Beginnings

Guess what's blooming again?

One blossom in July, and another at the end of August! What a weirdo Pulsatilla I have.

Tomatoes!

I was away all last week. This is the harvest that awaited me on the 19th when I returned.

Mid-July Tomatoes

Hahms Gelbe Topftomate

Cosmonaut Volkov

Gregori Altai

Haley's Purple Comet

Black Sea Man

Beefsteak

Happy June Bloomsday!

Oenothera tetragone 'Fireworks'

Wordless Wednesday

Signs of life

It's an unusually temperate 12°C today so I went out on the balcony for a look-see. There are already signs of life out there. The chives being able to overwinter was a given, but I was doubtful about the rest of the perennials. Glad at least some of them appear to have made it, and pleasantly surprised that the Violacea pallida is making an appearance for the second year in a row.

Happy (Belated) Bloomsday

Way back in January, one of my mystery wintersown pulsatillas bloomed. Last winter I had wintersown pulsatilla pratensis subsp. nigricans, p. patens, and p. campanella but I had lost track of which pot contained what species. This certainly isn't p. pratensis, but I'm still not sure if it is campanella or patens.

Yesterday, another one of the mystery pulsatillas bloomed. It has an ever-so-slightly purple tinge.

Neither is obviously p. pratensis. I am guessing the white one is prairie crocus (p. patens), and the purple one is p. campanella.

Lest we forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Jaune du Doubs Carrots!

Pulled my first real harvest of carrots today and I was pleased to see that they're long and lovely! I can't wait to enjoy them. They were grown from Jaune du Doubs carrot seeds generously given to me by Linda at Tree and Twig Farm last year.

A couple of weeks ago, I pulled the first carrot of the season up experimentally, and was disappointed to see that it was all stubby and round. Some Googling around revealed that this was either due to medium that is too wet, too rich, or too dense. In my case, I think it had to do with the carrot living next to a rather aggressive chicory plant that had a huge, fat taproot and a dense network of roots. These carrots from further away seemed to benefit from more breathing room.