the wonders of gardening

one of the most interesting things about gardening here in the high desert is you never know just what will happen -- producing food is largely a matter of a fortunate combination of crop selection, favorable weather conditions and a lot of good luck

the squirrels here seem to have solved it on their own

the plant in the center of this picture is planted in what is ordinarily a "no grow" zone

it's outside the garden fence in the pea gravel under the pine tree

and I have no idea exactly what it is -- some sort of melon or squash, judging from the shape of the leaves and the blossoms, but until something sets and gets big enough to identify I have no idea what little bonus crop my squirrels have planted for me!

and this is the other mystery garden

as you may recall my saying, we had to relocate one of our compost bins so the fence could be replaced

when we did that we lifted the enclosure straight up, moved it to its new location, then shoveled all the compost up into the new spot -- I guess that's one way to turn the stuff!

a couple of days ago I noticed that something was growing inside the bin

at first I thought it was just weeds because of the recent monsoonal rains we've had

but no, closer inspection reveals that these are some sort of melon or squash, and that they are already starting to develop their 3rd, 4th and 5th leaves -- in very short order after my first seeing them

like with the squirrel garden, I have no idea what they are, so I'm taking a wait and see approach!

this was the harvest yesterday

let me say that those two zucchini's are the most interesting thing -- obviously that one there on the far left has gone a bit nuts! usually zucchini continue to get longer, not fatter -- it's destined for the fry pan

just a few more green beans, but now all of the plants are loaded with blooms -- lots of them to eat soon

and I probably won't have to buy another tomato until well into fall

(the good Lord willing and the hail stays away!)
and this is another example of why we will not be planting corn again

this picture was taken through the screen door and a down pour, and its shows what the wind and the rain (which we were not supposed to get any of according to the weather witches) did to my corn patch yesterday afternoon

just as it is started to really tassel too --

we may still get some corn off of it, I'll just leave it alone and hope it survives long enough for some ears to mature

we had already decided that corn was a bad idea for next year anyway -- our water rates are going to be steeply raised, and since corn needs a lot of water, I don't think we can afford it again
the 4.5 mpg hat is done

I stitched on those cool vintage buttons yesterday afternoon

and I like the way this looks -- I might even knit another from some other yarn


today is going to be busy, busy -- a doctor's appointment for the DH; the front yard to be tended to (mow, edge trim, cut back the man-eating bush at the front door, spray the weeds) and I need to vacuum and tidy in the house as we will have visitors on Sunday and I'll be gone to a work shop all day tomorrow

wow! when did my life get so hectic?

love it -- places to go (people to annoy!)