first tomato...

actually it was 3. as predicted it was a sungold and it was delicious...

a bouquet of flowers - even a dad wouldnt mind getting

i'm not too much of a flowery guy, dont mind giving them - but not too hip on receiving them. but, i thought these were kinda pretty. flowers from my blue and yukon gold potato patch. enjoy!

the first blush of a tomato

looks like i will be picking my first ripe tomato next week. granted, its a cherry - so it doesnt really count in the first tomato competition - BUT, it still is a tomato and its mine! its a sungold - and i can tell you i can not wait for full production to get kicked into overdrive. overall - i have a solid production across the 41 plants. this year there should be an abundance of these lycopene babies.

front yard project

well, the lower areas started to get attention and as you can see in this photo - the bark has been cleared and the boulders placed. plants placed in this area are golden barberry, purple barberry, streibs findling cottoneaster, veronica and siskyou blue fescue. the boulders were purchased at earth traders in placerville. the owner allows you to cherry pick the rocks you want and charges .15 per pound - which seems reasonable.

hive died :(

no bees left, queen is gone. looks like 2010 is the year of the bee - unless some one has some free-bees (pun intended).

garry

6/14 garden update

i have been gone for 3 days. when i visit the garden daily, i dont notice much change - but skip 3 days and BAM! - major growth is noticed. all beds are doing well.

all 41 tomato plants are growing well, with many over 3 feet tall. all finally got caged today - with the late addition of 4 Texas cages - as a gift from my in-laws. i wouldnt say the plants are loaded with green tomatoes, but there are plenty to keep my interest. these are the true queen of the garden. thats jed (the wonder dog) - checking out the garden too.

the cucumber starts have 2 cukes to show for their efforts - and these puppies will be harvested in the next week or so.

the climbing cukes (from seed) are about 4 inches tall and will soon begin to climb the trellis (small plants to the left of the giant zuke leaves). the zucchini continue their rampage thru the bed and i have removed leaves that have encroached the other plants - this wont happen next year.

corn is running about 12 inches tall - and although it seems to be a bed frequented by the mole - we havent lost any to the critter. this is burpee's sugar pearl, burpee claims it rivals silver queen in flavor - and is 20 days earlier. will advise if that is true - also i forgot to plant them in staggered fashion - so i will be eating a lot of corn at one time!

beans are doing well, with the climbers starting to grasp the tee-pee trellis'.

the squash and watermelon are doing ok. 3 diff winter squash are in there - waltham butternut, table queen (acorn) and thelma sanders (acorn). the watermelon is golden midget - all of these are heirloom from seed savers.

potatoes are tall and the flowers are starting to show on the plants - anyone know when i should harvest? - short of digging and looking for tubers? i thought it is when the greens start to fade - but need info - and failed to call in to fred's show to ask the question.

mole update

still seeing mole tracks, but fortunately - i havent lost anything to the mole yet. today (6/14), i applied a pellet version of castor oil (see picture) and followed it with a liquid version of the same chemical. no luck with the mechanical trap. hopefully the castor oil will be enough to get rid of the pest.

first harvest....

well the post is late - but these babies are the first to be pulled from the garden. radishes - the quick and easy vege that just about ensures success. these babies came out some where around 6/8, and we pulled a second batch. glad these got going - being that FF, carrie and bill all are seeing tomatoes. up here at 1850 feet, it'll be awhile before i see any red on the tomato side of my garden - but when i do, you can bet i will be a pretty happy camper.

note to self.....

zucchini (summer squash) should be in a bed by themselves. so - rule #1 - only plant zucchini in a bed where it will not over run other plants. rule #2 - if you think you can sneak an extra zucchini into any bed, refer to rule #1....

other than an over run zucchini - i got a shot of my tallest tomato. everything is doing well and the tomatoes have just rocketed. we have few slower ones, but the one pictured here is a great white hybrid and is the tallest in the garden to date. nearly 3 feet tall in less than a month after going into the ground.

enjoyed an electrical storm the other night....

did some front porch sitting and enjoyed the show. it was incredibly difficult to capture an image and this is the best i got. we dont get these too often around here.

picked up a swarm a few days ago...

got a frantic call from the taco bell in folsom, they had a swarm and the bee store gave them my name. by the description from the manager - this was a huge swarm and they couldnt have it there. off goes - captain apiary to the rescue. when i got there, i was a bit disappointed to find about 3/4 cup of bees hanging off a branch.

i knocked them into my swarm box and came back in the evening, once the bees settled in, and picked up the hive.

i wasnt even sure there was a queen in there. the bees were behaving like they had one, but i couldnt find her until tonight. she hasnt started laying and doesnt appear to be too well mated (a well mated queen will have a larger abdomen).

for your viewing pleasure here she is - the queen is circled in blue. she appears to be carniolan. hopefully she will lay and this small hive may make it. but i'm not holding my breath.