Hello friend! This is an update on our hugelkultur project and how our garden is growing.
This time of year feels like "the burgeoning" to me... all of the plants are at the top of their game. They're putting things in order and getting to the tippy-top of the rollercoaster ride. Then in August things will start to ripen and over-ripen and grow and over-grow and fall over and twist and generally explode. The roller coaster ride will start its fast, accelerating ride down toward autumn and next thing you know, there's snow on the ground. Jeez! But first let's celebrate the rest of summer.
The peaches are still green but starting to have a hint of color. (They might look peach-colored in the foreground, but they're really a greenish-yellow.)
The tomatoes are setting fruit at a tremendous pace and seem poised to ripen suddenly and all at once. We have already started getting a few ripe cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes.
The onions are doing mysterious things underground and seem healthy.
The yellow pear tomato is our biggest plant--it has grown to 6 feet tall (hitting the top of our bamboo structure). I finally started to "top" (cut off) the growing tips so that the plant would instead focus on ripening its fruit. Indeterminate tomatoes are remarkably aggressive at growing and branching and growing and branching. (Good job, tomatoes!)
In addition to the burgeoning, there are also plants that are already producing, and some have even passed their prime.
The summer squash has been very very busy.
Out of our three cucumber plants, only one has survived. I'm not sure if it's an infection from cucumber beetles, or just the incessant rain that we've had during July. But something killed two of our plants. We've since put in a replacement cucumber to see what will happen.
The green beans are near the top of this photo and they are producing delicious, crisp-tender beans that we harvest every few days. Just a modest handful or two at a time, which is a perfect amount. On the right side of this photo is kale that is also producing happily. On the left is lettuce, which heat and age have caused to go to seed. We let a few plants "bolt" to see what they would look like. That 3-foot tall tower on the left is red lettuce that has thoroughly gone to seed.
There are also a few plant-friends around the place that aren't exactly vegetables.
I planted marigolds alongside the tomato plants. They are very vigorous.
I also planted some speedwell in the perennial garden. It has purple spikes of flowers that pollinators love. Look closely and you can see there's a bumblebee hanging on the right side of the flowers. The bees just sit there and sip for minutes at a time.
Our CBD plant seems pretty happy. Or do you call it a hemp plant? A cannabis plant? I'm not sure what this plant is for (it's supposed to have no THC so it's not, like, drugs). Maybe we'll dry it at some point.
I hope that your summer has been going OK. Ours is good, though I am trying to firmly NOT overcommit myself or get TOO BUSY. Overbooking yourself is so pre-COVID, man. Here's to treating ourselves and each other more humanely whenever we possibly can, from now on.
Today is my fourth soberversary by the way! I have really been enjoying an alcohol-free life and would recommend it to anyone who feels like booze is playing too big a role in their coping. Read 20 reasons I like not drinking for details--they still hold true 3 years later.
Cheers to you (with seltzer and a side of delicious cheese and crackers)!
