Death of a good plant

By the time you read this, the rhubarb will be gone. Hacked to bits. To make a tasty pie for my FIL on Father's Day. (Don't worry, my dad got garden presents, too--a GC to Home Depot. Love you, Dad!)

FIL loves rhubarb and since we've got the biggest and fastest regenerating plant I've ever seen, I've chopped it down and we will be enjoying a lovely strawberry rhubarb pie this Sunday.

Enjoy your Father's Day--mow the lawn for him!

Starting from Seed

Most of the plants in my garden are grown from seed. This year I started to wonder about the possibility of saving seeds from these plants and using them next year. I know that some plants are hybrids and that the seeds from those may not be able to germinate. I'm hoping the good folks at Burpee can let me know if I can save seeds from this year's Cherry Belle Radish.

I let just one of them "go to seed." I got impatient over the weekend and asked my father when the seeds would show up. He said after the flowers died off. If nothing else the flowers were lovely. Lo and behold, this morning I was rewarded with what appear to be seed pods! Next I have to figure out when to harvest the seeds, how to dry and save them.

My precious babies!

Um, baby tomatoes, that is.



Don't forget just like babies, tomatoes can benefit from milk. Mix together 4 cups water and 1 cup powdered milk. Pour into a spray bottle and gently mist the foliage to prevent blight. Water the base of the plant with any remaining mixture.

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

In mere months, I intend to turn this adorable little seedling into a 50+ pound pumpkin. I have promised stepson a pumpkin that weighs more than he does. Thank goodness he's a teeny guy, so it won't be that hard to deliver.

Burpee's Prizewinner promises a huge pumpkin. Most customer reviews state an average 60 pounds. It's supposed to be possible to get over 100 pounds. But I'm setting my sights a little lower. After all, last year's pumpkins turned out to be one green gourd smaller than a football.

The seedlings came up in less than 7 days. Three of the five have sprouted (and the other two may still), with this one looking like the clear winner. I've got so many tips I've heard over the years. I've even heard some folks inject milk directly into the vine! But here's basics from the folks at Organic Gardening.

Ch-ch-changes...

Welcome to Reservoir Gardens version 2.1!

See that trellis back there? I built it. Of course my husband had to one up me by asking why I didn't just tie it to the posts with twine instead of my brilliant idea of using his drill, some 2 inch screws and the world's longest extension cord to put it together. Whatever. Just because I already had the twine out to string between the bamboo poles where the green beans are going to grow...

So, yes, it's true, the green beans are planted. They will still have plenty of time to come up. Sixty days from planting will put me at harvest in mid-August right into early fall. No problem.

Behind the peppers we have 3 rows of celery. I planted those seeds today. Okay, I realize that is REALLY late, but I had killed all my seedlings when I started them earlier. I thought I used the entire seed pack when I started indoors, but they just magically turned up yesterday.

Up along the three sections of my beautiful trellis we have eggplant (those seedlings didn't die), butternut squash, and cucumber. I'm okay with it if we don't get the cucumbers. They're just for the husband and even he can't eat that many salads.

Out in front, next to the black, plastic wrapped sections I planted my sugar pumpkins and the giant pumpkins that I promised my stepson. Both varieties are already sprouted in less than a week! More on those tomorrow.

Today I also transplanted some sage to nestle in with the peppers and some garlic into the corner to the right of the trellis. They weren't doing so well over in the herb bed by the house, just a couple rows next to the house weren't getting enough water.

I think I'm finally set with the garden the way it is. So many plans on how to do it better (mostly just do it all SOONER!) next year.

Peas for Dinner!

First, the Truth in Gardening update. As you can see, I did not finish the weeding, but in my defense we did have some crazy thunderstorms this weekend. I will get my tail back out there this afternoon.

But look! My peas have finally come! I think this RSVPea from Burpee was a total winner, I can't believe they even germinated after I had sown them in the soil with the Miracle Gro Feed Plus Weed Preventer. Next year I'll start these sweeties earlier (we had a TON of rain in March) and without a weed preventer to slow them down.

So, Harvest #2 is today and we're having peas for dinner. Who would have ever believed I'd be so excited about peas? Ask my mother, any green vegetable was the bane of my existence as a child. But I decided to throw caution to the wind this morning. I plucked a pod and was amazed by the burst of sweet green flavor as I gobbled down those peas. Yum!

Harvest #1

Picked all the radishes last week, aren't they beauties? Turns out the guinea pig likes the greens, so nothing's going to waste this year.