Beginning harvest

We're getting beyond just the leafy greens and rhubarb now, which means we're heading toward the really good stuff.  The rabbits ate the peas down to about half what I might have harvested, but I managed to gather enough for about four servings, and they were delicious.  There appears to be at least that amount still coming on, so it wasn't a total bust.

This variety - 'Improved Maestro' - is so perfect I haven't tried any others since I found it in 2017.  Before it, I tried 'Wando', 'Sugar Flash', 'Sugar Snap', and 'Green Arrow', none of which was terribly impressive.  'Improved Maestro' doesn't need a trellis, it produces pods with an average of 6-8 peas each, and they are so sweet and juicy that even when they've gotten to be maximum size, which, in my estimation, is normally a pea that's good for nothing but saving for seed, they're still decent.  Anything before that stage is candy.

The onions I sowed as seed are about eight inches tall now, and I thinned them out to at least a couple inches apart, giving me two large bunches of green onions.

I harvested a couple stalks of 'Spring Tower' celtuce, and found that the outer ring is full of latex. I didn't figure that would be good eating.

I peeled the stalks and cut them into rounds - well, they would be round if I were a better peeler; they're rather limber, and the leaf nodes prevent a smooth stripping like you would get with a carrot.  At least, that's my excuse.

I thought they were pretty good and would make nice additions to a green salad.  They're less dense than a water chestnut, but they have a similar crunch.  There's a lot of water in them, and I didn't notice any difference in the taste of the younger stalk and the older one, the narrower top end or the larger lower end.  I asked three other people their opinions, and they all kind of turned up their noses.  "Strong" was the most used description.  To me, it tasted just like lettuce.

Speaking of lettuce, it's still looking very pretty, and I'm still not eating it.  It would be a waste, but I like it for its ornamental value as much as anything.  And it's cheap to grow.  I saved seed from a green arrow-leafed variety whose name I don't know, and ordered a mix of varieties with red coloring from Baker Creek called Red Wing mix.  So, now that I have the types I want, I'll try just saving seed for next year.  Even if they cross, I expect to have a pretty mix.

  

The 'Missouri Pink Love Apple' tomatoes are flowering now.  I decided this year to prune them a little to get less foliage to tomato ratio, and see if that improves the size or abundance of tomatoes.  If you're interested in how that works, check out this site.

The two 'Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian' tomato plants I set out later in two different plots are now very different in size.  Apparently tomatoes aren't happy in composted tree bark.  And the canteloupe I planted in that plot aren't as vigorous as those in unmulched plots.  Last year, the onions loved it.

'Mrs. Maxwell' without tree bark mulch'

'Mrs. Maxwell' - and the cat - in tree bark mulch

'Glencoe' raspberry is ripening, oh boy.  And yes, I did eat this first one.  Not very big, but it was fabulous.  Why didn't I plant these four years ago?

The 'Navaho' blackberry plants that the deer ate off are putting out a few flowers now, and there's one berry.  I'm watching it like a hawk.

Some interesting coloration in leaves has shown up in two plants.  I don't know whether it's due to a virus - which would be odd since they're two very different genera: Tithonia (Mexican sunflower) and Trifolium (clover) - or just a misstep in the genetics.  This is the first year the absence of chlorophyll has showed up in my garden, and it's there twice.  Too bad I can't clone them and see what I get.

Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower)

Volunteer clover

And now that I've brought up coloration, let's just keep going.

I always heard that there's no true blue color in flowers, but if these belladonna type delphiniuims are not true blue, then I can't tell color.  My camera doesn't always capture exactly the color I see, but in this case, it's spot on.  Unfortunately, different computer and TV screens render colors differently, but if you know the color cobalt blue, then...

There's this rich cobalt,

and this sky blue with purple highlights.

But, I'm really getting into orange this year, and among other orange flowers, this zinnia is new to me, and I think a new addition to the Queen Lime line.  This is 'Queen Lime Orange':

It will definitely be an annual choice.  Seeds are available at Johnny's Seeds.

And how nicely this 'Forever Susan' paired with the Asiatic lily whose name I don't know, as it was on the property when I got here.  I think technically a Tiger Lily is downward facing with recumbent petals, but whoever this is, it's the same coloration as a Tiger Lily.

Last year I tried something I hadn't seen before: globe amaranth (Gomphrena).  I think it might be something that was in older gardens but fell out of favor.  I don't know why.  They're wonderful, and they make great fillers for bouquets.  I had orange ones last year, and so this year I tried all colors I could find seed for.  I got them from Johnny's Seeds, but this year, they're not carrying so many.  I found another source at Floret (whom I haven't ordered from before), but it seems globe amaranth might not be reliably available when you want it.  I saved a few seeds last year, but I better save more this time.

'Carmine' and 'Strawberry Fields'

Purple and 'Audray White'

I happened upon a new critter at the edge of the garden.  And then there was a pair of them.  This one looks pregnant.

I left the picture smaller in case you have a slinky critter aversion.  I had a hard time trying to find out who it is (which I believe is a five-striped skink), because I tense up when I'm clicking on links to slinky critters in case a picture of one eating something pops up.  

Let's talk about something else.

I'm trying to air-layer a couple of roses to start new bushes.  I haven't had any luck rooting cuttings.  I've written about it in the previous post.  On this second bush, I dropped the plastic bottle idea and went with a plastic bag with both ends cut out.  It was so much easier.

After girdling the stem and trimming back the terminal end, I slipped the bag over it, positioning the girdled part midway inside the bag.

Then I tied the bottom end of the bag shut and scooped my rooting medium in through the top opening.  

I  watered it from the top, sealed that end, then wrapped it in tin foil.

So far, both bushes look good - the tops of the air-layered canes haven't wilted.  Either they're forming roots, or they're reforming bark if I didn't do it properly.  I can't peek yet.  The literature I've read says roots should form in about three weeks.

In the meantime, the rose garden is abloom, and only the new white one, 'Domina', is showing some blackspot disease on the leaves.  I've cleaned out the worst and sprayed the rest with neem oil.  It's getting established enough that I'll go ahead and treat it with a systemic fungicide.  If 'Domina' is going to be a blackspot magnet, she's going to find herself removed and replaced.  I already have some choices in mind.

The cut flower garden is in high gear, too.

I love the orange butterfly weed with the purple yarrow and blue belladonna-type delphiniums.

 

 We're heading into some cool weather for this time of year, or so they say.  Is that an "Indian spring"?  Whatever it is, enjoy it.  It'll no doubt be hades again after.