Sweet potatoes vines that need to be tucked back into their bedsWe have been having such hot and oppressively humid weather recently. I was sweating even when I went out early in the morning to do garden chores. But this morning it broke. The temperatures dropped as did the humidity. At 58F I even had to wear a sweater. I love mornings like this.
First corn succession starting to silkI'm sure the corn prefers it a little hotter. I've been shaking the plants each morning to help pollinate the ears. Often I see swarms of of some kind of black bee on the tassels, but so far this year I've only see one or two.
It was also nice to see the other summer crops coming along well. These will be my first cucumbers in a day or so. Yesterday I picked my first small zucchini and three beans. Yes just three, but they will add up over time as more start to flower and produce. Remember only two plants survived the groundhog attack and the rest that were replanted have to catch up.
The lettuce hasn't been doing so well with the hot weather. The plants have been bolting before they size up. Some that have sized up are bitter. I ate my last salad last night. I don't know if I'll get to have other any time soon or not. The onions should have been picked already, but I never needed them. I'm now using the sweet onions as they bulb up.
Winter savory is in the upper leftThis morning I picked and dried winter savory for the first time ever. I've tried in past years, but this is the first year it has done well. I love the scent. It is kind of like a lemony oregano.
I also picked some chard. I blanched about a pound this morning to put in the fridge for meals for the next few days.
While picking I noticed that some of the stems had spots on them. I've never seen this before. It only seems to be affecting the stems, and I don't eat the stems. I don't know if I should be worried about it or not.
Another thing I noticed was some leaf miners in the amaranth. They have attacked the green leafed ones, but not the red ones yet. I don't know if they are worth covering or not. Amaranth is a new crop for me. If the damage is small, I'll just pick off those leaves. If they damage most of the leaves, I'll have to cover them. I'm not growing these for grain, but for eating the leaves, so the leaves matter. Since my first carrot bed was starting to come up and one section of amaranth is by the carrots, I covered both of them at the same time. I'll leave the other amaranth section open and see how it does. A new crop always requires a bit of learning about how to grow it well.
It was just a lovely morning. I hope the low humidity lasts for a while.
A lovely morning indeed!
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful day here as well. We have had a few great days this week and I have been making some good headway on things in the garden.
ReplyDeleteYour sweet potatoes are growing like crazy! Mine are still tiny little guys in the metal bin I put them in. I thought the metal bin would make it nice and hot for them, which it does but only when the sun is beating down on it. I placed it too close to a wooden fence & it is being shaded for part of the day. Of course it's too heavy to move, so I will just have to wait it out and hope I get something worth harvesting.
Hi! I have thought about growing Amaranth. I don't know what it tastes like as have never had any. I keep checking my cucumbers but I don't see any yet! Anxious! Nancy
ReplyDeleteI'm tempted to grow sweet potatoes just for the beautiful foliage. I wouldn't really care if they didn't produce decent roots since I hardly ever eat them. They are such pretty plants. Maybe next year in a pot.
ReplyDeleteThe leaves of your Sweet Potato are a completely different shape to mine. They are very ornamental - worth growing just for the visual effect, I'd say. The brown spots on the Chard stems look to me like some kind of insect infestation. Perhaps something has laid its eggs in the stems, and larvae are hatching? (It's just one pest after another, isn't it?!)
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