Mid-June: Weed, Water and Wait

Highlights of this week

I planted my three spare tomato plants into containers.  Because there are water reservoirs in the pots, I cannot sink the ladders in very deep so I've bungeed them to the posts

Flea beetles showed up to devour the eggplants so I covered the plants that seemed most delectable.  I need to sew a few more covers.  These are holding up very well.  On a nice sunny day I can just remove the covers and let the plants get as much sun as possible

Tomato plants look nice.  The round leafed plants are my Nasturtium which I use as living mulch.

The direct seeded cucumbers are finally participating.  Next week I will fill in with the plants I started in the cold frame.  This will leave me with enough spares to plant a second row.  I will rake in the buckwheat in the bed I planned for the second planting a bit early.  I am still planning a later planting in July which will go into one of the beds vacated by the peas.  Which means I will be planting 50% more plants than planned

All of the pea varieties are forming pods but they are not filling out yet.

A few of the Garden Sweet variety plants are putting out purple blossoms.  I always enjoy these.   It saves me planting sweet peas.

The first planting of lettuce is in its prime.  I am thinning it out as I pick. We have more lettuce than a small village could eat.  I have three more rows growing behind these and two more rows worth in pots to be transplanted

My Gotta Have It sweet corn is doing well and pumpkins have been seeded around it.  The pumpkins have gone in a week to ten days later than planned.  I hope that since our spring is about three weeks late that fall frost will come late as well.  

Cauliflower and broccoli.  I don't think we could have asked for better temperatures for these (today was sunny, breezy with a high of 68 degrees), but the maturity dates have come and gone and there is only one broccoli plant that is showing signs of producing  (Dinner Plate Dahlias in the background)

Potatoes are growing like wild.  They haven't been in this bed for several years, and it has always proved to be their favorite spot.  Planting and hilling potatoes in a raised bed can be a challenge but I will give you step by step photos of how I deal with it in another blog soon.

Bed #1:  Buckwheat making way for 2nd row of cukes planted earlier than expected

Bed #2: Lettuce in its prime being thinned and cucumbers growing

Bed #3: Peas forming pods - bush beans later

Bed #4: Peas forming pods - Cucumbers later (revised plan)

Bed #5: Sweet corn growing and pumpkins seeded

Bed #6: Sweet corn growing and pumpkins seeded

Bed #7: Cantaloupes growing

Bed #8: Tomatoes and eggplants growing

Bed #9: Peas forming pods - lettuce growing - buckwheat later

Bed #10: Peas forming pods - lettuce growing - bush beans later (revised plan)

Bed #11:Buckwheat and zucchini growing

Bed #12:Vacant - buckwheat later - this is my nursery bed

Bed #13: Cauliflower and Broccoli

Bed #14: Potatoes growing fast

Containers: Carrots growing

Containers: Spare Tomato plants growing

Of course there is always a little something that needs to be done outside this time of year, but the main gardening chores have been checked off of the list.  Now all I have to do is wander around and fix anything that isn't as it should be.  This includes washing lawn furniture, cutting back daffodil leaves as they start getting messy, fertilizing, weeding, raking gravel, deadheading and pruning.

One fill-in job is bagging the apples.  We have fewer apples set this year than last.  Probably because the weather was rainy and gloomy while they bloomed which does not encourage pollinators. But I bagged 11 apples on the lazy tree which has never produced a single full-term apple, and I bagged 15 on the over-achieving tree.  Last year I bag a few dozen on this tree.  I have a few still to bag now that I bought another box of sandwich bags.

I have several clumps of daylilies and daffodils that have gotten too crowded.  Hopefully this fall our new landscape area will be hardscaped and I will have lots of spots to put them in.