Oh when summer arrives, quickly with a 104F heat index wednesday and thursday, it arrives to nourish the life already springing forth with plenty of soothing and wholesome energy.  Time seems to slip by in such enjoyable weather so halfway through June we find ourselves already. We have been enjoying bush beans, strawberries, cucumbers, garlic, and more recently purple potatoes from our own garden. The cucumber plants and pumpkins are struggling, possibly due to insects. The cucumber harvest has suffered greatly, but new plants are in the soil already and the aquaponic table has two cucumber plants on their 3rd set of leaves.  Diatomaceous earth and hand squashing bugs are the only methods used thus far besides hoping for beneficial insects to join in. The orchard has not changed much, slow and steady growth it seems. However, the local deer have devoured the Fuji and Anna Apple trees, while consistently nibbling lightly on the Craig's Crimson Cherry too.We have lost all the forming fruits on the Satsuma Mandarin, due to the tree focusing on root growth hopefully so next year will be bountiful.

Enjoy the updates!

June 6th we awoke to an interesting sight in the 20 by 20... a mole had dragged a pole bean plant downward into the soil, creating what I call a bean lily appearance.

June 8th we made out first pickles! Bread and Butter chips in 3 jars, and Dill in the other three.

June 10th we dug up the raised bed with purple potatoes in it as the excessive rain, or possibly soil composition, caused the plants to wilt and die. The result, a colander over flowing with purple potatoes, topped off with strawberries, bush beans, and cucumbers (lemon cucumber are the yellow ones). We have been eating bush beans and strawberries consistently for 2 weeks now!

 

If this video works, it attempts to depict the lightening show we witnessed thursday night. The camera was only able to capture about 1/4 of the lightening! For about an hour we sat outside and watched a massive storm pass over the surrounding area. Gloriously flashing bolts of lightening consistently without pausing for more than 5 seconds the whole duration! Truly an amazing display by Mother Nature. 

June 14th the blueberry bushes are struggling it seems, but trying to fruit still! The Lisbon Lemon can be seed in the background, along with the base of the Parfianka Pomegranate and the Elberta Peach.

June 14th the plants have overwhelmed the container garden. Attempting pineapple plants in the white containers, the habanero closest to the camera is a week and a year old now, fruiting vigorously at this point. The replanted orange tree is thriving, as is the ghost pepper (bush). The 100 gallon air pruning bed is doing great, the sun flowers are most noticeable here. The Meyer Lemon is flourishing, but still no blooms. The mum planters are doing amazing and days away from a full on bloom! Lots of smaller planters in the vicinity too as I am working to help others with starts for their own gardens.

June 14th view of the cucumbers which are truly struggling. Possibly insect damage, definitely suffering from powdery mildew at this point. Without garlic in the 4x4 it looks so empty!

June 14th the Moon and Star watermelon are thriving!! Haven't spotted any fruits forming yet, but plenty of blossoms and pollinators seem to be abundant.

June 14th view of the Elberta Peach, with three fruits on her getting their color! Very exciting as they will be the first harvest of any of the orchard!

June 14th snapshot of work to do. Lots of tending to be done in the L shaped raised bed. The potatoes have been harvested so the Rainbow Chard is spreading out if it can survive the intense summer heat. The bell peppers and habanero are flower and fruiting even at such a small size. The parsley is on it way to flower and consistently keeping us stocked up with fresh leaves. The tomatoes in the area are slowly growing, with onions looking fantastic nearby. The carrots are looking great, while the lettuce starts to bolt and flower. Our cilantro supply is about gone due to the heat pushing the plants into flower and the wind stressing them sideways almost! Plenty of coriander forming along with Dill blossoms and seed!

June 14th view of a sister mound, sugar baby watermelon plants (fruit forming!), peas on their way out, quinoa, and a black beauty eggplant, plant.

June 14th the strawberries are about done at this point, onions, carrots, and bush beans pushing on in the background.

June 14th update on the aquaponics table. The pvc serves as a structure to hold the trellis and also the top half will have a covering to keep rainwater out and intense sun as the summer progresses. Left to right you can see tomato plants thriving and fruiting (not sure if they are roma paste or san marzano), with smaller suckers rooting behind and cucumbers really starting to take off, and a celery plant in the back right corner of the left tub. The right tub has another tomato sucker thriving, not yet fruiting, with a Brandywine heirloom tomato reaching upwards into the trellis, hopefully to bear fruit soon too! Behind those two are a sweet banana pepper heirloom, a chocolate bell pepper, chocolate habanero, and two yellow crookneck squash plants. I worry it may be over planted but time will tell. Feeding the plants in the 110 gallon tub below the table are two koi, one orange named Maya, one silver named Montezuma or Monte for short. I did acquire 3 channel catfish (three inches long each) and 5 bluegill (about 2 inches max each) about a week ago. I may have acted to soon as the nitrite levels in the 110 gallon were still 5ppm the first three days the fish were in the water. Another factor may have been the excessively warm temperatures keeping the water temperature around 80F for three days. Also, the tub was uncovered until yesterday, leaving room for an algae bloom. Currently, I have removed one bluegill and 2 catfish no longer alive from the tub, leaving the potential for 4 bluegill and a catfish to remain.  I have consistently seen Maya and Monte, as they are clearly visible with their vibrant color, and one bluegill during feeding. The water has become very murky due to the algae bloom, but ammonia and nitrite levels are nonexistent the past four days with nitrates barely show up in water tests. I believe we have reached the cycled point, now it is time to get the fish healthy and in greater numbers as to support the potential over stocking of plants. More fish will mean more ammonia, which is converted into nitrite, then nitrate, which the plants use for nutrients. Hoping the algae bloom will settle as will the murkiness of the water.

June 14th view of a three sister mound. This particular shot shows Waltham Butternut Squash ats the base of Kentucky Pole Beans and Sugar Pearl Corn.

June 14th view of the raised tomato bed. Oregano can be seen spreading on the soil level, tomatoes fruiting, and three basil varieties flowering and seeding the surrounding soil. Think we are starting to see a calcium deficiency in the tomatoes.

June 14th view of the 20 by 20 thriving!