GARDEN UPDATE MAY 21, 2010
Yesterday was a big day! There were three cat incidents on my morning walk and a big, really ugly bulldog that came charging out the front door just as we were passing his house. It’s a good thing for those cats and dog that I was on a leash. I gave them a fierce tongue lashing and they backed off in a hurry.
The first Magnolia flower opened yesterday. Randy held me up to smell the flower, but he doesn’t know that with my acute smelling, I can smell that lemon-y scent all the way across the yard.
Last night, Randy and Julia had their first batch of Kentucky Wonders with some steamed cabbage. “Yummy” they said. I keep telling Randy to plant some CHICKEN or at least some HAMBURGER.
Tomatoes - Everything is still green, but they are getting to be pretty near full size. Early Girl is doing by far the best with about a dozen tomatoes, half full size. Better Boy is next best with a good number of big round tomatoes. Roma and Celebrity doing less well. There are also four “rogue” Roma plants that came up from last year.
Okra – Okra is only about 6 inches high. Last year they were taller than Daniel and the six foot fence. They have a lot of catching up to do, but they kept growing through the heat of summer.
Other Green Beans – The Green and purple ones from last year are doing very well. Strong plants with toothpick sized pods. Italian Roma green beans also doing well, same size as the other beans.
Peas - Black eyes, purple hull and limas have nice looking plants (8-10 inches high) but no pods yet.
Spinach - Some is now going to seed, but most are still producing. Randy cut the leaves off, but they grew back.
English Peas - Plants have slowed down production as the warm weather is browning out the early producing plants. I heard they were delicious both fresh and cooked.
Zucchini - Huge leaf growth, and there are only 4 small fruits. Not growing as fast as they should. I will need to talk to their leader this week. But the huge orange flowers are really pretty.
Butter Nut Squash - Great plant growth, three squashes, with a gourd shape. It makes me want to sing a happy song. Like Happy Birthday. It’s my favorite, and I get great crowd appreciation whenever I sing it.
Broccoli – The plants are growing very well (1-2 feet tall), although bugs like to eat the leaves. I tried to chase them off, but there were too many of them. So, I took a nap to ponder the situation. Only the one broccoli that started as a plant has produced any stalks. All of the ones that came out of the ground have no stalks. Not good, since the heat may have these going to seed by the time they produce stalks.
Brussels Sprouts - Looking pretty good, smelling a bit strong. We have two plants, one is producing the sprouts between the leaves on the stalk.
Chinese cabbage – The Bugs like to eat both American and Chinese cabbage. I have tried to eat a little of the leaves of the Chinese cabbage, but it is bitter and tastes like grass.
Blackberries - All three plants have produced a small amount of berries, even though Randy said we would not have any fruit this year. The most mature ones are now medium red in color. I hear bears like berries. I think that’s why they are called bears.
Morning glories - Three plants have really beautiful sky blue flowers. Flowers open in the morning and die off by mid-afternoon.
Peach Trees - Belle of Georgia has three peaches, Harvey has about 10. Lorie needs some arms. She had one peach, but it fell off. The peaches are the size of plums, but they don't appear to be growing as quickly as earlier. The Harvester peaches should be ready to eat in a few weeks, Belle's in July.
Well, that’s all of my report. Please pass along any gardening tips that you have. And come by and take me for a W-A-L-K.
Collin
Garden Assistant
