2013 gardening attempts

The first peaches are in the produce store. I bought 10 just because they smelled so good. The melon plants have flowers, but no signs of melons yet.

Last weekend we had our first fruit salad of the year with fresh peaches.  I thought it was early for peaches, but my foodie SIL (who made the salad for our Fathers Day do) explained that Southern orchards plant a wide variety of varieties so that something is always ripening all summer long.    I do love the exquisite fragrance of ripe peaches.  And melons.  And strawberries!

YUMMY! One of my favorite fruit salads is to slice up peaches and whatever else is in season. Take plain Greek yogurt, and stir in enough honey to sweeten it/make it into a sauce. Drizzle and gobble.

I got the first tomato in my CSA bag. Mine are still green, but I ate this one straight out of the bag. It was SO good.

Well with the exception of watermelon, I'll eat anything that comes my way when
it comes to fruit. Somethings have to be blended into yogurt,. Wait papya and
kiwi don't do a lot for me.

The catnip here is growing very well with all this rain!  Bij is very happy about that!

Mine is doing okay. Not as lush as it has been in past years.

Right now, I'm on a berry/peach kick. I don't grow blueberries or strawberries. The blackberries aren't ready yet, but I have been getting good stuff from the farm stand.

I just got the third set of leaves on my catnip seedlings.  How long will it be before it is harvestable?

I think a week or two should give you enough leaves to pick a few. It'll be going crazy in a month.

Yeah, I pick when the plant is about a foot tall, and then only a couple leaves per plant.  I leave plenty so the plant can make food for itself and grow some more.  Make sure not to take the tips.  That's where the flowers come from later on and the seeds in the fall.  Catnip is an annual but it reseeds itself if you let it.  That's why it comes back in the same place year after year, not that it's a perennial but a reseeding annual. 

My sis' little patch is doing quite well, her yard must have excellant drainage or all this rain we've had would've drowned it out by now.

The heat is helping the tomatoes get bigger. No red yet, but they're getting pale. Maybe 10 days?

My one little tomato isn't even the size of a pea yet...

Probably too much rain and not enough sunshine so it can grow.....

I picked one of the little ones today. It probably could have used another day or 2, but I couldn't wait. I picked and munched. YUM!

Invasion of stink bugs! They eat tomato plants like horn worms do. I have 2 fruits half eaten, and several stalks decimated. I went through and picked off the ones I could find. I need to do some web surfing to see how to get rid of them. The first fruits are starting to turn red.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4465118_repel-stink-bugs-off-tomato.html

http://www.ehow.com/video_4951481_repel-stink-bugs-off-tomato.html

Good luck!

Thanks, Suzzzz. I've also read that maybe the plants they're attacking are probably just the sacrifice crop. They're only on 2 out of 9 plants, and maybe it's just something I'll have to let them have. I will definitely try the tricks in those links that don't involve electricity. I don't have a cord quite long enough to reach from the barn to the patch. I used to have a (very heavy) generator, but I sold it last year. I couldn't haul it around.

well, I brought a bunch of wildflower packets down and strewed the seeds around. maybe they will take. I noticed that someone in my apartment building go ambisious and has planted tomatoes and squash at the side of the building in a little lawn strip

Good for them

That's cool. If you have coffee grounds, give them to the tomatoes once in a while. The plants LOVE it just dumped straight from the filter.

My potatoes are ready! I see a few sticking up out of the dirt. I'll harvest tomorrow. Today, I went to the farm where I get my CSA share and helped for the morning. I'm beat!

The potatoes are ready. I picked (dug up) all of them today since they're all ready. Here's the big basket.



There are a few more that I saved to the side. They have little flaws and will need to be eaten soon. Looks like tomorrow is potato salad day.

 I'm in. Homemade mayo?

Gorgeous taters! Drizzle and roast?

I could have one......roasted with a touch of butter. More than that and my BGL would be soaring but oh how good that one lil homegrown tater would taste!

They are way crunchier when you cut them than store taters.