Archive | June, 2009

Beans!

By on June 20, 2009 in Garden

firstbeans

And now the big question of the day is…

Basil?

Or tarragon?

The bigger question is how I’m going to reach those beans at the top and beyond the top of my 7-foot bean support.  It’s complicated by the proximity of a very prickly rose bush.  Step ladder time, I guess.  At least I’m not afraid of bees, because they seem to love the bean vines as much as I do.

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Side yard project — almost finished!

By on June 7, 2009 in Garden

almost_done

It’s almost done! The paving still needs to be washed with muriatic acid to get rid of the cement film and expose the color of the aggregate and brick, I’m still going to hang a few things on those big blank walls, and the plants need to grow and fill in, but that’s about it.

It’s planted with a combination of salvias, cosmos, nerembergia Purple Robe, annual phlox, and vinca, all annuals that thrive in the hot summer sun. Since we overlook this little planter from the kitchen table, I plan to keep it in seasonal annuals so we always have something colorful to look at over breakfast. The vines on the trellises are bougainvilleas, which should grow to fill the space within a year or two.

I love the fountain!

planted

(Still not quite finished is the utility area behind the stucco wall, where Frank has built me a new potting bench and shelves for pots and other garden stuff. I’ll post photos as soon as it’s finished.)

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Vegetable garden progress

By on June 7, 2009 in Cats, Garden

sungoldsjune5

I picked the first five sungold tomatoes June 5! Some years I’ve picked the first tomato as early as June 1, but I don’t think I’ve ever had as many fruits on the plants this early as I do this year. All six tomato plants have reached the tops of their cages. In just a couple of weeks, we’ll have all the tomatoes we can eat.

skybeans

The beans have reached the top of their 7-foot fence and are reaching for the sky.

beans

The pole beans also tried to sneak into the adjacent rose bush, but I did a little judicious pruning yesterday to discourage that. They’re all blooming, and I’ve spotted many little threadlike, inch-long beans.

lemoncuke

The lemon cucumber, peppers, bush beans, leeks and herbs are all doing amazingly well. And the carrots I planted as an afterthought in two earth boxes are just showing their first true leaves. I’m not sure how well they’ll do in Sacramento summer heat–we’ll see.

firstsun

The stone cat, positioned to catch the first rays of sun in the morning, watches over everything, as she has for the past 20 years. Lizzie, on the other hand, snoozes on the job.

gray

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