Summer Solstice

Neighbour's Mountain Ash in bloom. Still some berries left from last year. Birds must be holding out for the strawberries!

Above, L to R: Brussels Sprouts, Spinach, Lovage, Peas (behind). Lovage is now nearly 4 feet tall and is starting to bloom. I'm guessing now is a good time to start harvesting it, but not exactly sure how best to do this i.e. How much to harvest at once? Cut off flowers or let bloom and go to seed? Etc.

Plus the tomatoes (above). Plants where flowers were plucked off before transplanting now starting tomatoes up to about 1 to 2 cm diameter. Other tomatoes up to ~7 cm on plant with previously non-plucked flowers.

Tenergreen Improved Bush Bean planted May 16 on each side of pathway. They look a little yellow, not sure if that's normal? Behind beans: Bloomsdale Spinach planted May 16 and Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard planted May 2.

Summary of approximate germination % with direct seeding in garden:

• Marigolds 10 - 20% (seed gathered from mom's garden)
• Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard 90-100%
• Bloomsdale Spinach 80%
• Cherry Belle Radish 70%
• Green Arrow Peas (planted Apr 11) 0%
• Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Peas (planted May 3) 70-80%
• Homesteader/Lincoln Peas (planted May 3) 70-80%
• Carrots (planted May 2) 10-20% (from free package, didn't expect much)
• Tendergreen Improved Bush Beans 80%

This summary is not very accurate for small seeds planted densely together (such as spinach, swiss chard, carrots, radishes, etc), in which case the % has more to due with the gaps in rows than actual % seed germination. Just a rough observation for future reference.

Radish & Oregano Harvest

Cherry Belle Radish planted April 11, havesting 3 to 5 per week. Radishes are just starting to show chew marks from creatures below, so it's a good time to get to them first! Radishes are rich in ascorbic acid (Vit. C, antioxidant), folic acid (Vit. B9), and potassium. They are also a good source of vitamin B6, riboflavin (vit. B2), magnesium, copper, and calcium, among other minerals and vitamins. California Poppies behind radishes (in above photo).

Bubbles Brussels Sprouts transplanted May 5 (above). Not sure when or how to havest these. Advice welcome!

Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard (lower left) planted May 2 and Homesteader Peas (upper left) planted May 3. Planted Tendergreen Improved Bush Beans May 28 (upper right, just off photo) where Green Arrow Peas planted April 11 did not come up (planted too early). These beans are just coming up (June 21).

Oregano and radish harvest!

Snow!

East and north winds have brought snow! Low of +1 C last night with frost predicted tonight. Compare with last frost in early May last year (but then again we did get that snowstorm in June that ripped branches off the trees). Will definitely be making good use of the cold frame this year. The cold frame is also good protection from hail, which we've had more than once already this year (too small to do any damage so far). Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard in the bottom of the above photo, tolerates the cold well.

L to R in above photo (along fence): Kale, Brussels Sprouts and Lovage.