Succotash Row

Summer's here at last!! We finally finished up our planting today after many fits and starts. We were so excited today to have a chance to get everything in the ground and get the garden off to a good start. Since so many of the plants take a while to mature, we wanted to be as quick as we could to get everything planted. In the weeks to come we can weed, clean up some areas and do some general maintenance as well.

Here is our report about what we have planted over the last couple of weeks:

On June 18, 2010 my Mom (Serena) planted some sunflowers and melons. Here are the details of what she planted:

1. 2 1/2 rows of Tarahumara Sunflowers.

2. 4 Noir des Carmes plants

3. 3 Sweet Granite Melon plants

4. 1 1/2 rows of Mongolian Giant Sunflowers

5. 1 Siberian Watermelon Plant

6. 2 rows of Titan Sunflowers

7. 3 Charentaise melon plants

Later on June 23, 2010 my Mom was able to plant a few more things to get a head start since it has been dry and warmer for a few days now. She planted:

1. 1 row of Lettuce Mixture- 45 days to maturity

2. 1/4 row of Lettuce- Pot and Patio Blend- 45 days to maturity

3. 3/4 row of Royal Burgandy Bush Beans- 52 days to maturity

4. 1 row of Pak Choi- unknown days to maturity

5. 1/3 row of Pak Choi and 2/3 row of Dragon's Tongue Beans- 55-60 days to maturity

6. 1 row of Red Russian Kale- 50 to 60 days to maturity.


Then, today- June 25, 2010 it was a dry and overcast day in the upper 60's but a fine day to finish up our planting. We planted many rows of seeds including:

1. Sweet Genovese Basil- 55 days to maturity

2. Bulls Blood Beets- 55 days to maturity

3. Danver's Carrots: 65-87 days to maturity

4. Nelson's Carrots: 65-87 days to maturity

5. Black Coco Bush Beans for snap and drying: 95 days to maturity

6. Tongues of Fire Cranberry Bush Beans for drying: 75 days to maturity

7. Calypso or Yin Yang Bush Beans for drying: 70-90 days to maturity

8. Swedish Brown Beans for drying: 82-95 days to maturity

9. Hutterite Soup Bush Bean for drying: 80-85 days to maturity

10. Santa Maria Pinquito Bean for drying: unknown days to maturity

11. Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean: 75 days to maturity

12. 1/2 a row of Blue Lake Pole Beans

13. Christmas Lima Beans: 71 to 80 days to maturity

14. Scarlet Runner Pole Beans: 70 to 75 days to maturity

15. True Red Cranberry Pole Beans: 70 to 75 days to maturity. These adapt well to the cold.

16. Bantam Corn

We planted some rows of corn during the time that it was cold and wet but none of it has come up. Since the sunflower seeds that we planted around the same time came up and the corn has not, we guess that it won't. That is why we planted more corn over by the pole beans. By now you are probably wondering why we titled this post "succotash row", well it is because we did part of a row of corn along with a row of beans and it is one of our favorite vegetable dishes!

In other news, the potato plants are looking really nice and getting tall. Also, we were able to harvest and eat a few of the peas. The tomato plants are looking good and getting much bigger as well. The raspberries are ripening but the plants are looking a bit on the yellow side, so we need to figure out what is ailing them.


Suburban Garden Report:

Over on the other side of town, things are mostly going very well in my garden. My rhubarb is getting big enough now where I am going to harvest some this Saturday to make a strawberry rhubarb pie. I will post the recipe later on with some photos! Also, it has been fun to go into the garden every morning with Adam and help him pick strawberries. He loves to sit down and pick the tops off and eat them. It's a joy to see him relish the strawberries this time of year!

In the other bed I have bad news! The squirrels dug up all of the seed peanuts and took off with them. Also, in the process they dug up two of my sweet potato plants and they are now gone. But, at least the rest of my sweet potato plants are doing well. Our "sharecropper" pumpkin plant is really thriving and has even bloomed and has many buds on it.

That's our gardening news for this week!