Finally, some sun. But without excessive heat or humidity. Amazing, for Minnesota in June. Now I have to start keeping a mental eye on my second garden -- the one I don't see every day because it's a few blocks away. Since planting in late May I've not needed to worry about watering, but I don't want to forget about it. I was over there Saturday morning, working the soil around the plants to get rid of weed grass that is rampant in the planting bed. It's a semi-raised bed; the front (where I grow the vegetables) is raised, but the ground rises so that the back (home to perennials including rhubarb and lots of tall ornamental grass run amok) is flush with the surrounding lawn.
Here's how things are doing this week: lots of happy little lettuce seedlings are up. I've always treated my lettuce beds as a cut-and-come-again, take-a-few-leaves-as-needed salad bar, rather than aiming to raise big beautiful heads that will each be harvested all at once. The zinnias (the one flower I started from seeds this year), unfortunately, have been nibbled considerably by rabbits. Full-size and cherry tomato plants are doing well, particularly the Big Beef plants, which are now almost triple the size of the others. Pole beans and cucumbers have emerged from the ground in some quantity, though I replanted on Saturday in a few spots where they either didn't germinate or served as somebunny's or somebirdy's lunch. No sign of pumpkins; I replanted there, as well. There is a well-established clump each of chives and sage in the bed, and just this weekend I planted some of the smaller basil plants I still had in my seed-starting set-up, as well as a leftover patio-size tomato plant.
Never did get around to tilling an additional patch for zucchini and other squash, so I guess I'll be relying on the farmers' market for that this summer. Or, for those of you who may find yourself looking for a car to leave some extras in, I'll leave a window open.
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