06-21-2014 First tomatoes!

What better day to write about gardening than on June 21st--the summer solstice?

 But, in reality, the great day was June 19th when I picked my first three tomatoes (I had picked an Indigo Apple three days earlier but it did not look good enough to qualify as a source of excitement.) Just a few years ago, you were lucky to pick your first tomato on July fourth but, with global warming, we now get to pick them 2 1/2 weeks earlier.

So here are my first three Matinas, one of my favorite varieties:

Can't really enjoy a good tomato salad w/o some great cukes:

These are the Adam F1 from Seeds of Change, most probably my favorite right now. This spring, though, my Adam F1 seeds did not germinate well at all. I contacted the producer and they graciously replaced my seeds.

Of course, the beginning of summer means the end of my winter crops, with the exception of some leaks still surviving here and there in the shadier spots. I picked my last kale and had just enough to add a couple of  packs to the freezer.

While I mentioned, last week, that we had had just enough rain to keep things going, by Monday my plants were begging for water under a much hotter sun.

As far as flowers go, most of the lilies are on their way out. I'll miss them! They are now replaced by purple cone flowers, daisies and cleomes.

06-15-2014 First sunflower!

The reason I do get excited by the first appearance of sunflowers is that they definitely herald summer but they will also keep a number of bees, butterflies and birds happy...and some of them (Mexican sunflowers) will bloom all the way into the first cold of winter.

The last few days have been good, a little hot in the afternoon but the grayish mornings and the afternoon short showers have created a perfect climate for good garden growth.

Miracle of miracles, we are at mid-june and I have not seen more than five (yes, 5!) mosquitoes so far this year!

That cold winter has had a positive impact on those blood suckers. I am ready to forgive it for killing my winter vegetables if this means less mosquitoes. Either that or I am now much less attractive to skitters; that would be nice!

Everything is growing well, tomatoes are filling up and, Friday, I had my first cucumber. Mind you, it wasn't the size of a football preferred by many but it was edible size, tasty and crunchy. No, I do not have a picture of it, eager as I was to put it to my taste buds' test. It passed gloriously!

Corn is on its way!

The Vietnamese jungle

Another couple of weeks!