This garden is insane! It grows so fast and now many of the products are starting to ripen. The summer squashes- zucchini, yellow straight neck and patty pans- are ripening every day! It feels like they double in volume every other day! And I still cannot figure out WHY I cannot see a big yellow squash before it becomes ginormous. I do see most of them but sometimes…! At least the zucchini sort of match the soil under all the leaves.! The tomatoes are starting to ripen but the bushes themselves are HUGE! I don’t even feel bad removing 10 stems and leaves pretty much daily! Plenty of photosynthesis going on there!
The green beans have really started coming in also which I enjoy. It is one of the only summer crops I am growing that I enjoy! With 40+ plants, we are getting quite a few every day! We elected to not grow corn since the Davis Ranch corn down the road is some of the best we’ve ever had. Dave and I pretty much alternate corn and beans daily! Matt, Jenny and Gabe eat the squash. Gabe really seems to like the patty pans! He sucks and mashes the “meat” of it- gums it to a mash so he can swallow it. He is a great eater! We also have quite a few peppers setting so Matt and Jenny can have all the spice they want!
The permanent garden plants are growing like crazy also. The raspberries have a few ripe fruit per plant, but the blackberries seem to be just growing those vines for next year’s crop. The blueberry and huckleberry bushes are also growing. I put them on a monthly sulfur (for acidity) and fertilizer regime per the Master Gardeners. The ginger is also growing finally! I also planted hummingbird vines/ Mexican trumpet plants in the corners in hopes that by next year they block some of the view of our neighbors! Who truly are not exactly that close to us, but still! And Matt’s flower garden in there is so beautiful. It is mostly calendula, zinnia and now the cosmos are blooming. Just so colorful!
The apricots are done in the orchard and here come the plums! Two smaller trees and one big plum tree out by our ADU. One tree might be a pluot. Hard to tell. This is the time of year we first saw this place last year because we got to taste the apricots and plums! The pomegranate tree from this winter is flowering and the persimmon has a few fruits set. The citrus is budding like crazy. Matt removed the apple tree that fell over but the second apple tree is doing well and has good setting. We will have to figure out what it is because they have to cross pollinate to set fruit. And maybe a 3 way nectarine/ peach combo will find a place in there too!
So overall the gardens and grounds are doing well. Matt’s beans out in the open field are well and growing but needed some fertilizer (happened yesterday). I think we are all surprised out how often the irrigation gets broken somehow but Matt and Dave are becoming pros at diagnosing and fixing the issues. I cannot wait until our ADU is finally done. 3-4 month process my…patootie!