Music Garlic Harvest and the Last of the Sweet Peas

Yesterday I processed the "Music" garlic that I harvested back on Wednesday. Normally I like to have them cure for a week before I clean the bulbs and store them, but I am leaving on vacation soon and am in a bit of a time crunch.

I am so pleased with this harvest. This is my second year growing this variety. I first purchased my stock at the Common Ground Fair in Maine, in September of 2015. So this is my second year with "Music" and it really performed well. Pictured above, my biggest bulb weighing in at 7.5 oz.

I ended up harvested 17 bulbs. The average bulb size was 6.2 oz. The largest bulb was 7.5 oz. and the smallest came in at a healthy 5.0 oz. My total "Music" harvest for 2017 was 6 lbs. 9.8 oz. In comparison, the 2016 harvest was also 17 bulbs. But the average bulb size was 4.8 oz. and the total harvest was 5 lbs. 1.0 oz.

After cleaning the "Music" bulbs, I dug up my "Chesnook Red" garlic. I am not happy with this variety this year. I know that "Music" produces larger bulbs, but the "Chesnook Red" bulbs look really small. I will wait to process and weight them, but I think it might be time to order some new stock to plant this Fall.

"Wiltshire Ripple"

I also cut what are probably the last 2 sweet pea bouquets of the year. After a cooler May, a wet and cool June, and a cooler July, Summer decided to show up. These 90 degree days the last few days have taken a toll on the 2 sweet pea towers. But what a year they had. They absolutely thrived in the cooler weather. The "Wiltshire Ripple" produced more blooms than any sweet pea variety that I have ever grown. And the Royal Family" Mix did well too, after a tough start becasue of rabbit damage. Until next year.

First Tiny Titus Cannellini Beans

The "Titus" Cannellini bush beans down in the Big Garden began to bloom about a week ago. Soon the snow white blossoms began to drop and tiny, immature beans were revealed. It's hard to tell at this point what kind of harvest its going to be this year, as the plants have really just begun blooming. But the plants look healthy and are continuing to produce new, leafy growth so I am optimistic about the a nice long spell of bean production. 

Golden Celebration Rose

Our "Golden Celebration" rose opened its first blooms this weekend. It was the last of the 5 new roses that we planted this Spring to bloom. Since we didn't expect any of the roses to bloom this first year, these displays, although small, have been a real bonus.

This award wining variety from David Austin, released in 1992,  has lovely golden-yellow blooms. They don't appear to be as cupped in shape with this first flush as they were described in the catalog. But that might change as the plant matures. They do have a very soft, floral scent. It will be fun to watch as this plant grows to reach its final 4.5' by 4.5' size.

Rose Birthday Girl

The first bloom opened this past weekend on the "Birthday Girl" floribunda rose. This rose is one of the 5 new roses that we purchased this Spring for one of our new flowerbeds. "Birthday Girl" has semi-double flowers with cream centers and pink and yellow edges. It is a repeat bloomer throughout the Summer and Fall. It should be a knock-out bush after it matures in a few year and gets covered in these vivid blooms.

Dahlia Planting - Day #9

"Ember"  MB Y

Another cooler night down in the garden. It feels strange to be planting and planting and not sweating! The sun finally came out around 4:00 PM today, so we had a pretty evening to enjoy. We began the night by giving everything a good watering. Then we launched into digging holes and planting dahlias. Another 16 in the ground for a total of 160/242 or 66.1% completed.

Dahlia Planting - Day #8

"Ruthie G"   WL LB PK/YL

A much different evening down in the garden with the high only hitting 73 today. It felt cool tonight while we were working. And a few times, when a breeze came through, it felt downright cold! What a difference 2 days makes! We started the night by taking down part of the rabbit fencing and off-loading another two yards of Nature's Best. Dad had picked it up earlier in the day while I was at work. Then we got back to planting. We were able to get another 16 dahlias planted tonight. It was 9:00 PM by the time we got the fencing put back in place and were headed home. I now have 144/242 dahlias in, or 59.5% completed.

Turnip Harvest

Yesterday I started to clean up the middle raised bed in the Kitchen Garden. Like all of my raised beds located there, this one has "gotten away" from me this Spring. Just a few weeks ago, both varieties of lettuce and the turnips planted in it were close to being mature. Now, just a few weeks later, they are past maturity and nearing bolting. I was most shocked at my "Tokyo Market" turnips. I swear the last time I looked at them they were still marble sized. Now most of them are 4" or more in diameter! I did manage to salvage about 8 of them that are still fairly small and tender. They weighted in at 13.1 oz. I washed them thoroughly and we will enjoy them diced in our salads. I will have to pull up the remaining monster turnips and toss them in the compost pile. Maybe the deer or rabbits will be brave enough to give them a try.

The Sun Finally Returns

After a week of cold, rainy weather, the sun finally made an appearance today. Since it is way to wet to even think of working down in the Big Garden, I decided to concentrate on getting things off of my "to-do" list up at the house. I began by planting the 14 "Bright Lights" cosmos that I had dug up from the overflow kitchen garden a number of weeks ago. All of these plants are volunteers from last year's four plants. It will be fun to see how many of these have orange blooms and how many bloom yellow. Last year I only had on plant that had yellow blooms, so it seems that orange is a more dominate trait.

Here are all of the cosmos planted. I actually have 15 plants this year since another volunteer popped up and I didn't have the heart to pull it out.

Next I retrieved my "Pride of Wisconsin" muskmelon plants from the shop. They have spent most of the last week back under the grow lights, since the weather has been so miserable.

I laid out a section of black plastic and used earth staples to hold it in place. Then I cut out six small holes and set in my young muskmelon plants. I certainly hope the weather will change for good soon. These melon are going to need a lot of hot, sunny days if they have any hope of reaching maturity.

Here is an overview of the overflow Kitchen Garden area. At the far end are 4 "Ukrainian Purple" tomato plants. Then the middle section has my 6 "Pride of Wisconsin" muskmelon. Finally the 15 "Bright Lights"cosmos are planted closest to the patio. It all looks really good. I just wish this had been completed about two weeks ago.

I then turned my attention to planting the new perennials that we purchased last weekend at The Little Red Farm Nursery. I ended up setting in everything except for the two boxwood plants and the two digiplexis plants. I am really loving this yellow "Canary Feathers" corydalis. We have grown the blue version for a few years and really like it. This yellow is equally as stunning and I hope proves as hardy for us as the blue variety has.

Riding Hood Series Penstemon

Last year I purchased three penstemon in the Riding Hood Series. I lost one of them over the Winter, but the other two survived and have been happily growing all Spring. They burst into bloom this last week for the first time. I immediately realized that the plant I had labeled as "Blue Riding Hood" was not blue! I did a search on-line and decided that this is actually "Hot Pink Riding Hood".

While I was taking pictures, a fat bumble bee was busy working each individual bloom. I love growing plants that the pollinators enjoy too.

My other plants is "Red Riding Hood". It is a really nice, crayon-red color. Like the "Hot Pink Riding Hood", this plant has sent up 5 flowering stalks this year. I am really happy with both plants. Now I just need to see if I can find a "Blue Riding Hood" to fill out my collection.