Butterfly Junction

yolos wrote:Cowpeas.  Sweet Potaoes if you have enough time before first frost.

We probably won't see frost until December. Sweet potatoes and cowpeas sound perfect. Thanks , Yolos.

Salad Bar is looking good this year.

Here is the front left side. Armenian cukes planted TD-style along the wall. Kale in front with a nice tomatillo in the background.


Around the corner to the right are a few more kale plants (with more on the way) and lots of asparagus beans.


Finally, down the back side are some red and purple beans and Swiss chard, which is thriving in this heat, but we don't like it. I think I'll use this spot for root crops this fall.


In the BTE, our first ear of corn is just starting to peek out. It's still too little to even show up in a pic, but I know it's there.

Beautiful CN. 

trolleydriver wrote:Beautiful CN. 

Thanks, TD. It actually surprised me. I'm always working and looking for buds, bugs, etc. I rarely step back and actually look at it. It was a real ahhhh moment for me so I took some pics real quick before some other disaster strikes.

Suz, you've got such a beautiful set-up.... Looks very calm & peaceful....

The salad bar is looking good!

AtlantaMarie wrote:Suz, you've got such a beautiful set-up....  Looks very calm & peaceful....

I think you nailed it, Marie. My life is basically chaos. Maybe that's why I'm drawn to gardening. I love to sit out under the trees and just watch things grow.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote: The salad bar is looking good!

Thanks, Beetles. It's a little sparse, but I'm still learning how to maximize space.  (Actually, what I'm learning is that I never plant enough kale.  )

CN, I love your salad bar. It's just a beautiful feature of your garden.

The BTE-Stump-Bee garden is now in full bloom -- complete with bees, but they don't show up in the pic.

It all looks good, CN!

Scorpio Rising wrote:It all looks good, CN!

Thanks, Scorpio. I went out there to water this morning and there was the cutest little fat bumble bee, going from one poppy to the next, wiggling in, cuz the blossoms weren't open yet. Tomorrow I'll take the camera and try to get a short video.

I didn't think CA poppies grew this late in the season. I thought they were only a spring flower. Good to know.

sanderson wrote:I didn't think CA poppies grew this late in the season.  I thought they were only a spring flower.  Good to know.

I tried for years to grow CA poppies for Hubby and finally gave up. This year I bought a seed packet just called "Bee Mix." I dumped the whole thing on the stump I covered with horse manure and surrounded with wood chips. The poppies were in the mix and came right up with everything else. It's a very happy little flower bed, right out in the direct sun.  (Now if I could just figure out how to produce veggies through the summer, I would be a very happy little gardener.  )

The jury has reached a verdict -- this summer is marginally better than last year. I got twice as many zucchini (2) and twice as many tomatoes (4). Well, the chickens got 3 of them, but they still produced. 

Next year, I think I'll take off from Dec. 15 til Feb. 15 and July 1 til Aug. 15. I am working too hard for too little return and those 2 time periods yield noting but frustration. I will just water and wait through those weeks.

I am hoping to have my soil much improved by next year. Hopefully that will make a difference, even in hot weather. My biggest challenge is to "grow" enough compost to make my plants really happy. This year I didn't have half enough and didn't even have sense enough to know it. Last year I wasted way too much manure and leaves. This year I hope to do better and also bring in more wood chips.

I am going to try to grow 1 cucumber and 2 cherry tomato plants inside to produce all winter. I have a lot to learn about indoor gardening. Beginner's luck gave me a false sense of success and led to a hard fall.

I plant to grow carrots and kale all year round in the Salad Bar. I have both out there now that have been producing for a year already. I am about to replace them, slowly, so there are no gaps in production. They are my 2 signature crops.

2 milestones to report. 

Walla Walla onions! Small (newborn fist size) but sweet and mild. I will definitely keep working on improving these.


Plumeria! I know this has nothing to do with veggie gardening, but I grew this from a 6" stick. It took 3 years and it's now over 2' tall AND IT'S FINALLY GONNA BLOOM! I will post again when it gets gorgeous and smells heavenly.

The onions look good. How many did you plant and when?

Are you going to make a lei with the future plumaria flowers? So pretty.

sanderson wrote:The onions look good.  How many did you plant and when?

Are you going to make a lei with the future plumaria flowers?  So pretty.

I got a very sad bunch of onion starts from Walmart about 3 months ago. There were well over 50. I very meticulously drowned all but 4 of them. The first one we tried to eat was too small and very strong. That was about 2 weeks ago. I barely sprinkled them every few days since then. Since these weren't much bigger, I wasn't expecting anything, but they were perfect. I've already ordered my next sets -- this time from a reputable nursery -- so I have high expectations. This is one of the crops I want to grow in abundance. Hubby loves his Walla Wallas and goes through 1-2 a week of the big ones. Since mine will probably always be smaller, I need to grow a lot of them.  I also have 2 "stumplings" started. Fingers crossed on those.

Plumeria: I don't expect to get enough petals for a lei, but we will probably hyperventilate sniffing those flowers until they're nothing but dried, brown flakes. Then we will have a good cry and move on.

Today is a MILESTONE! It has been 16 months since I started this back-breaking labor of love, and I'm sure we've spent over $1000 on materials and irrigation, but for the very first time, the fun is outweighing the the frustration. It was a beautiful morning. Katie, Bob & I were all outside enjoying the day. The garden is starting to produce. The big projects are all finished. The few remaining tasks are manageable. LIFE IS GOOD! AND We still have 2 1/2 months of perfect gardening weather ahead of us. 

I was late planting them, but they're coming through like the true champions they are!

There are several more on the way, too.

countrynaturals wrote:I was late planting them, but they're coming through like the true champions they are!

There are several more on the way, too.

5 days later I have one a foot long out there. I had already picked a "Burpless" from the BTE, so that one in the Salad Bar will have to wait until tomorrow.

I picked a nice mess of asparagus beans, found another pattypan, and got our first ripe cantaloupe. It smells as sweet as any flower, but we haven't cut into it, yet. 

I am amazed at the production this year, considering the relentless heat. We still have 4 more days of temps at 110+, then, just maybe, we'll be done with it for this year, even though we'll still have several more low triple-digit days before the heat gives up for this year.

Our nights are about to get too cool for cucumbers, while our day temps will stay warm for at least another 6 weeks, so I decided to plant some bush cuke seeds in a container to bring in and take out until it's time for indoor gardening under artificial lights. Hopefully, after getting a good natural start, they will continue to grow and produce inside. 

I almost used potting soil, then decided to expand the experiment. I've had volunteer cukes sprout and grow happily in the compost heap, so I used straight compost in my container, loosely added, just like outside, and planted my seeds directly. Fingers crossed.

Also, the seeds I'm using came from someone here, but I can't find the original info. The person who sent them wanted to know if I kept track of the pink and blue seeds last time I planted, but I wasn't that organized. This time I labeled them, so I can report on their individual progress. Wish me luck.

Here is our poor, sad pineapple plant after we harvested her baby.


But wait -- there's more! She already started a new "pup" at her base. We may get 1 or 2 more before she's finished. They say these pups will produce faster than taking the top from a "used" pineapple. 

My daikons are up already. Last year I thought they didn't sprout at all, but it turns out that was the slugs and rolly pollies at work.

The next time we need an idea for the monthly avatar, I suggest "Volunteers." These zinnias all sprouted outside the bed from seeds they dropped last year. I didn't plant a single one.