Just an update

Things are progressing in my garden. The rain has finally stopped and now it’s in the 90s. I went to the local community market this past weekend and the farmers were complaining about all the water affecting their crops negatively, so that made me feel better. I didn’t lose anything, but it definitely seems the rain has retarded the growth of some of my plants, my cucumbers especially. Now that they’ve had about a week to dry out they’re starting to get a little more vertical.

I have some great looking squash that have yet to produce a single female flower. Just about when I was about so swear off growing squash, I read about eating squash flowers, so now that’s something to look forward to. My cantaloupe seem to be doing well with lots of female flowers. I’ve started visiting my garden in the morning before work so I can pollinate them with a paint brush.

My strawberry plants from Gurney’s finally shipped and have finally sprouted leaves. This was the first year I ordered plants online and I don’t know if my expectations were just too high, but I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again. I was surprised at how long it took things to ship and how very small they were when they finally got here. I think next year I’ll support my local co-op more and buy from them early. If anyone has an online company they like, please share.

Some of my strawberries:

	Back Deck That’s wisteria we’ve planted on the bottom, repurposed pots hanging from the middle, and more traditional hanging pots from the top.
	Yow My little Lillie couldn’t stand not to be in my sight. Directly behind her is a red sand pail I got for $1. I bought 10. They are my new favorite pots.
	Beneficial I have these spiders all over my backyard. I have to take down two separate webs to get to my spigot. I hope they’re beneficial and eating the things I don’t want around.
	Female Cantaloupe This is my first female cantaloupe flower. It bloomed this week. I have many more to bloom soon.
	Third Looks like tomatoes will be the third thing I harvest. First was peppers. Second was beans and peas. I think I’ll wait to pick these until we’re heading to visit my mother this weekend so she can enjoy my garden from afar.