monsoon

                                                 Monsoons & Mold

Well, we can't say that we haven't gotten our fair share of rain along the east coast over the past 10 days! It's pretty much resembled the famous drenching monsoon rains that occur in the fall of the year in southern Asia. And now, of course, we have entered a heatwave period which requires daily garden watering. The expression "feast or famine" seems to fit.

One of the common outcomes of so much rain is the appearance of mold growth in the garden.  The white mold shown in the picture below is the type of mold we recently found along the edge of the lumber in an area where we have butternut squash growing. Molds aren't necessarily pretty, but neither are they harmful. In fact, molds like this one actually do a very nice job of breaking down your rough compost into a soft and attractive soil amendment.

                                   A white mold similar to one in our garden

The end of June and early July have been very good in the garden  in spite of the  rainy spell we've had. We've been regularly picking green beans, tomatoes, zucchini and  cucumbers.

 

                                              1 1/2 Pounds Green Beans

 

We picked the first raspberries June 28 and continue to pick more every 2 or 3 days.

 

 

The corn is coming along nicely and should be ripe by the end of July. The old Maryland expression regarding corn - "Knee high by the Fourth of July" - is a bit outdated these days. Our corn was about four feet high by the 4th of July. And, although they remain underground and unseen, the carrots seem to be doing very well if the carrot tops are any indication. All-in-all, we brought in over 26 pounds of veggies in the ten day period.

 

 

In addition to the veggies, we also have lots of flowers, mainly petunias. They have required "deadheading" every few days. On one particular day, always being one to automatically "quantify" nearly anything (yes, I am crazy!), we picked off over 400 spent petunia blossoms throughout the garden area!

 

And one final "quantification" - Raspberries at our local markets are priced at $5 for a six ounce box. At that rate, the raspberries we've picked to date have a value of $45.00!

Garden Goldmine!

 

How hot is it today?  Ask this squirrel - she had to take a rest break just 2 feet away from the feeder!

Hope to see you all again soon!

Chuck