As the temperatures rise and the days get longer, the spring crops wind down and the summer crops begin to flourish. This week we harvested the last of the fava beans and pulled the plants. Nothing goes to waste, it all gets either composted or the girls turn the vegetation into eggs. It's like magic!
Jim so happy to be planting pumpkins!
Pulling the fava beans left us with an empty bed..... but not for long. This meant we were finally able to get our pumpkins planted. Jim has been eagerly waiting for this day. We love pumpkins!
Another sign of warming weather is the berries beginning to ripen. We have already begun to get a few ripe raspberries and blackberries are beginning to ripen as well.
blackberries slowly ripening
last of the lettuce harvest
We harvested the last of the lettuces and sugar snap peas and it is time to pull the pea plants and prep that bed for the next planting. Lettuces are cool weather crops but I already miss having them on hand. I've been reading about growing lettuces in the heat of the summer and while it is not ideal, there may be a way to do this. I will experiment with shade cloth and misters once I find the appropriate space.
newly transplanted beets - round 2
I had to work long days this week through the weekend so Jim got busy in the garden. He moved the second row of beets (planted under the label of Swiss chard as noted in an earlier post). Hopefully, after looking like they are going to die, they will come back strong like the first batch. Time to get another batch of Chard planted where these beets were as we can never have too many greens!
glorious chard harvest
Speaking of greens.....Jim also went to town on the Kale. We have four types of kale growing this year and each one is delicious. The kale grows quite quickly and we were a bit overdue harvesting, although we do love seeing the plants looking so lush. Amazingly, these skinny newly harvested plants will look just as lush again in another week or two.
lady bug larva (left) and pupa (right) and aphids (tiny black and green dots)
This year we have had a plethora of different types of aphids. Fortunately, we also have more ladybugs than we have ever seen. I did not recognize the early stages of ladybugs at first. Pictured are two of these stages the larva and pupa. The good news is that this robust ladybug population is feasting away on the abundant aphids.
Irrigation design and construction
Meanwhile, we are working on another project around the corner. We are finally due to receive the raised beds we ordered TWO YEARS ago! COVID, and supply chain issues caused innumerable delays but the beds are finally due to arrive next week. We can hardly wait! I have been nursing along dozens of lavender plants to grow in some of these beds which we designed to hide the septic system and begin the landscaping of the north side of our yard. This means we not only had to stake out and level the site but had to set irrigation in place (thank you Jim). Another project he worked on while I was busy working in town.
first sun gold tomatoes ready to harvest!
Our tomatoes have a lot of fruit set and are just now beginning to ripen. The weather has been all over the place with 95 degrees at the beginning of the week and upper 40's by the end of the week. CRAZY! As the tomato plants grow, it is not only aphids we are dealing with.....
find the hornworm??
The hornworms have begun to emerge and devour our tomato plants. These pesky creatures are eating machines and will devour all of our nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant) even the hottest of peppers are not safe from these pests. The only good news is that the chickens LOVE them.
this one is much easier to see
hornworm in action - excuse Jim's profanity upon discovery!
hornworm harvest.... soon to be turned into eggs.
Finding and removing hornworms is a perpetual battle. It is remarkable how quickly a single hornworm can devastate a plant. Too bad I am not adventurous enough to try cooking and eating these first hand. I have to wait till the chickens process them and magically turn them into eggs before I will eat them.
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