Summer Gardening

I have been so busy during the last 30 days I have not had much time for blogging.   My life has been crazy.    Some of you know that my partner and I bought a bakery in 2003.   We ran the bakery full time until February of 2007 at which time we turned it over to a Pastry Chef to manage.  In October she had a severe stroke and has had several additional strokes since that time.  The bakery has been closed since October.  We finally decided to close the door on the bakery business and are liquidating our equipment.  It breaks my heart to see it finally come to an end, but I know there will be something exciting happening in the next chapter of our lives.    Unfortunately, our garden took a back seat while we were dealing with the bakery.    I am ready to get back on track for the rest of the season. I planted my summer crops and flowers on May 16.  Those of you that live in our area are aware that we have experienced a large amount of sever thunderstorms.  I think it has been unusually hot, muggy, and very wet during this spring and early summer.  Some of my seeds have been washed away with all the rain.  I am monitoring the weather to find the perfect conditions to replant some new seeds.

Be that as it may, the weather conditions have been perfect for tomatoes and peppers.  Our tomato plants are blooming.  We will have tomatoes soon.

We have been harvesting lettuce, peas, and broccoli.  We are making awesome salads for Potluck Sunday.  These spring crops are almost ready to be removed and new crops will be planted in their place.

Cabbage heads are forming now.   Onions are growing beautifully,   Squash, potatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe, zucchini, pumpkins, beans, and broom corn are popping up and spreading their beautiful leaves and vines.

I am very excited to see grapes forming on our second year grape vine.   This year we have apples for the first time on our third year dwarf apple tree.

Overall, I am happy with the progress of our garden.

I have a lot of work in store in the coming weeks.  We removed all of the shrubs from the front of our house.  We are continuing our mission to create an edible landscape.  We have a clean slate ready to design, select, and plant in front of our house.  Do you have any suggestions or recommendations?  Our house faces north.  I will be looking for some partly shady options.   I look forward to your feedback.

City Girl