It's summertime. Yahoo!

Awe, summertime! A time that brings the occasional overnight shower (last night half an inch) followed by cool delightful mornings that quickly turn into sizzler hot days. Certainly, a good time to be out and about amongst young veggies in the making. And even though my raised beds don’t amount to much in terms of space, they make up for it in the diverse crops that become welcome additions to my cash strapped grocery budget.

Today, a first for me! I harvested two bunches of garlic! I’m so proud too. These will be allowed to dry out and then will become part of a recipe I have planned for later in the month when my zucchini and crooked necked squash get large enough to harvest. While the zucchini has not been a problem, my squash has tended to rot before getting very large. Anyone have any ideas out there? Maybe I should put up a small trellis to get them off the ground. Don’t know for sure.

The recipe I’m planning to make is called Calabacitas which I understand is the Spanish word for zucchini. The recipe combines squash, zucchini, onion, garlic, green chili and cilantro along with some herbs to make a real south of the border taste treat. I’ve elected to make this my first ever taste of squash or zucchini. (That deal will be the subject of another blog). Right now, everything’s ready to go except members from the aforementioned gourd family.

Wide variation in Moringa leaf color observed

I have two Moringa plants that were grown from seed in identical soil and pots. The interesting thing to note, however is that the two plants look very different. One has dark green large leaves while the other has much lighter green smaller leaves. I also have another friend who is growing a plant and she reports that hers is very much like #2.

I’ve included a picture of leaves taken this date from each plant for comparison. If anyone has any idea of why the coloration would be so different, I would love to hear from them.

Swallowtail and Hummingbird Moth

It seems that the onion plant I allowed to go to seed this spring is attractive to all sorts of insects. Here is a picture of a swallowtail butterfly and a hummingbird moth both at the same time. Pretty cool!

Romaine grows very quickly!

This beautiful half pound head of romaine lettuce I harvested this morning, was a small transplant into my raised bed in early May. That’s it there in the picture, the little guy that doesn’t look like much.

Then, just a month later and thanks to lots of sun and water. Here is the end result. Not a bad return from one little seed!

First Japanese Beetle of 2011 season now out and about!

While out walking this morning on a beautiful June the 14^th, I observed my first Japanese beetle of the 2011 season on a miniature rose in my front yard in Forsyth Missouri.

While I’m sure this will only be the first of many sightings, it’s definitely time to get out the row covers and protect the plants you consider the most valuable. In my case, that would be the bean plants that are just now getting ready to bud out. I may also elect to cover my purple coneflower, but will wait a little to see just how attractive they will be to a bug that likes to eat most everything it sees.

Let’s see. I know it’s a squash. Isn’t it?

This season, due to a mix of sloppy record keeping, inattention and a touch of senility I seem to have quite a few ‘mystery plants’ here and there in my backyard beds. This lack of detail is a recent development for me. I used to be oh so picture perfect when it came to what went where. I even used to put those cute little plastic markers next to each perfectly aligned row. Using a magic marker, I would painstakingly write out the name of the vegetable and its variety. That way, when harvest time rolled around, I knew exactly what was what.

These days my methods are, shall we say, a little more loosey goosey. This spring, seed packet in hand, I would often sow the seed and then look around for a small twig or stick to mark the row thinking I would remember what went where. I called it my ‘stick it and forget it’ method of planting. Problem is, now I have no idea of what the heck is what. Take my squash plants for instance. I have this nice little guy now growing rather quickly and can only guess that it’s a crook-necked squash.

So, that’s the deal for 2011. I don’t mind all that much. I’m always thankful for anything that comes from nature and God.

Purple Coneflowers are enjoying the heat!

After a wet ending to April here in southwest Missouri, a month that also saw cooler than normal temperatures, June did a 360 and has turned out hot and dry. The combo, however, seems to have had a good effect on my plantings of Echinacea purpurea or Purple Coneflower. I have two plantings that were started from seed a few years ago. Once established, I understand they can also be easily divided.

I planted them originally to experiment with, health wise. I’ve heard the roots can help prevent or lessen the severity of colds if prepared as an infusion. So far, I haven’t gotten that done, but would love to hear form anyone that has. Studies that I’ve read seem divided as to this plants immune system stimulating ability. I did notice that American Indians used the plant as part of their medical culture and think that lend some credibility.

Cicada Love Songs