We decided to try corn again this year. I had tried it in 2013 and found that it didn’t produce much at all. This year we did a little more research and gave them a little more room to spread out in the rear beds. Although we sometimes sowed two or three kernels per spot, sometimes we got one, sometimes two, sometimes none at all. I doubted we really had the nutrients to support them, but was interested in giving them another chance. By this time, we had run our irrigation lines as well, as visible here.
A little rainy night garden photography. Beets under a tomato.
Also in mid-June, eggplant flowers, which are quite beautiful umbrellas of purple and pink, started appearing to attract the bees.
Corn stalk from above.
Small clusters of cherry tomatoes, usually the first to appear and last to depart from the scene, made their entrance.
My partner in crime schooled me about Purslane, which is at once a weed and a yummy salad green. It’s something I composted in the past. Now it’s lunch!
Cucumbers, which had had a rough start this year due to damping-off during propagation, were finally spreading their wings.
Peas, which still elude the silver bullet that would produce more than a handful of pods, were climbing their way up the fence. I need to come up with a better strategy for these guys– they are very fragile and produce next to nothing, then die off quickly. My succession plantings were even less fruitful, but I still think they have a place here.
By the end of June, the big dogs of the garden were making their presence known– heirloom Brandywines and Cherokee Purple tomatoes.
We were also getting ready for the first pepper tasting of the season, and not a moment too soon.
The larger of the corn stalks were starting to flower. Soon we’d have to bone up on our pollinating technique.
Cucumber sending out new tendrils into the sunshine.
Collard greens, taking shape into the broadleaf statues they would soon become.
Eggplant, showing a few buds. For their color alone, they are worth planting.
Late June. All promise and sun.
