Tag Archives: basil

Sliding through the June portal

Having rain on and around summer solstice is often a guarantee of a hot summer here, and this time summer is not waiting until July 6th to show up!  Heat wave came on immediately after the rains let up; the yard actually feels a bit jungle-ish, with everything so lush. Humid! I would say that the little basil are the only complainers.  They can’t figure out what is coming or going, as their elusive heat kept shifting around.  Transplant time for them coming up!

Magical mesclun mix!

Magical mesclun mix!

Giant radishes!

Seriously large radishes not to be mistaken for beets!

While being gone several days to Mt. Shasta over the Solstice, where it was really dry and dusty, the squash and tomatoes decided the warm moisture was their cue to grow by leaps/bounds.  Melons are still a bit slower, but firmly established now.  Lettuce, spinach, and most of the mesclun mix is bolting, so there is an element of normalcy. We have a lot of work to do this weekend and a bounty to give away!  I spy some hefty looking beet-roots on the end of a row, also, so some first pickings and sorting needed there, too.  Bush bean blossoms announce their next phase, while Bambie has expanded her buffet to include tomato plants early in the season. We won’t even discuss what the weeds think about it all!

And we all shine on!

The jungle is forming!

The jungle is forming!

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September slide through…

Our beloved Bambie has become frustrated…or desperate… in not being able to eat more tomato vines, nor get into my yard; so she’s taken to eating zucchini leaves off the stalk!

Not what you'd think to be a deer's delight...coarse zucchini leaves...

Shifting weather all over….a lot of rain during the first half of the month, so all tomatoes were pulled in, as well as squash and melons.  No rot wanted! So, it’s looking a bit bare as the season comes to a close.  Lettuce, arugula, and leeks are doing great!

Once there was a jungle...

September harvest tally:

  • Basil: 18 (pounds)
  • Bush beans: 3.5
  • Charentai melon: 13.5
  • Acorn squash: 5
  • Corn: 18 (19 ears)
  • Cucumbers: 20.5
  • Delicata squash: 20.75
  • Margarita melon: 26.75
  • Scallions: 1
  • Summer squash: 10.5
  • Spaghetti squash: 19.5
  • Tomatoes: 131 !!!!

Total:  288 pounds….!!!
Moving the season total to 473 pounds!
We give thanks to all Beings who assisted in manifesting this bounty!
That tomato poundage is off 6 plants, and no wonder they were collapsing!

Keepin' the bounty dry...

Dazed and confused

Hot, hot, hot…many plants are feeling stressed….what is with the high-heat wave this far into September?!  Record-setting 100° on Sept. 10.  Usually there is a day of moisture in there somewhere.  Oh wait, that was what was happening in July, on the driest day of the year.  But, seriously, we could do with a good cleansing rain…for just overnight or a day.  Smoky skies have been around for almost a week, with un-contained wildfires in the Mt. Washington wilderness due east of us.

CG running rampant!

Mildew arrived in late August to pester the squash; not abated by the heat.  A heavy load of acorn and delicata squash seems to be lurking under all the leaves.  Tomatoes are very happy with the warm nights of the last week, ripening beautifully; fortuitous it is!

New veggies for fall crop

Breathing space exists in one area of the CG again, for some cauliflower, chard, arugula, and lettuce.  A riot remains in the other half, with squash, cucumbers, and melons sprawling amongst the corn and tomatoes.

Clamoring for space

Bambie has earned her own private gate now….to look through.  The portal is now closed every night.  She isn’t bothering the veggies much, save one night of pruning beans when the netting wasn’t anchored, but she occasionally wants to sample inside the house yard.

Gate at the Portal

We also say goodbye to Jessie today, as she moves to her own new home, where she’ll have her own garden.  Congrats, Jessie!  And, thanks for being an enthusiastic part of this project.  Keep checking in on the bounty this fall!

August harvest tally:

  • Basil: 9 (pounds)
  • Bush beans: 23.5
  • Beet roots: 29
  • Corn: 11 (9 ears)
  • Cucumbers: 12.5
  • Endive: 2
  • Lettuce: 7.25
  • Scallions: 2
  • Summer squash: 9.5
  • Swiss chard: 4.5
  • Tomatoes: 5

Total: 116.25 pounds
We give thanks to all Beings who assisted in manifesting this bounty!

Near riots in the CG

Now that real summer has kicked in this week….YES!….
Lettuce is really starting to bolt; this is the longest we’ve had it last in good condition into summers. Impending harvest this next week, so the giant squash can can room to roam.  A first perfect zucchini is waiting for an owner, with more little ones behind.  (How fast will it become a bat?)  One spaghetti squash plant is decommissioned, as it was crawling over the lavender, nasturtiums, and into the street. Squash, cukes, and melons starting to crawl everywhere.

July 31 jungle in progress

Once again it looks like we will have bush beans maturing at the same time, even if strategically sowed 3 weeks apart.  At least they are a variety of greens, yellow, and purple.  The pole beans growing on the corn stalks looked like they were going to bind any emerging ears, so they got pulled.  We haven’t got this bean and corn cohabitation figured out yet; last year the beans grew too poorly in the shade of the corn, while this year they outgrew the corn.

Color riot in progress!

Passersby by want know how come we can grow tomatoes that are nearly 6 feet tall AND have tomatoes forming?  I smile, shrug my shoulders….”We don’t try; it just magically happens!”  (It’s the energy flowing in the CG vortex!)  That said, it will be interesting to see how well fruit ripens “in the jungle.”  Yet, we have our ways..

July bounty:

  • Beet roots: 11.25 pounds
  • Basil: 2.5
  • Lettuce blends: 13
  • Spinach: 7
  • Blueberries: 4.5

Month’s total: 39.25 pounds
Thanks to all Beings who assisted this bounty!

Fall Glory

It is amazing how one can stay so busy caring for a garden that is essentially moving towards a long nap.  Maybe it is my sense of  “clean management” that spurs me on to remove the decaying matter, though not so much in the house yard.  Actually for the CG it comes down to removing the dying, so that a blanket of leaves can be put down, to be turned over in spring, and to help insulate the remaining veggies.  Slugs will probably love it, as there are quite a few lurking in the lovely lettuce, but that’s just something we’ll have to deal with as necessary.

A lovely spurt of unseasonably warm weather delighted us gardeners a week ago, also prompting all the weeds to put forth new energy, and teasing a couple of strawberry plants into producing a few berries.  Of course, the bees were very happy with it, too.  Pineapple sages and Japanese anemones are still actively blooming, much delighting the hummingbirds.

Fall splendor; a little sun, a little fog....

This week heralds the onset of a few colder nights, between rainstorms, but no frost.  It won’t be as easy to see our pollinator friends and hummingbirds now, with shorter days, colder mornings, and barely light by the time I get home from work.

Still trying to ripen picked green tomatoes, but after last month’s rain, it’s not so easy, as many want to rot before turning any tint of orange.  Drying them down if they show any color is turning out to be a better option.

Our October bounty was exceptional, now that the tomatoes and squash were all pulled in:

  • Basil: 0.75
  • Cucumbers: 8.5
  • Kale: 1
  • Lettuce: 3
  • Melons (combined): 8.5
  • Acorn squash: 22.5
  • Delicata squash: 8.75
  • Spaghetti squash: 119
  • Swiss chard: 2.5
  • Summer squash: 10
  • Tomatoes: 44.5

Month’s total: 229 pounds (rounded)
Season total: 629 pounds

And this season’s total bests last year’s total at this same time by about 61 pounds, and it surpasses our final 2009 tally by 37 pounds!  Hooray for all the superb contributions from the plants, devas, pollinators, and human caretakers!

Last Tomato Standing

….for the moment.
It has been a time for progressive clean-up, given the cool, but vibrant fall weather of the last two weeks.  After hard rains on Oct. 10, it was time to remove the thrashed summer squash, cucumbers and melons, and harvest the nearly 150 pounds of winter squash.

Our beautiful mild fall weather since has helped ripen more tomatoes, wrapped in their red jackets, while a few more cucumbers have eeked out their full figures.  Basil is now typically spotted and un-pretty, especially after a mild frost.  The mixed lettuces are very happy, being the perfect size for gourmet greens as they are thinned.  Kale seedlings are poking along.  Hoses are finally put away for the season….alas.

A favorite for kitties: over and under the deer netting!

With impending heavy rains, all the tomatoes were removed, save the “yellow pear”, which still has a few fruit, and more blossoms.  It’s always good to have a sentinel for awhile.

Prepared for fall rains beginning in earnest

 

They really exist!

Thanks to one of our natural pest controllers, who decided to quit being so shy, we had beautiful bounty, even if the tomatoes are still slow, and the summer squash are slowing down!

An elusive friend mantis making a brief appearance

September bounty:

  • Basil: 6.5
  • Bush beans: 2.75
  • Cucumbers: 6
  • Grapes: 2
  • Charantai melons: 16
  • Margarita melons: 8.75
  • Delicata squash: 8.5
  • Spaghetti squash: 6.5
  • Spinach: 2
  • Swiss chard: 2.25
  • Summer squash: 26.75
  • Tomatoes: 41.25

Month’s total: 125 pounds (rounded)
Season total: 400 pounds

Spaghetti squash near harvest

A lush “green tomato year” in the making

Awoke to some drizzle, and had a an opportunity to reset the energy button to a slower pace; to actually sit in the garden (as the skies cleared), rather than tend to it.  Listening to the breeze, the little birds, the newly-hatched grasshopper, the bees.  Watching the cabbage white loopers darting around, and the juba skippers snapping and courting in their little aerial spirals.  Smelling the lavender, sages, bee balm, corn, nasturtiums, squash; summer in general.  Feeling like a sleeping cat.

I noticed a feeling of early fall precisely on Aug. 1.  The days started feeling noticeably shorter at the same time; there is a tinge of color on sporadic trees.  All this seems a couple of weeks earlier than “normal”.  We’re most definitely on the downside of summer, with very few tomatoes set.  I’ve never had this many tomato plants grow over 5-feet tall before setting fruit!  But, we’re not alone in this predicament.  Our day and night temps are so variable, slow to warm and very quick to cool in late afternoon.  More heat needed!

Fortunately, the squash have kicked in, though more sporadic than last year, especially for their mammoth sizes.  The spaghetti squash is out of hand, while little acorn and delicata fruit are just getting started.  The cucumbers are developing nicely, as are the margarita and charantai melons.  Corn ears are nicely elongated, waiting to fill out the kernels.

Tasseling corn

'Early prolific

Lavender and nasturtiums cushion a spaghetti squah

It was time for the lettuce to be harvested completely, or be overrun by squash and melons, besides being a little bit bitter.  Kale and chard are still vigorous, and the bush beans are still producing well.  Harvested over 5 pounds this last week on the oldest row.  Basil has been sheared back for a second round of bushy growth.  Lots of pesto being made!

July bounty:

  • Beet tops and roots: 11.75 pounds
  • Basil: 6.25
  • Kale: 3.5
  • Lettuce blends: 16.5
  • Scallions: 0.75
  • Spinach: 2
  • Swiss chard: 4.75
  • Sugar Snap peas: 0.25
  • Summer squash: 8.75

Month’s total: 53 pounds

Thank you all participants and garden devas!

Lushness galore! August 8

Basil, Beets, Bees, and Beans: Repeat 4 times

Not really a tongue twister in that order…;-)

The CG is LUSH.  Our present heat wave is what we need to get the tomatoes to set! They and some of the squash have become vegetative monsters with our lovely warm days, but cool nights.

Actually, the bees have been busy in the squash, and there are some ‘Yellow Prolific’ and zucchinis near ready to pick.  The gargantuan spaghetti squash plant has set small fruits along its rambling vines, which are now trying to overrun the bush ‘Delicata’ squash and ‘Margarita’ melon.  I may be doing some severe pruning soon!

A big change 2 weeks after the last photo! Where's Aspen?

Tomatoes look to be trying to grow as tall as the corn!

Beets were all gathered and shared amongst ourselves this week, as the tops were looking tired and ready to flower.  Amazingly, we’re still able to pick lettuce from the mesclun mix, though the bitterness factor is creeping in more.

Beets galore!

And, such a basil harvest from simple thinning and pruning.  4 pounds!  So tasty when sauteed with diced garlic, dried tomatoes and salt, in olive oil, tossed with pasta.  Directly seeded in the soil in late May, this is a much earlier harvest this year, compared to last, which was transplanted from seedlings.

Beautiful fragrant basil....

Purple bush beans are just reaching maturity, and last, but not least, the corn is tasseling!

Shy of knee-high on the 4th of July

The corn, that is!  But our subsequent heat spike two days later put the corn into high gear and it’s beyond knee high now.  Not to left behind are the squash, melons, and tomatoes; the cucumbers are a bit slower.  Basil seedlings have been thinned once, having grown 3 inches in two weeks, and are nearly ready for another thinning.

With the peas pulled out, the oldest row of bush beans has put on height and flowers, though the mesclun mix is not so pleased with little shade.  Most other lettuce is now removed, having taken on tree forms.  The beets and Swiss chard seem to be the most bothered by heat, showing parched outer leaves at times.  They will appreciate a drop to more normal temperatures with cooler, cloudier mornings, as will the stepping stone Scotch moss.  A little less watering to do, thank you!

June bounty:

  • Beet greens: 2.5 pounds
  • Beets: 1.75
  • Kale: 4.25
  • Lettuce blends: 20
  • Spinach: 2
  • Swiss chard: 4
  • Sugar Snap peas: 0.50

Month’s Total: 35 pounds of wonderful greens

Shy of knee-high corn on 4th of July

After a week of HOT temps, think things have grown a bit?!