Friday, June 26, 2009

Wet weather & the vegetable garden

After a particularly rainy early spring, the weather pattern continued. For parts of the vegetable garden, the rain certainly helped. Plus we didn't have to water the gardens once! The peas grew to over 8 feet high. You almost needed a ladder to pick them. Plenty of them and daily. The swiss chard flourished.
The rain, as it was excessive, did some damage. While we managed to save a few, many of our root vegetables essentially drowned. These turnips were ready for pulling. We still managed a springtime basket of plenty! Turnips, potatoes, peas, radishes, chiggia beets, swiss chard, onions & nasturtium (edible flowers)! Blueberries arrived as the sun finally managed to peak through the clouds. And the champagne pink currants are also finally starting to color. In the background, chamomile and and ladybugs lend their help. Lady bugs eat the aphids that eat anything green while chamomile attracts beneficial insects. (Some even say that it has fungicidal properties!)
With all the growth and new life comes and end too. An old pine was felled, but instead of it laying to waste, we had the lumber milled up to be used in future projects!