Eating Early Veg

 

Summer is here and the garden is producing. It happens fast around here. Just a couple of weeks ago I was deeply worried about tiny plants just starting out. Today, just about everything is up. We've got four different kinds of squash up. We have lettuce that's ready to eat. We had almost no chance to eat the rocket before it bolted. The beets are up. There are onions coming and the garlic needed a rescue as it had all fallen down while seeking the sun. The itsy bitsy tomato & pepper plants are now big enough to ease the worry. 

It is dry. We had a nice downpour yesterday that refilled the rain barrels, but we've had to use the hose pipe more than I would like. And it looks like another week without a drop in the forecast as far out as it goes. 

We have been engaged in a pogrom against creeping Charlie. The stuff is one green thing in the lawn that I really don't want, because it is totally invasive and wrecks everything else that I do want in the lawn. We've tried covering it with a tarp. No luck. After two weeks, it sprang right back. We tried ripping it out, to mixed success. We tried burning it with a propane torch. This was satisfying, but it was back a week later. Finally, I've given up and I laid out cardboard and put down new dirt, in which I planted red fescue and clover. Here's hoping that this gets the job done. 

This is just phase I. We need more cardboard & dirt, but the coffers are emptied on all the stuff that seems to be needed for putting together a garden. The $200 tomato...

But, it is supremely satisfying to work out there all day. Very relaxing. And it is WARM. And it is going to BE WARM for the foreseeable future. 

Summer is short, but it is fantastic.