Saturday, July 15, 2017

brief gardening update


Some of the candy roaster squash seeds that were planted one week ago have sprouted in the Very Raised Bed!



And I'm hoping this is a top-setting onion, often called an Egyptian Walking Onion. I was late getting the sets planted because I didn't want them to rot. I'm hoping to get these established this year, and have an ongoing supply of onion-y, shallot-y, chive-y goodness forever and ever.



I am finding the milkweed flowers quite remarkable. Some have already faded, so I am spending time looking at them closely each day. I think if you left-click on my images, they open in a separate gallery window at a larger size...might be worth a look.

During a break in the rain yesterday, I went out and pulled weeds from the steep bank garden for a couple of hour-long sessions. It was soggy work amongst the wet foliage, but some progress was made and the goats enjoyed the harvest of bittersweet, wild grapevine, and mock orange. I had to stop and walk back up to the house to get online for a few minutes, to check the toxicity of the mock orange (Philadelphus). The only risk I could find was that the seeds might be poisonous to some animals. So I broke off all the tips of branches with seed pods, before carrying the rest to the goats.



The black raspberries are ripening! Usually there are only a few ripe at one time and - just as with my precious blueberries - I eat them on the spot. This time I was able to pick a little cupful and put them aside for a supper of berries and yogurt. Yum.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Anything special planned?
~~~~~

7 comments:

  1. Yay for sprouting squash. Those black raspberries look delicious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are so flavorful! I think the plant is a wild one, and it grows in a tiny pocket of light between many large-canopied trees. Every year I think about rooting some cuttings and making a berry patch, but it's the same old difficulty of finding a spot with enough light. Maybe this will be the year...

      Delete
  2. Nice update. Our gardens suffered while we were on the road so much the past month, but Larry is slowly pulling them back into order. I used to have those top-setting onions--don't remember what happened to them but probably lost them when I went to work full-time and didn't take care of them. Yay for berries!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gardens can sure get away from you, can't they? Bet Larry will have them looking fine pretty quickly though.
      I've been trying to get the onion sets from Sow True Seed for 3 years but they always sell out in advance orders. I finally ordered the minute they opened advance orders last year, but I bet I've lost a lot of viability by waiting so long to plant. I'm sure going to try to coax along any that sprout!

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Yay indeed - working hard and fingers crossed!

      Delete
  4. Wish you lived near me - I'd happily give you a bunch of those onions. They have become like weeds in my Minnesota garden. They were here when I bought the house ten years ago and keep thriving.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment! I enjoy reading each one, and will usually reply either here or on YOUR blog!

Due to spam, Anonymous comments are blocked. I'm hoping to avoid the annoying Word Verification gizmo! If you find you cannot leave a comment, please email me so we can try to sort it out.