end of june garden

Althea (Rose of Sharon)

Squash

Trumpet Vine

tiniest of Grasshoppers on the Crepe Myrtle

Kale & Red pole beans

Romas & Carrots

Stuttgarter onions - 9 pounds

Cobbler potatoes - 37 pounds 

 Red Thumb potatoes - 17 pounds

Inchelium Red garlic - 10 pounds

Whereas April and May were incessant with rain, June is crisp and dry. the rain barrels are empty emptied and we are using the garden hose. If only one good rain to refill those barrels - free water! We have too much planted to let the gardens succumb to drought. We're being careful with the watering and trusting for rainfall sooner than later, maybe later this week.

As previously posted the hydrangeas are still in bloom. Other than than that some roses are blooming; the Althea tree, Trumpet vine and Balloon flowers have just begun and we are hopeful for the Cosmos and Zinnia to come along soon with their color.

As for the vegetables, we are still harvesting kale and spinach for salads and herbs to complement meat dishes. The garlic harvest yielded ten pounds, while the onions brought nine. I think I harvested the onions too early, but their forlorn stems (trampled by squirrels, a dog and children?) deceived me. If I think they're going to go bad I'll just chop them and put them in the freezer and use small amounts as needed.

The fingerling potatoes produced seventeen pounds and the yellow, Cobbler potatoes brought in thirty-seven. That is quite pleasing! We are hopeful that the Purple Viking will be a good sixty pounds, but we'll wait until late July to see.

Soon we should also be eating pole green beans, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. Many, many tomatoes are set, they just need to turn green. Tomatoes provide the big haul for us, so I'm ready for them. 

The garden is beautiful this year. I'm pleased with how we're using space wisely. It's hard to really enjoy being in it because of the heat and humidity, but hopefully rain will provide a break from that soon.