Thursday, June 24, 2010

more dirty talk..... !







hey y'all!! its farmer tinybutt!

well, so much has been going on and i must apologize for not blogging about much of it. i promise, i will be better... TRUST ME.

so i'm working at becoming more proficient with this, and am excited at the prospect of feeling like i know what the heck i'm doing. so far other than the ongoing herb cuttings (rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, tarragon), i've had only a couple harvests - spinach and lettuces. the lettuces are an ongoing thing, you cut/trim, they grow back. but we've had several early and unusual heat waves here in the bay area, so my spinach 'bolted' on me, which means it puts all it's energy into making seeds and not growing or producing fruit. depending on what plant it is, it can be a bad thing to a not too bad thing. some veggies that bolt can still be eaten, like spinach, but the longer you keep them growing, the more bitter (bitterer..?) they get.

so i've been worried about my cabbage and broccoli because of the heat as they are cold weather crops, along with the lettuces. i have lost 3 cabbages, one to suspected bolting, and the other 2 to aphids - nasty, creepy, dastardly little buggers that can be extremely hard to get rid of. it doesn't take long for them to quadruple-ply, they can be hard to manage, and depending on the plant, can destroy it in short order. then there are cabbage caterpillars that can/will eat your leafy green gardens then turn into seemingly cute little white butterflies, but wrong - they're moths that come back and lay they're caterpillar eggs again. ... sigh!

but i'm encouraged though! i have many, many little green beans, lots of little squashes, a few little green tomatoes, and finally - a itty bitty broccoli head!! it makes me so happy. i still have alot to do with the yard/garden for sure, but i'm just amazed at the fact that i've planted things in the ground and they're actually growing! in the meantime, here are some pics of my amazing little piece of paradise.

be well and enjoy



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