Summer's almost happening! My favorite time of the year.
6/4/16:
I'm happy to see that most of the "crops" I re-seeded weeks ago are finally sprouting. Lettuces, kale, fennel and dill are getting a second (or third, or fourth) chance, now that the squirrel-proof netting is secured over all of my vegetable patch containers. Perhaps this round of plants will be protected enough to get bigger than microgreen-size. I sowed basil and heirloom tomato seeds (again) at the same time, but they seem slower to germinate. I hope it's not too late in the season for them to thrive. Might need to move these planter boxes to a sunnier spot. Radishes are the only vegetables that are doing great in my garden this spring. I dug up and ate the first fully grown one last week; a few others are almost the same size. I also planted more seeds, to hopefully have a continual radish crop all season.
The rosebushes appear to be taking a break. I deadheaded the expired blooms and pruned carefully, then gave them some organic fertilizer, so it's likely that I'll see new buds before long. Snapdragons and nasturtiums are currently some of my favorites in the yard. These add color for many months of the year, and don't seem to need much water or added nutrients to keep growing. There are enough nasturtiums around that I'm going to try some of these nasturtium recipes. I've occasionally added them to salad, but a pesto or hot sauce looks exciting.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.
Nasturtiums.
Blackberry flowers.
The latest lilies to open up.
Gorgeous deep wine-red lilies are now blooming. I bought a pack of two bulbs of these and the orange stripey ones last fall; wish I'd gotten twice as many! Later this year I'll buy additional bulbs of these and other colors, to make next spring's container garden even more lovely.
Blackberry brambles are growing in one wooden pot and near a small rosebush planted in the ground; a third and largest plant is tangled up in rosemary along the front of the house. The flowers started to appear in May. Now a lot of tiny green berries are visible. It will be fun to pick ripe berries in a few weeks, and maybe eat them with cream or bake a small tart.
