A Death in the Garden

So much has gotten done over the last two days. Today it was pulling all the spring spinach out. It was starting to bolt. I froze one batch. The other half is in the fridge to process tomorrow. The stubs of the plants were tossed onto the compost. That compost pile just keep growing.

The chamomile was falling all over the place. So first I picked it. In years past I would pick each blossom at its peak, one at a time. Now I just grab a bunch and rip the tops off. Some are too immature but it takes so much less time. I haven't dehydrated them yet, but I'll get to that. Then I put some stakes in to keep them from flopping over. While I was staking things up I went to the front of the house. I have one section right as you drive into our yard that is covered in cosmos and zinnias. Well Kronos, my daughter's dog has been trampling the area. It is right next to our neighbor's gate. A neighbor that has a dog. The dogs love to play together and Kronos just gets too excited. The poor, poor zinnias. I put up two of my square tomato cages on the end near the gate. I'm hoping that will discourage more trampling. It might not. I replaced the zinnias with some that were too crowded in another spot. But this year it might be a very poor showing.

Yesterday was busy too. I took out some self seeded cilantro and put in the melon patch. I've got my tomato supports over them. Hopefully they will like climbing that as much as they nylon net I've used before. I put in three types. Halona, Hanna's Choice, and Ambrosia. Halona is an early cantaloupe. The other two are a bit later. I've grown Ambrosia in the past. It tastes divine, but it is hit or miss if it will produce here. If we have a hot summer it should be fine.

After I finished I wanted to photograph the area, but I couldn't find my camera. I looked all over for it. Then I came back out later and looked again. I really thought I was going insane. I knew I had it. I knew I took a photo of the cilantro harvest for Monday. I knew I put it back in my pocket. Heck I even checked the compost pile. When my husband came home I was out again too look and he came out to help me. He found it in five minutes. It was in the watering can. It soaked in there for hours. I keep the camera in my front pocket and it must have fallen out when I bent over to pick up the watering can. The funny thing is that I started putting the camera in my pocket so I wouldn't lose it. Before I'd bring it out and put it down and then forget about it. I was afraid I'd leave it out and it would rain. In my pocket it would always come back in with me. Oh the irony. I tried to protect it only to destroy it.

Now it is sitting on my desk drying out. I'll leave it there for a few days before I see if it has died a horrible death. The flash card is fine. I really hope the camera lives. I love my little camera. It is so small and takes such nice photos. For now I'm using my husband camera. It is a beautiful DSLR that he bought this spring. But I'm not bringing that one with me when I garden. It comes out when I'm done and my hands are clean. Then I can take photos.

But I hate to leave on such an unhappy thought. So here are some happy things going on in the garden.

The mustards are starting to bloom even if you can't really see it in this photo. I was shocked when I went out after the storm on Wednesday. The mustards had doubled in size in two days. The brown mustard is growing very well, but the yellow mustard is much smaller. Hopefully it is plenty to get a good harvest.

The zucchini and cucumbers are germinating.

The carrots are look like they are finally growing. They are always so so slow. But once they start to gain size they speed up a lot.