Hurry Up Peas!

I visited the garden today after getting most of my housework out of the way. They were predicting temperatures in the 90's and I managed to be there at the apex of today's highs without my trusty water bottle. Sweating and slightly overwhelmed by the sun, I tended to the patch at my own peril.



Everything is enjoying our little heat wave. The Mortgage Lifter plant has its first flowers, the beet greens are now closer to braising greens than salad greens, and that lovely curly green leaf lettuce is living up to expectations by thriving in this heat. I corralled most of the sunflowers to the fig side of the trellis and tried to encourage the peas to climb that instead of everything else in the garden.

Besides muscling their way up my other plants, the peas are also really slow in producing this year. I don't know if it's the variety I chose, the unpredictable weather, or if I planted them too close to the beets and sunflowers. They aren't growing up as much as they are growing out and the space I had allocated for them is definitely vertical. Yes, there are flowers and pods. Yes, they are tasty. No, I probably won't have enough of a crop to have peas as a side dish for dinner this year. Alas, I will have to get my pea fix at one of the farmer's markets around here.

I promise to take some pictures of my apartment side pepper and herb pots soon. So far, cayenne is a very effective squirrel deterrent.

Big, Green, and Bushy

Peonies

Pretty Yellow Things

Garden Jungle

Lettuce, Beans, Bolted Spinach

After a week away from the garden, I was pretty surprised at the transformation. The lettuce is gigantic and I did some major harvesting. Most of the spinach has bolted so that was pulled (and eaten). The beans are flowering. The peas, although short and preferring to spread laterally, are making plenty of flowers and pods. The beets are twice as big as they were this time last year and ditto for the carrots. Some of the radishes were large enough to eat. Two cucumber and three squash plants are beginning to look promising. The cherry tomato already has bundles of flowers and the other two are doing fine but requesting more sun and hot weather. The eggplant and hot peppers would like the same.

I missed the dramatic orange peony but the pink and white bushes were still looking lovely on Friday. There are quite a few things flowering right now and almost everything has doubled in size since last week including the little peaches on the tree. I tried to thin them out to the recommended 1 peach per 8 inches but I would need a big ladder to get any further with that project.

In regards to the squirrel problem outside my apartment, the cayenne seems to be working. I've even added a fourth pot with thyme, rosemary, and lavender.

Squirrel Control

I have some pots out by my stoop that are planted with marigolds and hot peppers. It's a nice sunny spot and as long as I'm diligent with the watering, things should be fine. However, the pots are under attack by some nosey squirrels that just can't seem to resist digging in the dirt. I've lost at least two marigolds and I'm worried a pepper plant could go next. This morning I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the exposed dirt to see if that will deter them. Anyone else tried this or another method of squirrel proofing? The plants are too large for screen at this point.

This afternoon should reveal whether or not my spicy methods are effective.