In the gardens 6/7/12

It's been awhile since I've posted, so let me get right to what's going on in the gardens. The Chaste tree (Vitex) by the pond is in full bloom.

I trimmed this tree back to five or six main branches this spring and removed all the side branches. It blooms on new wood just like Crape Myrtles do. It will stay in bloom for about a month and it attracts lots of bees, so if you are allergic or frightened by them, it should be planted in an out of the way spot. I am not frightened by bee (obviously because I am a beekeeper) and I have managed to convince my DW that there is nothing to fear of them if you just leave them bee :).

I got some pictures of the raccoon whom I believe killed my chickens. He must have been pretty hungry to be out at this time of day. If my memory serves me correct, it was around 3:00 when I took these. We haven't seen him/her since these pictures were taken a week ago.

This is one of my favorite flowers in the garden. It is a Japanese Iris. I believe it's called Cascade Crest.

I've started a new bed out in the garden. I'm planning on moving some strawberry starts out here in the fall. I planted it with some buckwheat this spring. The buckwheat has deep roots that pull up nutrients closer to the top. And it grows fast to crowd out any weeds and provides a good amount of organic matter to be tilled back into the soil. And lastly, it is good for the bees and adds a distinct flavor to the honey.  After mowing and plowing under the buckwheat I planted some black eyed peas to provide more organic matter and the peas add nitrogen to the soil. I will mow and plow them under in August and transplant the strawberry starts in September. I am going to have to put up hoops with deer netting to keep Bambi and friends from feasting on them. 

Here are some pictures of my tomatoes. They are coming along fine. I had one German Johnson ripen this week. It had been flowering before I even transplanted the starts back in April.

The bush beans are starting to ripen. I planted both Blue Lake and Provider this year. To be honest, I can't tell much difference between the two.  I sure to like the taste of fresh beans, they are far superior to canned.

The  basil is really starting to take off. I have removed the blooms once already, but I think I'll let it go to flower now and give the bees a treat. They really love the basil blooms. 

Dill.

Here we see two pictures of female cucumber flowers. The female flowers have a mini cuc at the base of the flower as you can see in these two photos.

The male cuc flower, pictured here, does not have the small cuc at the base.

My Honey Rock and Ambrosia cantaloupes are growing well.

As are the SnowMass honeydews. 

This is a acorn squash. 

And this is a buttercup squash.

And this is an acorn squash.

Here we have a Soyo cucumber. They make for good slicing cucs because they don't get bitter. I grow several plants of them to make relish and bread and butter pickles from. If you were to grow them just for slicing, one plant would provide more than enough cucs for two families. I usually do three plants, and that will provide me with enough cucs to make batches of relish and B&Bs.  This one looks to be about a week from being ready to pick.                                     

Here you can see the start of a watermelon.

And here you can see my sweet potato plants. I've had to cover them with hoops and deer netting. The deer really love the leaves of sweet potato plants. I started the slips from an organic tater I bought at the store. This is my first year growing them to eat. In previous years I used them strictly as ornamentals.

This bed was where I had my spring plants. I am planting pumpkins and cantaloupes and honey dews. I  am trying to stagger my melon plantings this year so I will have a steady supply through the summer. I also want to see if they will be sweeter late in the year when our night temps cool down. Most of the melons grown here in the states come from Colorado and the surrounding areas where they have nice cool night temps.

This is where my peas were this spring. I planted a couple rows of bush beans for canning here.