The week of rains around July 4 really helped me out. My rainwater tanks with capacity of 6,000 gals were empty and I was planning to pump from a disused well, when the rains arrived. Solid drenching rains and my tanks are full.
The Rose of Sharon hibiscus is in flower again – it must produce prolific pollen since all types of insects visit it, though the most industrious as usual are the bumblebee. I was sorry to read that raised temps are adversely affecting them.
Between my apple trees I have a growing strip perhaps 5ft wide and 60ft long. This is my second year and results are looking better. My pattern for the “3 sisters” (actually 4 since I have corn, squash, beans and peas) is to have the squash on the outside where they catch the sun and the corn rows intermingled with rows of beans/peas.
Every year my squash are felled by a nasty base borer and this year will probably be no different. However each day we pick and enjoy the young squash and hope for more.
Tomatoes are doing well. No surprise that the heirloom varieties taste the best and at this time the Black Cherry is delicious. Ukraine Purple which did well last year is off to a poor start, though it is early days. I am pleased to see that MOS (my own variety – from seed collected last year) is looking strong, though still some time away from harvesting.
And to keep things cheerful and not take myself too seriously I always intersperse the beds with sunny sunflowers, the taller the better. I remove their lower leaves so the food producers can access the sun.
And finally in a bed with a few tomatoes and California peppers, I planted some flower seed, and how cheerful they look.
