I think they're doing something wrong...

Have a look at this. If their compost smells like sulfur, something definitely is not right with it. Or the odor could be coming from someplace that had nothing to do with the compost.

Week 16: 29 July -- Squash Attack

And by squash attack, I mean all types. The zukes, pumpkins and yellow squash are steadily marching forward and taking over everything in their path. The pumpkins are especially Napoleonic. I even saw my first baby pumpkin this weekend.

No pictures for you but I can tell you that this weekend I pulled out:

• 6 Giant Zucchinis...I must get better at catching them when they are younger, they get a bit mushy with age
• A dozen yellow squash
• 8 Cucumbers (message to self, use gloves next time)
  
• 3 Cherry tomatoes...what's up with that
• A few good handfuls of delicious string beans, even some yellow ones
• The tomatoes are rapidly ripening, any week now I should be inundated
  

But really not a whole lot to do; weeding and harvesting are the main chores these days.

But what's up with my artichokes, I'm not seeing any choke stems coming out of them yet. I hope they're not pulling some "first season, no choke" BS with me.

Keeping guard

No doggies allowed in the garden. This is Bogey and what he wants more than anything is to be in there with me. Actually, what he wants more than anything is cheese, but failing that, he wants to be in there with me.

He'll have to settle for standing guard while I'm working. He gets paid in string beans.

Away again...and does anyone know what's eating my tomatoes?

I'm off on a business trip all week and won't be blogging (unless I can grab a free minute in the evening).

While I'm gone, can anyone figure out who's ravishing my 'maters?

Week 15: 22 July -- The first harvest

So I've learned that I can never, ever go away for a week in the middle of the summer again. The lads in the garden got quite unruly while I was away.

But first, let's talk about what I pulled out this week. My first zucchinis, some squash, some string beans and a cucumber. Here's a picture of the collection.

Now if you're thinking that I have a rather big zucchini there, you're right. Here it is on it's own with a 20-dollar bill for perspective. It's kind of ridiculous and well past it's prime for eating. My mom did take it and swore she'd make zucchini bread with it. I'm looking forward to that.

Back in the garden, things had gone haywire. What was left of the lettuces had bolted so I hoed both plots over and left the remainder to rot back into the soil. The peas had come and gone without too much to show for it so I tore those out as well. I'll throw some lettuce in the pea plot in a few weeks when things start to cool down.

But it's the tomatoes that required the most work. All of my heirlooms had flourished to the point that they knocked over the bamboo stakes I had tied them to and were growing along the ground (as Stephen predicted). Not good for the ripening tomatoes. I spent hours untangling them and getting them firmly attached to more substantial six-foot stakes. I'm not sure how well they will do at this point but I should get some yield from them. The other plot of tomatoes were safely ripening in their cages and much happier for it. Cages all the way in '07!

And the pumpkins are continuing their conquest of the garden. They have managed to make their way through two adjacent plots and seem to be heading toward the house. Here they are devouring my sunflowers!

Not quite an update...

So I was with my family in Puerto Rico for a few days which was a welcome break. The weather was accommodating and we all won in the casino. I was hoping to make it upstate on Monday to check on things but didn't manage to do so...

Which means that tomorrow will be my first day up in two weeks. Who knows what will be doing? Will my new irrigation system have failed? Will I have ripe veggies rotting on the vine? Will the heatwave have wiped everything out? How will Clark escape from the Phantom Zone?

Stay tuned patient readers, a full update and photos when I get back next week.

Hols

I'll be away for a few days so no blogging until next Tuesday. Should have some good stuff for you by then. Stay tuned!

Two impressive performers

Now, it's a bit early to get excited about yields or anything like that but I wanted to call out two crops which have really astounded me with the speed in which they have flourished.

The first is no surprise and one I've been marveling at for a few weeks now: pumpkins. Have a look at these shots from 11 June, exactly a month ago, and this past weekend. It really is incredible how quickly they can go from seed to this. They have really taken over a huge section of the garden (they have 60 square feet to themselves) and would grow beyond if I let them. I'm hoping that they continue to do well and, more importantly, that I have room to support all of the pumpkins that they will produce. Next year I'm going to have to make a vining structure for them to climb.

Almost as impressive are my pole beans. These are your standard stringbeans -- well, not quite standard, I planted three different colors: green, white and purple. Once again, here is a before shot from 11 June and an updated photo from this past weekend. These guys have really taken to their environment and have managed to climb well beyond the top of their teepee. There's another 3 feet of vine at least draped off of the top of the tower, I bet they would climb another four feet if I had a structure tall enough. They have now flowered and I'm hoping to see some beans unfurling on them soon.

So I may have jinxed myself with all of this crowing, but it's been so amazing to see these huge and vibrant plants emerge from tiny seeds.

Week 13: 8 July -- Water, water everywhere

This weekend my friend Sheldon and I installed a drip irrigation system across the entire garden. I'd ordered one from Dripworks and we managed to get the entire system set up in a few (long) hours. Fortunately Sheldon had actually done this a few times before so things went a lot quicker than they would have otherwise. I'm pretty darn pleased with how it all went (and very indebted to Sheldon for his expertise and labor).


And have a look at my first tomatoes. These will be a yellow cherry tomato so they should be ready in just a week or two (max). We've also got zukes and squash growing, flowers blooming and the start of a pumpkin (assuming this female blossom blooms and manages to get fertilized).

Guess what I found...

I know I said no more compost entries but this really is exciting. My compost is riddled with worms!!! Great big earth worms. How cool is that? It means that they like my compost recipe and they are helping to turn my compost into a nutritious soil additive. It's amazing what gets me excited these days.

Some wine thoughts...

So my brother and his girlfriend Rachel were up this weekend. We spent some time futzing with the cellar and went through quite a few bottles on Monday night. Two particularly stood out. The first was the 2003 Kenwood Jack London Zinfandel. I don't quite have the palatte my brother has but it went down great with notes of chocolate and berries. A really good easy drinking summer wine.

The second bottle was a 2004 Pinot Noir from Lafond winery. The bottle was a gift from a colleague and it was suprisingly enjoyable. By that point I was completely smashed so don't have any tasting notes for you but I remember thinking it was a great drop ; )

Week 12: 1 July -- A rare four-day weekend

First off, I have no pictures for you this week. I didn't feel like a photo session. But I gotta tell you, I could totally get used to four days a week in the country.

So let's start with the garden. The salad leaves are looking good and I'm expecting them to go bitter any week now but so far so good. I've not put in a new crop yet so I may be stuck buying lettuce again at some point.

The herbs are looking good too. The cilantro has flowered so there'll be seeds soon. I should probably get them out before they seed all over the place. The peas are coming but not so much. I may get a handful off each vine but not a fantastic yield. The only other failure this year is the eggplant. For some reason they never established themselves and they now look downright anemic next to everything else.

And everything else really is flourishing. I found baby tomatoes on a few plants this weekend which was very exciting. I have a few nice zucchinis and yellow squash coming. The cut flowers are blooming now (I even cut a few this weekend) and even the sunflowers are starting to bud.

And boy oh boy how 'bout those pumpkins. They're really starting to take over and I'm concerned that I will lose control of them soon. I found the vines reaching into the sunflowers this weekend and I'm afraid they're going to jump the path into the squash patch in the next few weeks. It may be time to thin them again but I feel awful doing it.

I owe you one

Hi everyone. Swamped at work after being away for four days. I'll drop you a comprehensive update this evening. This week's hot topics will be tomatoes, beans, pumpkins and worms (yes worms).