In The Garden: July 29, 2014

 Asparagus Bed

The garden bed I'm currently re-mulching.  We should keep a layer of mulch on the bed year round, but it's getting very thin and the red sorrel is invading the bed.

Tomatoes

Our tomato plants were looking really good earlier in the season.  Now, the leaves toward the bottoms of the plants are dying.  Also, some critter(s) is eating more than it's share of tomatoes before they ripen.  Most of that damage occurs relatively low on the plant, so we assume it's rabbits.

Surprise Lilies

Blooming for a week or so at various places in our yard.  Planted by previous owners, but now some clusters expanded and relocated by Jo

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In The Garden: July 29, 2014

In the Garden: July 27, 2014

"Fallow" bed.  Contains a few old cabbages, a few dill plants (our dill did not germinate and thrive well) and some volunteer zinnias.  Also, sprouting buckwheat, a cover crop Jo just planted a few days ago.  (We plant dill because it is a favorite host plant for black swallowtail butterflies.) 

Corn:  Last year at this time, I was lamenting that our corn was just now tasseling because we'd planted so late.  This year, it's not yet even to the tasseling stage.  Pretty soon we will be growing fall corn.  The only problem with that is:  In a (more normal) hot and dry summer, the corn won't produce much -- or, maybe, nothing at all.

Potato Digging Day:  Bed before digging.  Potato plants have died back.  Volunteer coreopsis is doing well.  I'll try to dig around the flowers and save as many as I can.  Native bee pollinators visit them often.  Unfortunately, a bloom on the end of a long, spindly stems makes capturing their visits in a photo difficult.

Red potatoes produced well, but we harvested almost no Yukon Golds.

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In the Garden: July 27, 2014