![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_9882.jpg\" "\\"Sunflowers")
<\/a>Lush green Smith<\/p><\/div>\n
Wow.\u00a0 You can see from here that Smith is going gangbusters.\u00a0\u00a0So lush and green, most everything is looking pretty good.\u00a0 As usual, I planted most things too close together.\u00a0 Maybe it’s my inexperience, maybe optimism, maybe sloppiness.\u00a0 What?\u00a0 Did you say a little of all three?\u00a0 O.K., you’ve got a point.\u00a0 The plus side is that close-growing plants discourage weed growth and help keep water from evaporating from the surface too quickly.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
<\/a>A gift from last year<\/p><\/div>\n
Look at the volunteer sunflower!\u00a0 It’s almost eight feet tall.\u00a0 Sort of grabs your attention, huh?\u00a0 I allowed some plants to go to seed last\u00a0year and now I’m reaping the benefit.\u00a0 Not even my spring cultivation\u00a0disrupted the seeds that must have lain exposed on the ground all winter.\u00a0 And see those vines?\u00a0 Not only did I get these three or four bonus sunflowers, but look at the pole beans growing up them!\u00a0 I’m amazed to see them so vigorously twining up these tall stems, ready-made poles for them to climb on.\u00a0 Last year, the pole beans were 8 feet from where these volunteers\u00a0are growing.\u00a0 How did\u00a0they move to this spot?\u00a0 What’s that, you ask?\u00a0 The word volunteer?\u00a0 Oh, I was raised with it.\u00a0 My mother and her mother used that word for plants that grew from seed dropped\u00a0by last year’s\u00a0plants.\u00a0 Yeah, I agree.\u00a0\u00a0The word does sound quaint and old-timey.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The gardener's babies are growing up<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Squash running amok at the feet of the corn<\/p><\/div>\n
Hey, look at the corn.\u00a0 First time I’ve ever grown it.\u00a0 I staggered three plantings over two weeks so it doesn’t all ripen at once.\u00a0 We’ll see how that goes.\u00a0 Honestly, I sometimes think the corn is watching us, it has such a presence.\u00a0 Doesn’t it feel like those muscular plants could\u00a0surround us if they wanted?\u00a0\u00a0 Look down, see?\u00a0\u00a0There, and there and there,\u00a0crammed in at the base of the corn,\u00a0butternut squash plants are practically bursting out of the ground.\u00a0 I hope they cohabit\u00a0happily with\u00a0their taller brothers.\u00a0 I worry that\u00a0one will\u00a0choke the other out.\u00a0 Such violent\u00a0language in this peaceful garden.\u00a0 I’m pleased the volunteer beans have made this a true succotash.\u00a0 I feel like a Pilgrim.\u00a0 Or maybe one of the Indians who taught them the value of growing squash, beans, and corn together.<\/p>\n
<\/a>First Cuke: Rare Gift<\/p><\/div>\n
Across the path\u00a0are unruly\u00a0cucumber vines.\u00a0 See?\u00a0 I planted these as an afterthought, intending my main cucumber plot to be at the Lorelei, but look at them now!\u00a0 I didn’t even order these; the seed company was out of the bush cuke seeds I wanted, so they sent these instead and I thought what the heck and just stuck ’em in the ground.\u00a0 But look, see how some of the leaves are wilting?\u00a0 I learned too late that cucumber beetles (I’ve come to realize I have quite an infestation here) carry bacteria that causes wilt.\u00a0 Once they get to this point, it’s too late.\u00a0 I’m hoping I’ll get cucumbers for awhile from the other plants before they succumb too.\u00a0 Oh my gosh!\u00a0 Look!\u00a0 A cucumber already!\u00a0 I had no idea I would get one so soon.\u00a0 Some veggies are truly different eaten fresh from a garden compared to storebought.\u00a0 Cucumbers are one,\u00a0so crisp and\u00a0sweet and juicy and, if\u00a0everything\u00a0went the way it was supposed to, not bitter.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Welcome to the Jungle!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Unplanted by the gardener<\/p><\/div>\n
I call this land the\u00a0Tomato Amazon.\u00a0 I really planted them close together, but they’re going gangbusters.\u00a0 Look at all the blossoms and at the little green baby tomatoes.\u00a0 When these beauties\u00a0ripen, we’re going to be inundated, a “problem” I would welcome.\u00a0 Next to the tomato jungle I’ve got another volunteer pole bean.\u00a0 I may get a mess or two of beans from these volunteers alone.\u00a0 Look at all the blossoms, and the riot of vines, stretching up into the wild blue younder.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Treasure chest full of gold<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u00a0especially wanted to show you\u00a0this pepper plant!\u00a0 It’s covered with yellow beauties, easily three dozen, maybe more.\u00a0 I think they’re like those savory pepperocini peppers you get with pizzas, but funny thing, I don’t remember planting that kind.\u00a0 This is sort of a mystery to me.\u00a0 What I did plant a ton of, Anaheim peppers for pickling, are just starting to set.\u00a0 In my experience, pepper plants\u00a0either burst with fruit or they languish.\u00a0 I think a key is making sure they get enough to drink when they’re blossoming.\u00a0 You want a couple of these peppers?\u00a0 Help yourself.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Scarlet beauties<\/p><\/div>\n
Look at this exotic thing, almost six feet tall now.\u00a0 It’s a castor bean plant.\u00a0 I love the variety it adds to the garden, the splash of scarlet and red, the dramatic spined seed pods.\u00a0 On the downside, the plant is rather poisonous.\u00a0 We’re a little concerned about that and hope no children come along and eat any of it, though frankly, it doesn’t look too edible to me.\u00a0\u00a0Actually, it looks a little forbidding.\u00a0 I’ve wondered if, on a homestead, I could grow a field of these and press the beans for the oil which is flammable and could be burned in lamps.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Flowers, produce, sweet potato vines, wilty cucumber vines<\/p><\/div>\n
Tour’s about finished.\u00a0 Pretty nice out here, huh?\u00a0 I wanted to show you some flowers I planted though they aren’t\u00a0flowering yet.\u00a0 I like growing blossoming plants with the vegetables.\u00a0 Adds to the beauty of the place.\u00a0\u00a0A garden is like an empty canvas and I’m the painter.\u00a0 I plant things in arrangements and positions to look good as well as grow well.\u00a0 Am I wacky?<\/p>\n
So glad you joined me today.\u00a0 Hey, I’ve got an idea.\u00a0 Let’s grab some of the wild mint that’s growing everywhere around here and have some mint juleps back at the house.\u00a0 It’s the perfect way to cool down after being in the garden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Want to drive to Smith with me?\u00a0 Great!\u00a0 Hop in.\u00a0 I like and don’t like this drive.\u00a0 I can’t wait to see what good things are\u00a0happening in the garden, but I worry about what bad things might be happening.\u00a0 I … Continue reading