Garden Report

The garden continues to do fairly well.

We planted white, blue and sweet Hopi corn. Julie planted one side of each bed and I planted the other. We have a good stand of white corn, a fair stand of blue corn and a poor stand of sweet corn. Much of the sweet corn didn't germinate. I can't tell a difference between what I planted and what Julie planted.


This garden bed is 20 feet by 4 feet. It contains Cosmos, squash, kohlrabi, tomatoes and four varieties of peppers. (Larger version)

The germination rate for the salsify and parsnips wasn't excellent so next year I'll try a couple ideas in hopes of better rates.

I bought one cucumber plant and it struggled for a few weeks and died. I couldn't identify a cause. It had adequate water, didn't exhibit signs of sunburn and showed no obvious symptoms as to the cause. I'm not a big fan of cucumbers but I'll try one or two again next year just to accept the challenge.


This is the first time I've raised kohlrabi. It's definitely a keeper. Next year I'm going to plant three varities. (Larger version)

In June I hauled more water than usual but not an unmanageable amount nor at an unreasonable cost. Since the monsoon season has begun we're doing little watering. We haven't had a big rain but we have received several small showers. A combination of mulch, showers and cloudy afternoons has kept the soil moist.

Unfortunately, we have encountered one unexpected problem due to moisture. Each summer we have a short period when cinder bugs are an irritation. We've done a few things and manage to keep them out of the house but the garden is home to thousands upon thousands. Thus far they have done little damage.


I've found only one tomato horn worm but, there's evidence that more are hidden in the plants. Their camouflage is excellent. (Larger version)

Recently we moved a russian sage, some day lilies and some bearded irises to the garden. The sage didn't need protection but rabbits were feasting on the lilies and irises. I've been extremely happy with the garden fence. It's keeping the rabbits out. I've seen only one squirrel inside the fence.