Speaking of fresh produce, some of you are probably wondering how the garden is doing. I’ve not seen it for a long time. I told you about the fig tree, but not of other things.
Well, there’s more to come, but here are a few pleasant things to come home to (as a result of the improved drip system I mentioned earlier):
I’ve got corn! I have not grown corn since I was a child, so this has an extra buzz for me. If you want to teach a child the value and wonder of gardening -and more seriously, give them a key component of an appreciation of how our planet’s food supply works- get them growing something easy and fast-growing like corn, or beans. It’s just magical, even as an adult, since these things grow and change so fast, you can almost see them progressing in front of your eyes. Please consider getting a child involved in something like this (or just yourself if you’ve never grown anything!) It is fulfilling, and easy – and you don’t need a garden. You can do it on a window-sill, or on the doorstep, with a deep pot or two.
Another good and easy thing to grow that gives results that are easily appreciated are various things from the squash family. Cucumbers, pumpkins, patty pan squash, etc. Here are some zucchini (courgettes) coming along nicely in the shade of the leaves of their parent plant, not so far from the stovetop pot:
I love pepper bushes. This little one (Chile Arbol) is very small, but those green peppers all over it will be red soon, and it will be a pleasure to see. (And provide lovely hot peppers for my cooking):
Lots of work -a huge amount- to do in the garden. It was super hot here, evidently, and despite the drip system (which I have set to give a modest amount of water to various plants’ roots every other day – I can’t bring myself to waste water; cannot bear sprinklers and abhor the idea of excess water regularly gushing everywhere) I did lose a couple of cucumber plants and a lovely tomato plant that had lasted two seasons. Oh well. More room for new things. There are tree branches to prune (lots of premature drooping of branches due to the heatwave) and a wayward bougainvilla to do prickly battle with to return to its natural shape.
More later, about the flowering side of things, for example.
-cvj
