Harvest Monday

carrots

Harvest Monday! Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions to meet other gardeners from around the world!  Pickings have been a bit slim, with the lettuce going out and the summer crops not really producing much yet. I have picked a little bit of baby lettuce from two small patches, along with chard and Red Burgundy Amaranth. I found these carrots hiding in one of the beds, leftovers from the last batch I guess.

I also pulled a few small turnips, some of which looked more like carrots than turnips, not sure what is up with that, but just then the camera chose to malfunction, so no pic.

Princepe Borghese tomatoes

The Princepe Borghese tomatoes are getting big and about to start turning colors. The plants are really loaded with fruit. Since they are in containers this means I probably need to give them some fertilizer and some more compost.

Tomato plants loaded with fruit

eggplants & potatoes in pots

On the patio the eggplants and potatoes in pots are doing very well. I finally got my sun shade fixed and set up and it gives them some relief from the hot afternoon sun.

Recycle!

I do a lot of recycling. Here a Currant tomato grows in an old ice chest and climbs a trellis made from an expandable baby gate. This is just hooked on some nails from the eave of the house.

Tromboncinno squash

This Tromboncinno squash grows in the inner liner of a washing machine.









The peaches and plums are getting big

peaches

plums

potato bed

The large potato bed out front is doing well. Hard to see here but the potato plants are beginning to put out some blossoms, which means that they are probably beginning to make potatoes. So very soon I will be eating new potatoes!

lavender rose

This pretty lavender rose is blooming out front. I'm sure I've saved the tag somewhere; I will have to hunt it up to know the name of it. I really need to get some permanent tags on some things, like the roses.

Harvest Monday

snow peas, chard, strawberries

Another Harvest Monday! I so look forward to this each week, I love seeing what gardeners around the world are harvesting. I get to learn about unique foods, novel methods of preparation and get some great gardening tips! Thanks! Daphne's Dandelions for being our gracious hostess!

The lettuce has mostly pooped out in the heat, or rather just shriveled up. There are a few seedlings coming along but with 100+ temps I have serious doubts they will amount to much.


While I skipped harvesting the Mammoth Melting sugar peas a few days so they could set some seed, I've been harvesting some of the newer pods again as the plants have set quite a bit of seed; probably enough for a couple of years.  I got this nice handful of strawberries the other day; apparently my trick of setting ripening berries up on top of the plant is working because none of these were eaten on. The chard is coming along well; most of what's in right now is the 'Perpetual Spinach' which has fairly short small stems. I do have about 30 rainbow chard seedlings to plant out though.

I will have to make a note that things are thinning out this time of year and I really should have planted a lot more stuff a couple of months ago. In fact I'm thinking that the next time I plant corn or potatoes or anything with wide spacing I should plant lots of lettuce or something in between at the same time.

Perfect Strawberry!

Purple Mums

These purple mums don't seem to know they aren't supposed to be blooming yet!

Rose Granada

My $2 rose, Granada, has put on a grand display. While not as strongly scented as Cecille Brunner, it does have a nice scent. And the pink and yellow blooms are beautiful.

greenhouse

The greenhouse changes almost daily, as seedlings are potted on or put outside and new things are brought in. The yellow down on the center left are some California poppies and the clump of green past them is a red oriental poppy and some bolting cilantro.

New Ladybug

The cilantra certainly has attracted the ladybugs this spring. There were quite a few larvae on the plants and now they are hatching out.  It's funny, for all the warm weather we had this winter, I've just now seen much of an aphid infestation. This is on the tips of some mustard which is flowering. I think the aphids were encouraged because the mustard is growing in a tub which is getting pretty dried out and root bound.

new greenhouse bed

I spent some time on Sunday hauling in some partly composted manure for this new bed in the greenhouse. It's been watered well and I'll check tomorrow for any sign of the manure heating up, then add some finished compost to the top and get ready to plant it.  In the meantime, some squash seedlings which germinated under lights in the house (for bird protection) are enjoying a day out in the sun.
These are Trombonccino, Baby Blue Hubbard and Butternut.  The Tombonccino are going on top of a large compost pile next to the rabbits, to run over the fence and shade the cages. I'll probably plant the Butternuts here in this bed so they can run on the trellis. Haven't made up my mind where I'll put the Hubbards tho.

HOW TO PLANT A ROSE BUSH

Granada, a hybrid tea rose

With the more moderate weather and a nice rain the other evening the garden is coming along nicely. I had to go to the valley the other day and stopped at my favorite nursery, Shady Way in Apache Junction. They always have a nice selection of herbs so I picked up a couple of mint plants and some lavender. I had also stopped at K-Mart and picked up a Granada rose from the clearance table for only $2. It wasn't in bad shape and was described as having a 'strong spicy scent'. I love rose that have a strong scent and won't buy any that don't have one. I mean after all what's the point of planting a rose if it doesn't smell heavenly? I also picked up a couple of plants at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior at the members plant sale. I'll show you some of these as I get them planted out.

In the meantime here's how to plant a potted rose bush. The day before planting, water the soil in the pot well, so that it will hold together when you knock the plant out of the pot.

When choosing a site for roses, remember that in general they like to have full sun. However, if you live in the desert they will appreciate some late afternoon shade so that they aren't fried by the full strength of desert sunlight. I chose to plant the Granada in a bed in the front yard. It will get full sun in the morning and through mid-day and light shade in the afternoon during the summer.

Now dig a nice big hole, several inches deeper and wider than the pot. I know it's hard to tell in this picture, but the top of that shovel is about 3 inches deeper than the soil surface.

Add some compost to the hole, enough so the when you set the pot in the hole the base of the rosebush will be at ground level.

Take the bush out of it's pot and set it in the hole. Fill around it with more compost and then back fill with soil. If the soil is very dry, fill the hole with water and let it drain before back filling. Then water it again.

The soil in this particular spot is not in too bad a shape. If I were planting in an area where I hadn't been working the soil in the past I would have dug a much bigger hole and used a lot more compost. I think it is better to plant things in ground that you have previously worked and added compost and manure to in the past than to dig a hole in virgin territory. It makes it a lot easier for the plant roots to get out into the soil.

I know this is not the way a lot of 'experts' tell you how to do it, but this way works for me; After planting I pruned off a few broken and weak branches. I'll keep you updated on the rose's progress when it starts growing and putting out new growth.  I'll also be adding some more compost or some rabbit manure over the top of the soil as a mulch. If, when it starts putting out new growth it seems to have problems I'll add a little organic fertilizer mix to the top of the soil and water it in.