Eglantyne Rose is doing great - 6-23-13

I think we're almost ready to have the first bloom off of my Mother's Day bare root David Austin rose!

She's going to be pretty!

Tomatoes and mini peppers

Front tomato plants...  doing rather well!

The park looks great with tomatoes happily growing out front.

Some happy mini peppers... grown from the seeds saved from grocery store peppers.  They are SO sweet...  like candy.  I wish I had more of these growing!

More tomatoes mmmm.

Sunflowers, growing in the desert, with no water in poor soil.  They fell out of the bird feeders last year and somehow took root.  The bees are enjoying them, and they smell so sweet and look SO happy.

Yellow sunflowers...  perfect.

Raised Beds Are Filled!

Somewhere in this massive mound of tomato plants is the cucumbers which are climbing the arch...  Hopefully the arch will be complete covered by the end of July.

Another view of cherry tomato plants that are getting a pruning today.

Here's the view of the cucumbers that are grabbing the arch's chicken wire...

Tomatoes love the heat.

Carrots and radishes get some relief from the desert sun thanks to the massive mound of Black Cherry tomato plants.

There are never enough radishes.

 Both raised beds, with overflowing tomato growth in between, obliterating the walkway.  I'll be out pruning and tying up the jungle this afternoon.

Morning Glory Jungle! 6-23-13

All of the morning glory seeds that I direct planted in May are taking off and experiencing a growth spurt now that the hot weather has finally kicked in.  The vines are vigorous and in a big hurry to cover the fence.

Here's a great view of the length of the west fence (that will soon be completely green).

Vines are a beautiful thing... once they get going, they just GROW.

They wrap themselves happily around the fence wires, growing seriously like an inch an hour.

Here's some of the early bloomers.

More carpet of morning glory leaves here...

Deep magenta... love it.

A new ruffly morning glory...  Split Second.  They're really blooming fast and furious.  So different for morning glories!

I left last year's growth on the fence... just because.  I figured it would create a nice thick blanket once this year's growth covers it.  We should see the blanket covering the entire fence in just a few weeks.

Gooseberries

No pic, but I picked up some of the dried paper pods that had fallen to the ground under the Gooseberry plant.  They had delightful little berries in the pods!  Yum!  I need to figure out how to get that plant to flourish!

June 2013 Carrots

The only carrots I have growing now.... a week from summer... are in the raised bed.  The soil is perfect, the watering is automatic, and the sun is shining : )

Raised Beds June 15 2013

Tomatoes... growing fine.

Cucumbers June 15 2013

Cucumbers are STARTING to bloom and climb.... the heat is finally enough that they're happy.  I can't WAIT until they cover the arch.

Tomato Explosion

The ample path between the two raised beds has been obliterated by happy cherry tomato plants.  Oh well!  After the first big crop of cherry tomatoes, I'll prune the monsters.

First Morning Glory of 2013!

The morning glories are READY.... beautiful!

Morning Glory : )

It's so wonderful to see the first morning glory or two of the season open up and greet the sun.

Life is good...

Grape Vine Fruiting

Grapes!  I never get to eat any, because the finches attack them the very second they ripen.  And guess what.... I'm good with that.  I love the finches.

Retarded Carrots LOL

Carrots from the front neglected yard....  They'll taste less than sweet, but heck, I love carrots!

More Cherry Tomatoes

Front Cherry Tomato plants are very happy.

Eglantyne Rose June 15th

David Austin Rose!  She's coming along beautifully.

June 15 Radish Harvest!

These radishes are DELICIOUS....   perfect texture and flavor, not bland and odd like the ones in the store.  I added more soil to the raised bed and planted more... if I keep planting more radishes every week, I can harvest every Saturday until it gets too hot.

Storks!

I found another great bird webcam!

http://www.beleefdelente.nl/vogel/ooievaar

This Netherlands stork family is convenient to view in California in the evening, since they're 9 hours ahead of us.

Of course, if you get tired of watching little storks munch on fish, you can always watch people in Amsterdam:

http://www.terena.org/webcam/

Morning Glory Fence Update

I expect the morning glory fence will be completely covered by the end of June... for now, there are about 20 - 40 plants in various stages of growth along a very long fence (40 feet?  not sure).

Raised Bed Progress

June 7th food update:  I'm pulling about 10 cherry tomatoes from the garden each week (its a start!  it's still early!), and last weekend I harvested about 10 radishes and planted more.  MMMMM they were perfect.  Also, pulling leaves of kale and collards - very sweet, immature leaves - every day.  I LOVE them!  You can't buy them tiny and sweet in the store, and I've never tasted greens that were so full of taste!

Here's the raised bed zone...  doing well.

The cucumbers are STILL not climbing the trellis.... but I'm being patient  (grr).

Cherry tomatoes, looking happy.

In front of the not-yet-climbing-cucumbers is some happy swiss chard.

Here's the shorties.... healthy cucumber plants, just.... short.

It's 100 degrees out there right now, guys.... you love the heat.... lets get moving.

The tomatoes are certainly not being shy.  The soil in the raised bed is the best possible, and they are enjoying it.

A tomato's-eye view.

Delicious radishes, ready to be pulled, washed, and devoured!

Another radish view.

An ocean of radishes.

Radish in three or four stages...  pull and plant every weekend while it lasts!

The pepper zone... lots of green, waiting for them to turn red.

Happy onions.  Short day, of course : )

A view of some peppers.

Raised beds are the secret to veggies in Lancaster CA!