Garden Happenings

Not much new has been going on in the garden. The raspberries keep ripening, yellow squash is growing, peas are being harvested, sweet potato vines are taking over the garden, plants are flowering, blueberries and blackberries are ripening, and some of the transplanted strawberries survived their first week.

Ripe raspberries

I’ve been harvesting a couple of raspberries everyday. The amount’s been varying between 2-12 raspberries a day. They’ve been lasting only long enough to get them into the house and washed before the kids eat them.

Today’s pea harvest

I’ve been harvesting peas, too. Like with the raspberries the amount we’re getting each day varies between 6-12 pods. Not enough to cook. Just enough for me to wash and watch the kids devour before I can blink.

Yellow squash

My youngest came home from his PDO (parents day out) one day this spring with a greenhouse they’d made and planted seeds in. He’d choosen yellow squash and yellow tomatoes. Some of them sprouted so I made him his own planter and planted the squash and tomato in it. We now have little yellow squashes growing! I’m hoping he’ll eat them since they are his. (In the past I’ve been the only one in this family to like eating squash.)

White pine alpine strawberry surviving

Rhubarb

A couple of the white pine alpine strawberry plants I was given are still alive. The ones I planted around the rhubarb are doing particularly well. Speaking of rhubarb, it is doing surprisingly well. I’d heard it wouldn’t do good here, but mine seems to be thriving.

Sweet potato vines running everywhere.

The three purple sweet potato plants I put in the garden are starting to spread and take over that whole section. I’m guessing I should have put in a trellis and trained them to grow up. I’ll know better next year.

Peanut flower

The peanut plants are flowering. From my understanding the flowers have to be pollinated for the peanuts to grow. After a flower is pollinated it sends a runner into the ground and that’s what the peanuts grow from. The National Peanut Board website has some good info on growing peanuts. Southern Exposure.com also has good info on growing peanuts and how to prepare them.

Blueberries ripening

The blueberries are starting to ripen. I’m very excited about this. My eldest is closely watching these since blueberries are his favorite.

Blackberries ripening

The blackberries are darkening. My bush isn’t very big, being new this year, and I’m not going to get a good harvest from it so I’m using my blackberry bush as a cue to when I should go harvest the ones growing wild in the local nature park.

Court Jester marigold

The marigolds are finally starting to flower. This variety is called Court Jester. I thought it was a pretty flower.

That’s all happening in my garden. How’re your gardens doing?

-Lorelei