From 64 degrees with rain showers to 95 degrees in 2 days is a shock to my system! And it's probably an even bigger shock to the garden. I'm up at 6 a.m. to water and it's already 61 degrees. So we've shrouded the pole beans, cukes and peppers with shade cloth until this heat lets up. And we're keeping the tarps at the ready for the promise of thunderstorms this coming week. You can almost hear the tomatoes growing!
This month's garden star is the yucca plant that I transplanted from a pot. It grew but didn't bloom last year. Happily the deer and rabbits don't like it so it flourished and gave us two huge stalks of lovely creamy bell shaped flowers this month. I'm thinking maybe I should plant a few more!
A lovely birthday surprise from Susan & Chris this week! Two bottles of Lucero infused olive oils in basil and lemon, plus 2 bottles of balsamic vinegar in pineapple and lemon. Yummy!
I'll try my best to have a flavorful time!
If you're not familiar with flavored balsamics, you can use them on lots of stuff...salads and veggies to add a kick. They also make a drink called a "Shrub" with tonic water, fruit juice and vodka. I might have to invent a new wine cooler with Moscato, juice and a hit of the pineapple balsamic. Gonna try it tonite! Thanks kidlets!
Grapto-what? It's a graptoveria! Just another succulent added to the collection. Imported from Minot-by-God, North Dakota! Who knew?
Pelican fountain makes a nice sound.
Izzy on a bench with her butt strategically placed in the sun
A handful of Kentucky Wonder pole beans
It's lavender season here at Angel Crest Manor and I decided a new wreath was in order by the front door. This one is from TJ Maxx, my favourite place for cheap decorator items. I added the real and very fresh lavender from my bushes in the front yard. It even smells nice!
The good news: The peas are ready early this year. The bad news: Unseasonable heat is killing off the pea vines ALREADY.
The snow peas are holding up better in the heat. Peas just don't like this much heat (mid 90's) and so we'll not get a large crop of 'em but the ones we're getting are very sweet. I'm thinking about "robbing" a hill of new potatoes to cook with them.
Most of our cukes got bacterial wilt and turned to mush this past week. Yes, I'm the poster child for why you should rotate crops. I grew cukes in the same bed as last year and the larvae of the cucumber beetles are in the soil. WHO KNEW? They feed on the roots of the cuke plants infecting them with the bacterial wilt. It causes them to look like they are wilting from lack of water. At first they recover over night but after a couple of days they just go limp and die. I did manage to rescue one plant (burpless cuke) that seems to be resistant or just wasn't attacked yet. I put it into a fiber pot on the left with new Fox Farm potting soil. So far so good. So it was down to the valley for some new plants at the Grange. Luckily they had just received their last shipment of baby plants from the Ashland Greenhouses. I used a grow bag with new soil. Ohhh, looking forward to those cukes. Now I just have to watch for signs of cucumber beetles and spray with the natural pesticide.
