Today was a somewhat strange day in terms of things I got done (or didn’t get done) and interactions I had with other people. Rather than dwelling on things best left alone, I’d rather look at pictures of outdoorsy things.
Featured Image: The Eversweet strawberries (the three plants on the right) are blooming and fruiting again. The Fort Laramie strawberries (the two plants on the left) are sending out runners (mostly down the back side).
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that my booth never seems to have the same setup twice. Since I added craft items, I’ve been struggling with the best way to display them, so I’ve been trying different things each week.
The skies cleared and the air warmed up around mid-afternoon, inspiring me to saunter through the gardens and take photos.
Left/Top: Little baby acorn squash! This one’s about 2 inches across.
Right/Bottom: According to my garden “map” for this bed, this is supposed to be a pumpkin. I think I mis-planted, because I’m pretty sure this is a tigger melon. (I also just realized that the pumpkins I planted can get to be up to 80 pounds, which backs up the idea that this is not a pumpkin. Yikes! It was the only pumpkin seed they had, which is probably why I didn’t realize that until now.)
From Left/Top to Right/Bottom Joe’s Long Cayenne pepper (yes, it grew curled around the stem like that); Ancho Gigantea pepper; Traveler strain jalapeño pepper; Orange Bell pepper; King of the North pepper.
From Left/Top to Right/Bottom The life of the Cherokee Trail of Tears bean: green (and can be eaten as green beans); ripening (they turn such a beautiful shade of red!); and dried (on the vine and the ripe, dry beans).
No, they’re not tomatillos! They are related to them, though: ground cherries. They are amazingly sweet, and the plants I got are producing well. If you’ve never had them, you should try them; it’s like having candy in your garden!
Top/Left: A sweat bee, or Augochloropsis metallica, on the Autumn Joy sedum I planted in the BBB garden this spring.
Right/Bottom: An impatient bumblebee, or Bombus impatiens, on the Autumn Joy sedum.
Zinnias in all colors. These and the sunflowers are the only flowers that came up from the seeds I planted in the BBB garden this spring.
Top/Left: The Red Malabar spinach found the trellis. I may try picking and selling some at the Market next week.
Bottom/Right: I have dill! One lonely dill plant that apparently survived the rabbits this spring and has been hiding out among the lovage until now.
Top/Left: The three varieties of carrots I planted this year. From left to right: Dragon (a purple carrot), Danvers (basic orange carrot), and Juane du Doubs (a yellow carrot).
Bottom/Right: In classic compost propagation, I have baby lettuce and baby tomatoes coming up in the bed I just spread compost on. (There are three lettuce plants in this picture from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, and there are two tomatoes between each lettuce plant.)
From Left/Top to Bottom/Right: Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage; Red Russian kale (I’m thinking about picking a bunch and making kale chips to sell at the Market); and De Cicco broccoli (the PVC hoop is about 3 feet tall at the top of this photo, to give you a size reference).
Top/Left: Some late summer raspberries. They’re extremely tart and not very juicy, but still yummy to snack on.
Bottom/Right: The rhubarb I planted this spring. Shovel is for scale. I could make an umbrella out of these leaves.
New beginnings! The cilantro I obtained this spring went to seed in the early summer. Now there are babies coming up!