The Coming Harvest

Some pictures from the potager and elsewhere.

Cherry Tomato bed with sunflowers.


Asparagus ferns - Martha Washington, two year old crowns.


Baby Yellow squash from seed collected last year.


Tomatoes

Green Zebra


San Marzano - a roma variety


Rutgers


Burstzyn


BEEFSTEAK! BEEFSTEAK!!!


Unknown. Some tags were lost in the process.


Breadseed poppy (I think)




And finally, the birdfeeder hanging by a thin wire from the China Fir in the backyard. I'll show those squirrels who's the boss. (Tony Danza, actually)


Yesterday, I cleaned the gutters and mowed the yard with gas borrowed from Larry.

Updates

The wintersown petunias are blooming today. They were sown in February in the hoophouse and potted into single cups in March. They went in and out of the basement during really cold spells. They're quite nice. Collected from a light pink trailing petunia, they came out a different color. I'm happy with it.





I got the cucumber trellis up yesterday and a teepee for the running peas. I also added a cheap water sprinkler for later once I've planted all my beans, corn, squash, and cukes.



The rear beds - all white.







The "hot" cherry tomato bed with red spider zinnias, sunflowers, and red bee balm. I need some orange for this bed.



A direct sown bed of marigolds, cosmos, and zinnias has lots of sprouts. I hope it attracts bees and pollinators for my garden.



Another iris has opened.



The weigeila is in full bloom.



Something is giving me fits with the peonies. Several have dead stalks.



The lavender crape myrtle is leafing out. Nothing yet on the root cuttings I made this winter.



The front beds are slowly getting planted. Hot, dry, and very poor soil makes these hard to plant. Lantana and grasses for now.





The Golden Jubilee Hyssop loved the pinching I did last week.



Visitors.



And finally, Sunday's picture.

Things change.

Bear with me here, this is how I work. It's 63 degrees and sunny. I'm walking around my backyard with my large trowel in my hand, because that's what I do sometimes, and I've got this Stone Temple Pilots song stuck in my head. You can find the lyrics here. It was the last thing I heard somewhere. I'm sure of it. I'm thinking about the fire pit I want to add. And the steps that need to be built to replace my front stairs. I need to paint the trim and remove the front porch and rebuild everthing including new stairs out of wood. Two large, massive columns of stone that match the new stairs and walkway down to the driveway, which also have to be torn out and built, all for the sake of giving the house an entry more suited for the style of the house. I'm thinking a pergola, to update the look a little. A fat, round column supporting the pergola instead of a 4x4 wrapped in aluminum siding. I'll build the thing out of heavy 2x6 material. It will be substantial, but not overbearing. The steps will be painted gray to match the stone. The railings will be a bright white. I've got a lot to do, right?

Well, you know me, I was also thinking about the butterfly bushes that are germinating and will fill the back woods. I'm thinking about the castor beans I want to get started next week for the "hot" bed out near the veggies. The castor bean will represent the size of the pampas grass just in front of the bed when it's mature. Too much shade and the grass needs to go. I also want something to draw in the bees and hummers. I planted red spider zinnias, purple zinnias, bee balm, Yvonne's salvia, and every one of my cherry tomatoes in that bed. I'll add red sunflowers and purple millet to the bed as the seedlings grow. I want a bed that will change year to year based on which seedlings survived. Best of all, it keeps the cherry tomatoes from reseeding all over my other gardens. This bed can wintersow itself.

That's when I realized, I'm thinking long term again. I'm actually thinking of how it will look when I am done. And I don't have to do it all today. But I do have to pay taxes. Crap.

A good day.

Yesterday turned out to be a fine day. First, I got a lot of things done in the yard. I direct sowed marigolds between some of my tomato plants. I planted out some perennials and the cherry tomatoes in a small bed in the back yard. I planted out several wintersown cups of nasturtium and direct sowed Black Eyed Susan vine near the birdfeeder in the perennial bed. I walked around and looked at everything. I was surprised to find a lot of growth on many plants I have been ignoring for just this occasion. The coreopsis Full Moon that I divided this winter is going nuts. The Shastas are getting huge. Wintersown sprouts have become plants seemingly overnight.

Dame's Rocket


Cupid's Dart


Linaria Flaming Passion has a bloom


Coreopsis and shastas


The knockout roses are looking really good


"Sunny" yellow knockout


The clearance rack wigeila is blooming


Golden Jubilee Anise Hyssop - the foliage jumps out at you


The red dogwood is in full bloom


Old oaks and maples out back are filling out


A volunteer buddleia is returning


The newly planted lantana is happy with the rain


The irises I brought back from my sister are planted. Lantana in the cloner has roots. Petunias are just starting to root. Everything is loving the cool weather, rain, and spotty sunshine. In fact, I took a few minutes yesterday to lay in the hammock and watch the birds. I saw an owl steal a baby squirrel from a nest. Normally I would feel bad about it, but I have some missing crocuses that I'm pretty certain one of these squirrels had a hand in.

But the best part of the day, without a doubt...six percent. That's my new interest rate. All I have to do is sign the paperwork. History: When I got the mortgage in June of 2007, I was self-employed and considered a risky borrower. Long story short, I accepted a higher interest rate just to buy a house. It's been a challenge to say the least, but now, my mortgage payment is more in line with what it should be for this house. Better yet, it's finally cheaper than renting.

I almost forgot, I received two calls yesterday about new model projects. One is a project in San Diego. A college buddy called and asked if I was interested. The other is another house project that should be ready to build in a couple to three months. It's going to be another busy summer. Yes, I know I said I was tired of doing it, but paying off debts and installing a new kitchen is never far from the front of my mind.

Can anyone identify this plant? I let it grow to almost 4' last summer and it never bloomed. I moved some of it this spring since it was growing beside the walkway and eventually I mowed it down. I want to see what it is. There are clumps of it all through the yard.