Tuesday, May 11, 2010

May 11

May 11 was cold and rainy. But our newest garden enemy didn't mind the bad weather. When my husband made the new fields, he mixed earth from by the river. Gorgeous black soil. Which we now know was full of seeds of these weeds that are like little needles. So sharp, I actually pricked my finger on one. I think the black plastic my prove to be useless this year.
Here is our main pumpkin patch in it's full expanse. Jack 'o Lantern in the front. An empty space for future pumpkins. Kabocha and Howden in the next group with the corn. And at the very rear, out of view, Cinderella. Cucumbers along the fence.
And the Jack Be Little mini pumpkins are planted in front of the classroom. I plan to grow them up to the roof of the classroom.
Two artichokes, planted near the tomatoes.
The strawberry patch, which is a bit of a disaster, really, we will have to redo it in the winter. It is not raised, so they get all muddy and eaten by insects from below. It is nice to have the neighbor's azaleas growing through our fence. Watermelon in the foreground. The okra is going to go here this year.
One of my three shades of purple iris.
These pretty little purple flowers by the driveway are about to bloom.
I tried sweet peas for the first time. The blossoms are pretty, but the bottom half of the plants are totally brown. I think I need to do them in bigger planters, they get dried out too quickly.
My husband took this photo of a bee. We are lucky to have quite a few bees. If only we didn't have so many evil bugs!

2 comments:

Claire said...

Hi,
I was given some artichoke seedlings last year but totally underestimated how big they grow. I had to pull one up because it was overshadowing everything! Your seedlings look much better placed. I would love to see some more pictures as they get bigger and any hints on growing them too! BTW I totally understand your DH not wanting to thin out seedlings. Ikeep looking at my overladen plum tree but i can't bring myself to part with even one plum...

Xana said...

How big did they get? This is my first time growing artichokes, so I have no idea. I heard they got big, so planted them just over a meter apart. I am worried the Gifu summer might be too hot for them (it is for me!) I will keep you posted on their progress. Dd1 LOVES artichokes, as do I, and I have never seen them here.

My problem is that I don't enjoy thinning seedlings either! I feel like a murderer, and wish it wasn't all left to me!