Heya Shakers! It's late spring/early summer here in the Northern Hemisphere (and late fall/early winter for Southern Hemisphere Shakers), so it seems like a good time to talk gardens again.
It's been a cooler, more prolonged spring than usual. So Southern cooler-weather flowers, like the California poppies at the top of the post, are still blooming, as are my nasturtiums. And I've had absolutely great luck with my winter-planted crops of radishes, lettuce, and peas:
The peas have gone great in salads--very sweet and crunchy when fresh. Unfortunately, cooler weather meant they got a bad case of aphids, which in turn led to red imported fire ants in the garden ("farming" the aphids). So I had to resort to some non-organic pesticide (Sevin) to get rid of the fire ants quickly. (When it comes to insects whose sting can kill me, I need to get rid of them quickly.) I've since returned to rounds of spinosad, neem oil, Bt, insecticidal soap, and pyrethins; hopefully I can continue with these less-toxic methods the rest of the summer. Last year I managed to attract a bunch of toads and American "chameleons" (really the Carolina anole), and I hope to again this year. They eat tons of bugs!
The strawberries are starting to get ripe, and although I think we'll only get a handful, they are DELICIOUS! Herbs are coming along well; I used fresh cilantro in our ground turkey burritos last night, and fresh basil and wild onion in some herb bread last week. The tomato plants, eggplant, and zucchini are starting to bloom, the corn is about a foot or two high, and the cucumbers, loofahs, and pumpkins are all getting vine-y. My melon crops haven't done as well, but I'm attributing that to the cooler weather. The zinnias and sunflowers are almost ready to bloom, and the cosmos are already going all out:
This weekend it looks like it's time for another round of weeding, feeding, mulching, and spraying. I've experimenting this year with newspaper and pine needles as mulch, since I have both in abundant supply at no extra cost. And of course, I will have able assistance from the Lesser American Garden Beaglemix, who stays on guard for me against squirrels, rabbits, and Giant Fanged Zebras. Since I've never even seen a Giant Fanged Zebra in the garden, I guess she's doing an exceptional job:
What about you, Shakers? Do you have a garden growing, or are you helping someone else with one? Is it outside, inside, or on the roof? In a bed or in some pots? Or if it's winter where you are, how did your fall harvest go? Feel free to share your garden stories, questions, pictures, and appreciation in the thread below!
[Commenting note: please respect that other commenters' priorities may be different from yours, whether space,cost, water, organic methods, yield, or something else. In this thread, there is no one way to garden. Thanks!]
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