Melon Flowers and Purple Alien Vegetables

One of the melon plants has started putting out flowers...

...and even a mini melon!

This is my first year growing kohlrabi.  I received some seeds from a friend who knows I enjoy gardening and who raves about how delicious kohlrabi is.  I'm looking forward to trying it.  It certainly is an odd looking vegetable.  I expected it to grow like a beet or a turnip, with the bulb portion growing in the soil.  Apparently, it grows above the soil, between the main leaf stems.  Neat!  These are going to look like UFOs.

 

Though this poor tomato plant looks a little feeble, it is producing fruit.

The first tomato to turn red - a Black Krim.

Strawberries

Dry bean pods (Tene's Beans) are starting to form.  :)

 

It's hard to see in this picture, but the Anasazi beans have started to put out runners like crazy.  Hopefully, they will use each other for support and won't sprawl all over the other vegetables in the garden.

Unsupervised Wanderings

No furry assistants joined me outside this afternoon while I perused the garden.  They must be snoozing somewhere in the shade.


Some beet greens I picked and steamed this morning.

Some broccoli picked this morning, to be steamed for supper tonight, and cauliflower we picked and blanched yesterday.

More Swiss Giant pansies (and my snazzy new garden clogs, as well).  The large pansies are pretty, but I think my favourites are still the small purple, yellow, and white ones that grow in bunches.

Summer Savory

Current bush

Lacinato ("dinosaur") kale, with collards behind it and Red Russian kale to the right. 

   


Opalka paste tomato.  Neat shape!

Marigolds

Calendula

Lilliput Zinnias

Nasturtiums in the strawberry bed.

Three of the green cabbages have looked sickly...

...thankfully, others are more robust!

Red cabbage

Anasazi beans (no flowers on them, yet).

Nasturtiums and Sneaky Weeds

One of the nasturtiums planted in the raised bed of tomatoes has started putting out flowers.  :)  Three, hidden underneath the leaves...

While poking through the flower bed, I discovered that what I thought were Scarlet Flax were actually some sort of weed.  I should have known - the weeds are covered with what feels like millions of microscopic burrs and they would creepily stick to my skin as I carefully weeded AROUND them.  (Those who know me well will picture me rolling my eyes, at this point). 

The Scarlet Flax, as it turns out, is smooth and silky feeling.  So I yanked out the weeds, shuddering with each one and flinging them with gusto into the potato patch.  They were propelled more by revulsion than the thought that they could be worked into the soil as compost.  Ahem.

The Golden Detroit beets planted in the raised bed along the driveway have germinated.



Giant pansies continue to bloom. 

 

Green Curled Ruffec endive in the middle, two nasturiums at the back, Red Russian kale at the bottom.

Eggplant. Woohoo!

Tomatoes by the house - not sure what kind, though.  Possibly yellow cherry.

Some of the tomatoes planted in buckets along the fence look great, like this one.

Others are looking sickly, with yellow, curling leaves. Too bad, as they all have blooms on them and some, like this one, even have a few little tomatoes. Waterlogged?  We didn't put drainage holes in the buckets, as most years we need them to collect rain.  This has been an unusually rainy summer.  I doubt we'll have to deal with imposed water restrictions this year!

First little cob forming.  :)

 
Tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, and an eggplant beside the house.

Cucumbers, which seem sloooow to get going this summer.

Pansies hiding behind the Creeping Thyme.  You can only see them from the back of the flower bed.   The tall stems without flowers around them are Scarlet Flax...sans the weeds.   ;)

My distinguished assistant, Karl, getting his daily dose of chlorophyll.

Sunspot sunflower

Calendula...

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Frankly, Scarlet...

It's a mild, overcast day threatening more rain.  I expect thunder & lightning later today, judging from the way the air - and my head - feels. Butters joined me early this afternoon while I walked around the property to see what was new.

The first Scarlet Flax flower emerged today!  The picture does not do it justice.  It is small, but what an impact. The colour almost glows like neon.  I never would have tried growing these flowers on my own.  I received a free packet of Scarlet Flax seeds as a "thank you" in my last order from Heritage Harvest Seed.  I'm so pleased with how this little flower looks and can't wait to see a mass of them blooming. 

The Creeping Thyme (mounds of tiny, pink flowers) has been humming with bees for the last few days.  It's nice to see them around, as they have been few and far between over the last 5 or 6 years.  The small ones are so sweet, especially when they are not up one's pant leg stinging one's thigh repeatedly.  (An adventure from last summer. Yikes.)

Our rows of twine trellis did not entirely do the trick, and some have collapsed under the weight of the peas.  Green Arrow peas are a bush pea, and I have never seen them grow as vigorously as they have this year.  They are thriving in their new location.  In previous years, we grew the potatoes here.

Thank goodness we have plenty of DVDs waiting to be watched.  I foresee hours in the living room in front of the TV, shelling peas!

Saj came out to join me.

Butters enjoying some catnip.

Corn

Some Beurre de Rocquencourt bean flowers.

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Sitting Pretty

Karl's favourite summer-time drinking hole.

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Sunshine and Flowers

My calendula have started to open.  They make me happy.   :)  Most are yellow, with one or two bright orange flowers in the mix.

 

The first Swiss Giant pansy opened this morning.

Tene's beans are taking up much more space than anticipated!  My poor parsnips are fighting for some sunshine behind them. The beans sure look healthy, though.

Rogue sunflower in the potato patch.

One of the melon plants, with nasturtiums behind it and summer savoury behind that.  For some reason, I expected the melons to look more like pumpkins...

Collards (nasturtiums behind them, and endive to the right)

Detroit Golden and Swiss Giant

I cleared out the space where my radish were and planted Detroit Golden beets there this morning.  I have never seen them in stores or eaten them, and am eager to see how they turn out.  They are supposed to have a sweeter, milder flavour than red beets.

My Swiss Giant pansies are on the verge of opening today.  I can already tell that one is going to be a gorgeous burgundy colour.  Looking forward to seeing their little faces shine!

R is weeding the raspberry patch. It is the perfect day to do it - breezy and only 22 degrees.  My back won't take helping out today.  :(  Lighter weeding in the raised beds for me.

I'm off to stake one of the yellow cherry tomato plants.  They are determinate/bush tomatoes.  Never having grown determinate tomatoes before, I didn't realize they'd take up so much space horizontally!  The main stem of the yellow cherry has split, I assume from the heavy winds we've have lately.  I want to tie it so it won't break off completely.  I hope that does the trick.  The branch that has almost separated from the plant has dozens of yellow blooms on it.   Arhg.