Peas so lovely, peas so many

In the beginning, the young transplants were well behaved.

'Dwarf Grey Sugar' Pea Transplant, April 22nd 'Dwarf Grey Sugar' Pea flower, May 26th

Shoots, leaves and early blossom on 'Brazilian Snow Pea'Very soon, though, the dwarves and giants got into a bit of tangle.

Pea flowers & tendrils, June 3rd

And 'Green Arrow', being of modest stature and slower pace, got caught in the middle & was almost overwhelmed.

'Green Arrow' Pea flowers

In the end, everyone finally decided to shake hands and share teepees.

Pea teepees, June 3rdThere was peace, if not order.

Wild & Wonderful, June 24th

And there was abundance.

Brazilian Snow Pea harvest, June 25th

Final pea harvest, July 16th

Peas, sweet & edible, July 16th

Catching up, part 2

The second in a series of three posts in which, during the rainy parts of my vacation, I'm catching up on blogging. Today's topic: the community garden from early to mid Spring.
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Snoozing at the community gardenOn Earth Day, while Piper napped in the shade under the bench, I cultivated the soil in the three pollinator beds and rearranged the plants that had survived the winter. A fellow gardener and I have volunteered to plant and tend this vital part of the community garden. In early May we liberally sowed California and Shirley poppy seeds in the beds and added other plants including Echinacea, Asclepias and Allysum. By early summer, or sooner I hope, the blossoms will be providing nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies.

So far, I've harvested only a few crops from my own plot: assorted Asian greens (a little), chard (a lot), and radishes (just enough to add a spicy crunch to lunch for the past 2 weeks). Broccoli raab is missing from the list because a mysterious creature with paws trampled the bed soon after the seedlings emerged. Then tiny slugs with big appetites ate most of the remaining young greens and baby spinach. (Help -- what is your successful, organic slug control strategy?)

Community garden plot in mid-May

Plot inventory, May 19th: chard, garlic, greens, herbs, peas, radishes, spinach

First radish harvest: Pink Punch, Easter Egg II, French Breakfast (Renee's Garden seeds)

Above ground, the garlic is green and mildew-free. But now that I've learned about all the pests and diseases that can afflict this herb, I'm tempted to pull one 'Purple Softneck' to see what's going on below the soil's surface. I'll resist and and hope for beginner's luck and good garden karma as I'm growing most of this garlic for a friend.

No peas yet, but the robust vines and pretty flowers are promising.

Dwarf Grey Sugar pea transplants, April 22nd

First pea flower, May 26th

And now as I write this, it's 12 noon and the sun is shining -- barely. I'm off to you-know-where to prep the open squares for the tomato and pepper transplants. See you soon. Though I hope not too soon as it will mean it's raining again.

'Swallow' pepper ready for transplanting and chard ready for a frittata

bonus in UPPERCASE #12

LETTERPRESSED

TOUCHED & ADORED

& yes, soon to be GROWN & ENJOYED.

Thank you, Janine & Porridge Papers for this marvelous plantable seedpaper.

Herbs, vegetables, and glorious sunshine

Yesterday was green, blue & bright yellow from dawn to dusk. (And if there were a few clouds, I didn't notice them.)  A perfect summer Sunday for crops to grow & gardeners to weed, water, inspect, repot and of course, view brilliant colour & light through the camera's lens.

Though most of the excitement & growth is in my community garden plot, I'll begin with the balcony's stars, all highly recommended for culinary, olfactory & aesthetic reasons:

Left pot: four varieties of thyme: 'Doone Valley', 'Golden Lemon', Tabor', Thymus fastinoi
Centre pot: 'Alma Paprika' Pepper
Right pot: Basil ('Red Rubin', 'Genovese' ), French Tarragon, Italian Oregano

Rosemary officinalis 'Blue Spire'

'Sea of Red' Lettuce - for those of us who eat with our eyes as well as our mouths

Now, on to Plot 6A, which totally astounds me when I visit it daily. I did not know plants could grow this quickly. Because light is limited on my balcony, I'm used to a much, much slower growth rate.

Front row, left to right: chard, spinach, cucumber, eggplant, tomato
Middle row, left to right: chard, tomato, beets, eggplant, pepper, tomato
Back row, left to right: peas, beans, carrots, beets, eggplant, tomato

In a future post, I'll describe the specific vegetable varieties as well as my planting strategy & design. I've held off because my approach has been evolving to what is now a "mash-up" of square-foot gardening & crop rotation following Mark Diacono’s sequence outlined in Veg Patch: River Cottage Handbook No. 4 (i.e., legumes -> brassicas -> roots & onions -> potatoes/Solanaceae).

Community garden update

Even though spring skipped it's turn and so far, the summer sun has been a shy friend if not a cool stranger, the crops are growing. Last Saturday evening, a few were glowing:

Tomato, 'Glacier'

Pepper, 'Alma Paprika'

Eggplant, 'Rosa Bianca'

Beet, 'Golden'

Beets, 'Jewel-Toned Blend'

Chard, 'Italian Silver Rib' & Spinach, 'Catalina'

I'm dying to share stories with you, but I must spend today's limited after-work time IN the garden. When I've more time to write, I'll tell you about kite string and square foot gardening, green pea risotto dreams, and wireworm woes.

Pea, 'Little Marvel'