I had planted a tray of extra Borage seedlings in a little pollinator garden right outside our garden near the street crossing at Fenton and Rt. 410. It is a long sliver of basically mud and gravel surrounded by concrete that was created when the new deer fence was installed recently. Another plot owner planted milkweed there and I also added in some Calendula that had sown itself under the picnic table and near the compost/wood chip piles. I figured the Calendula seedlings were much better transplanted to this new bed than getting trampled underfoot as gardeners came and went to those areas. In just a few short weeks, the Borage seedlings have established themselves well and are all now in flower -- to the delight of many bees and other pollinators.
I was watering and weeding this little strip every other day until last week and now this one, as we now have consistent rains (mostly quick-moving thunderstorms) and I hope that weather pattern keeps up for the rest of the summer!
We thinned the seedlings in the cut-flower beds. The Zinnias in particular were growing fast and really starting to crowd each other.
The Pepper and 'Incredible Escalator' Zucchini plants are also putting on good growth. Though the mound with the heirloom Zucchini 'Cocozelle' has not shown any sign of seedlings emerging yet. That was the one where we gave up on the 'Dark Star' Zucchini seeds originally planted there. If these replacements don't show up soon, I think we'll switch to something else completely different in their spot.
Due to all the rains, I never got to pull out the last of the lettuce and peas and plant beans in their spot. I also have some more herb seedlings to get in the ground and want to start okra and cotton seeds. I might even start a few crops for fall at this point in the season.
We just planted peas (three varieties), carrots ( 3 types), beets believe 2 varieties, dill, and radishes in the last 2 weeks. They are all doing well. The deer are eating the tops of our tomato's. Need to apply feather meal soon. Rest of the crops of cucumbers, pickles, butternut squash, zucchini both green and yellow, 6+varieties of peppers, broccoli, broccolini, 5 varieties of cabbages both red and green, blue, red brussel sprouts, Japanese and Italian Eggplants all are doing well. Early kale, lettuce ( all sheared now), swiss chard, lemon grass, lovage, valerian, angelica, basils, parsley both curley and flat are growing nicely.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is quite a bounty! Sorry to hear about the deer eating your tomato plants - what are they thinking? It shouldn't be on their list of edible items - but go figure...
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