June 30th - June was not Boring

Remember how I've always said that "June is boring".  Well, unless spring is four weeks late.  Then June is gone before you know it, and maybe July will be boring.

The earliest lettuce is bolting already, and peas are in full swing.  I have half of my freezer peas in (30 meals) already and Sunday was the first large picking.  

I cut three of my four Broccoli florets.  None of them were very large.  Hopefully they will send out some side shoots.  My Cauliflower is looking a little more promising.  Almost half the plants are beginning to flower and the heads are already larger than the Broccoli ever got. 

This is my first colored Cauliflower Vitaverde and its picture perfect.  

No sign of a head on the yellow Flame Star yet.

I'm working out a system for composting in the Buckwheat cover crop.

It was not as vigorous and tall as last year and I did not let it flower and go to seed.

I'm still admiring the container tomatoes.  

This is the best result I've ever had with containers

These nice Calendula reseeded from last year.

These Portulaca were nibbled off by deer about a week after transplanting.  Portulaca LOVE to be pruned back.  They are in pots this year because the area I plant them in is in a state of flux.  They have to stay under a wire cloche all of the time or risk being re-nibbled

This is part of the above mentioned flux project.  This new planting bed was formerly a patio with the cold frame and chaise lounge chairs.  We used the pavers to extend the walkway down the south side of the garden to match the north side.  This weekend I pulled up all of the bricks and reset them.  The brick walkway used to slope down to the lawn.  

The bed and walkway in progress.

That lawn is going away so the bricks needed to be raised to RR tie height.  The soil in the bed was taken out of the lawn when the walkway was put in so it is a mixture of loam and decomposed mulch.  A third of it is rotted horse manure.  I'm not sure what is going to go in there next year.  Maybe more potatoes.  A formal herb garden?  Cutting flowers?

When I was going back through previous years end of June photos I pulled out examples of particular plants that were thriving to compare to this year's progress.  The main photo is this year.  The inserts are previous years.

Cantaloupe not doing very well

Eggplant holding it's own

Tomatoes size is about right but after the first fruit set we got a heat wave of several days 85 or above and all of the other blooms in the cluster died out without setting,  The plants are just now blooming again

Zucchini not too bad considering I direct seeded at a late date

The garden is looking green and lush and providing meals.  Tonight we had peas and new red potatoes with some finger sized carrot thinnings chopped in.  The surrounding lawn is torn up with our landscape project which includes a drainage issue, a horseshoe pit, fire pit, new seating areas with plantings and a lot of sweat-equity.  At the end of a long day of dirty work we can sit under a tree and admire the garden while we shell peas.  And believe it or not, we could use some rain!