Mid-May Garden Tour

Whew! School is out as of yesterday and the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. In the meantime, the weeds and grass have been growing happily along with the vegetables we planted. Now it's time to get ahead of them again.

The potatoes had suffered from weed encroachment more than anything else, so they were first on the list this morning. The ground is still pretty moist from the last rain, but the Mantis tiller was able to work the ground pretty well. So now the potatoes are at least partially weeded and have been hilled up again.

 






The beets are doing very well this year. This is only our second year to grow beets, so I'm not real sure why they are doing great. There are several that look like they will be ready to eat before long. About every other evening I pick some beet greens and take them to the chickens and goats. We have also added some small, tender greens to a salad recently.
 

 

The onions are doing their thing, I think. I have yet to grow a good crop of onions, and the verdict is still out on this batch.

 







The sunflowers are coming up thick and look great. I planted seeds we harvested last summer and didn't know how viable they would be, so I planted them pretty thick. Guess what? They are doing great. Now to plant some more of them here and there to increase the harvest. We are intending this entire harvest, minus some seed saving for next year, to be animal feed. It will be quite amazing to see these rows full of big, beautiful sunflowers.

 
The corn looks great and is coming right along. It's also lucky, because a few weeks ago, I worked over the grass and weeds in between the rows.

 









The purple hull peas, or cow peas, are also growing well. They have more competition from the grass and weeds, so they will need attention in the next few days.
 

 





The squash looks great. I am hoping that the late tilling and frosts have impacted the squash bug and squash vine borer population. So far I haven't seen any at all, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm sure they will make an appearance before long.

The okra doesn't like the cool weather we've been having lately, so it's growing, just not very fast. This is also the worst patch of weeds, now that the potatoes have been taken care of. That makes them next on the list for some serious weeding and mulching.

The tomatoes are growing and look very healthy despite the cool weather we've been having. We did have a few very warm, humid days before the last rain and the cool north winds today. I found a volunteer tomato coming up in the okra patch as well. There were Roma tomatoes growing close to this area last year. There are also a few volunteer potatoes.

The snap peas are looking great. They have finally started really growing, blooming and producing. I will need to pick our first batch of peas in a few days.

 













The carrots are growing. It seems they should be farther along, but they look healthy and happy. Another volunteer potato has come up over here as well.

The peppers are still pretty small. I think they have joined the okra in protesting the cool weather. Most of them look healthy, they're just not growing a whole lot.

We had a big handful of potatoes left from last fall that had sprouted and grown these long, spindly sprouts in the house. I was just going to toss them out when I decided to pile them up in the corner of the garden and scoop some dirt on top. Well, now we have this huge potato bush growing there. We've learned another lesson. Don't give up when things don't appear to be doing very well. This is a great lesson that can be applied to many things besides potatoes. Don't ever give up. 

Clematis

 Until next time - Fern