten a lot of beans- the yellow beans were especially productive and even when I thought the vines were done producing I still harvested another healthy portion. Cherry tomatoes have been going for a few weeks.
Sunday 1 August 2021
The larger tomatoes are starting to turn red! The peppers look fantastic and winter squashes are turning the warm tan of butternut squash and bright pumpkin orange.
I've also been able to get some new seeds started in the raised garden bed after struggling with cats using newly sown beds as litter boxes (yuck), finally resorting to chicken wire and sharp-side up skewers. Also, I was having trouble keeping the seeded areas damp since the veggies are watered with drip lines. My solution was to put in a few long 1/4" lines with no emitters and a 360* sprinkler stake on the end. It's worked perfectly! I can easily turn off the water on the sprinkler as needed by twisting it closed. Finally, the fall crops of carrots, beets, kale, green onions, and lettuce are sprouting.
Not everything has been easy- the aphids and cabbage white larvae have done a lot of damage to the Brassicas, and the Wisteria we (Juan Rapido) dug out this winter has root sprouted with a vengeance and is growing EVERYWHERE in the upper garden. Our winter project is clear- once the late summer crops of tomatoes, squash, and papers are done we'll be digging everything up and trying to find those roots.
