It's amazing how much happens during the week between my weekends upstate. Both lettuce beds are doing well. The herbs found their way into two dishes this weekend (a
parsley and
tarragon frittata and roasted peppers with buffala mozzarella and
basil). Peas have climbed about 16 inches up the trellis but I have yet to see a pod form which means I'm still weeks away from any harvest. On the way back today we drove by the garden at the restaurant Aubergine near my house, their peas are much taller and fuller than mine. I'm slightly concerned.
The first big story are my zucchinis which have now flowered. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing and not a sign that the plants have bolted (it's not nearly been warm enough for that). I know that zucchini flowers are a delicacy but I had no idea how to prepare them and if harvesting them would mean no actual zucchini (I fear that it would). So I let them be. I'm hoping that we'll see some real zukes forming soon.
The pumpkins are continuing their impressive progress. At this rate their going to start crowding each other out soon (see how the leaves are already starting to overlap each other). I think we'll cut them back to two or three plants per hill in the next week or so.
And now a setback. We had a lot of heavy rain over the past week and I've noticed some erosion across the Italian bed and the mesclun. In the picture here you can see the diagonal band of lighter soil where the erosion occurred. Some of the basil and parsley plants have their roots exposed now and I've lost a bit of the lettuce. I'm hoping for some dryer and warmer weather now but temperatures are due to remain low over the next week and there's still rain in the forecast. Yikes!
The first big story are my zucchinis which have now flowered. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing and not a sign that the plants have bolted (it's not nearly been warm enough for that). I know that zucchini flowers are a delicacy but I had no idea how to prepare them and if harvesting them would mean no actual zucchini (I fear that it would). So I let them be. I'm hoping that we'll see some real zukes forming soon.
The pumpkins are continuing their impressive progress. At this rate their going to start crowding each other out soon (see how the leaves are already starting to overlap each other). I think we'll cut them back to two or three plants per hill in the next week or so.
And now a setback. We had a lot of heavy rain over the past week and I've noticed some erosion across the Italian bed and the mesclun. In the picture here you can see the diagonal band of lighter soil where the erosion occurred. Some of the basil and parsley plants have their roots exposed now and I've lost a bit of the lettuce. I'm hoping for some dryer and warmer weather now but temperatures are due to remain low over the next week and there's still rain in the forecast. Yikes!
4 comments:
I hope you aren't neglecting the lawn while harvesting all your vegetables.
John Deere
I don't think squash actually bolt? If anything, they'll love the heat and just keep putting out more growth - leaves, vines and fruit!!
I THINK squash are like pumpkins - where you'll have female flowers really close to the plant (and might even see the beginnings of the fruit at the base of the flower), and then male flowers will grow out on long skinny stalks. Once you see that fruit at the base of the female flower you should be able to take the flower - I don't even know if you have to wait for that much!? And the male flowers - you should be able to take those without any problem (assuming you leave SOME for the bugs to get pollen from?) I'm just winging here, so it's definitely worth the read/experimentation...
Sorry to hear your stuff got washed out - hope it's making a decent recovery!
Thanks for stopping by. I still feel like a total novice but am getting more confdent each week as I see progress. I'm already looking forward to next year when I can use what I learned from this season...and start planning a lot sooner!
And you're doing a good job with the note taking here. I wish I'd done the same thing when I started a few years ago!
I STILL suffer what you're going through - thinking just a few more days or weeks before you can start harvesting. Such a frustrating wait!
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