First Class!

July 13th was the first class for the YMCA campers.  It was hot (yes, even for July), but a hardy few still volunteered to get their hands on the garden beds.  We harvested the rest of the peas and potatoes (okay, potato, singular) for the day's dish, as well as some cucumbers and squash that will be too large by the July 20 class, and carrots.

We also planted some black-podded bush beans - these grow fast so we should see lots of growth, maybe even a few beans, by the end of class.

June 30

Potatoes in flower - soon, the flowers will fall.  A few small green fruits may form (similar to a tomato), the source of the potato seed.  However, most of the action is happening underground - flowers stimulate the formation of potatoes underground.  These will grow all summer and can be dug at any time.

Peppers, eggplant, carrots, and flowers.

Nasturtium, marigolds, tomatoes, and, yes, one weed.  Can you spot it?

Eggplants and zinnias.

Peas!  These are cool season crops and, as the nights warm up, they will stop producing and die back.  However, they will work all summer, "fixing" nitrogen in the soil.

The "three sisters" planting - we are seeing the tassels of the first corn.  Each tassel is attached to a kernel, and must be pollinated separately for its kernel to develop.

Sunflowers and lettuce.  The lettuce will "bolt" in hot weather, producing seeds to save for next year's crop.

The first pepper of the year!

The Garden Update - June 15

Class is still 3 weeks away, but thanks to lots of helpers, rain, and our sunny spot, the education garden is already booming!  Below, see our 3 sisters (corn, scarlet runner bean, and squash) planting:

 Peppers, eggplant, and flowers are getting established.  Flowers cannot be far behind.  A tomatillo (often called a "husk tomato") was added for summer salsa making.

 One of the two beds - besides the 3 sisters planting, there are also tomatoes, potatoes, nasturtium, basil, sunflowers, lettuce (for seed saving), and our very first crop, radishes, which surprised us with about 20 full-grown specimens for the restaurant.  Many thanks to the kids who helped on planting day with a manificent potato trench.

 Our "climbing section" in the second bed.  Watermelons and cucmubers are getting a slow start, but the peas are taking over!  In the background, see brussel sprouts and their "green mulch", also known as nasturtium.