Friday, May 09, 2008

Gardens in May...

I went out in the garden yesterday and worked for several hours. I took pics to share. I did a lot of weeding. I pruned some stuff. I picked some stuff. I discovered that my cucumbers and possibly my squash has alternaria blight. I couldn't find anything to solve that problem at the store except for a very dangerous and toxic fungicide that I did not want to use because it had a longer list of precautions and warnings than directions and it's not approved for use on vegetables that are to be sold. Which tells me that the chemicals in it are really freaking bad. My veggies will live with the fungus, thanks. I got a spray bottle to apply a soap solution instead and hope that that has a beneficial effect of some sort. At least it will keep most bugs away. And we have very many ladybugs about. YAY! they are doing a very good job of keeping the bad insects away because I have yet to see any even moderate insect damage to anything, forget about actually seeing any bad bugs. *knocks wood*

But, yes, pictures...

Long-shots of the garden rows:








Pink Brandywine tomatoes:


Zucchini:


Cucumbers:


Okra:


Eggplant:


Sweet peppers:


Yellow squash:


The haul from yesterday...

Okra and cucmbers:


Green beans and a pepper:


I also picked a squash yesterday, but I didn't take a picture of it for some reason...

I found a part of a shedded black snake skin:


It's good to have these around. They aren't venomous or aggressive, and they keep the rattlesnakes away.

Also took pics of the herb garden:



There's dill, cilantro, oragano, basil, rosemary, tarragon, sage and chives.



The dill (the yellow) and cilantro (the white) are insisting upon flowering... I held them back as long as I could. I hope I'll be able to collect seeds, but we'll see. And there's my Basye's Purple rugosa rose blooming in this photo too...

And one more... gratuitous pond photo:


Today, I'm baking challah. Last night's episode of Supernatural was so OMG! O.O it induced baking. So challah. *nods* There will be pics later... and possibly a recipe...

6 comments:

La Duchesse said...

*does a little challah dance* Odd thought, but is challah vaguely similar to brioche dough-wise? Sounds yummy. :) Will you be taking pictures?

Ohmygoodness.. GARDEN! I love veggies; your garden and veggies look fabulous! Does Neem oil do anything for fungus, or is it just bugs?

RaeS said...

Hmm... Not sure, I've never made brioche. But with some challah recipes, the bread after baking can have a somewhat similar texture to brioche, though usually with a thicker crust.

Oh, yes, I took pictures. *points to above post* :D

Thank you! :D Neem oil does help with some fungi, I think, but not this stuff. At least the "Garden Safe" stuff I got for the powdery mildew has neem oil in it (I think) and it doesn't indicate that it can help with this blight on its lable. A friend of mine suggesting giving tea tree oil a try, as it's recommended in a book she has a fungus cure-all. So I'm going to give that a try and see what happens.

La Duchesse said...

*does another challah happy dance* Hee! Pitchers! *scribblescribblescribble* And recipe! You *know* I'll be writing this down for later on. :) Fank you.

Mom and I were up until about 1 AM looking at icanhascheezeburger; we laughed until we were hoarse.

RaeS said...

You're welcome, sweetie! Enjoy it!

I love that website! LOL!

susannah eanes said...

I still need to send you pictures of your backyard. I think they are on the iMac that died, and I need to get the CDs from the computer place that backed them up for me. I am fail.

Your garden looks awesome. But I've told you that before, haven't I?

RaeS said...

LOL! Possibly, but it's always nice to hear it again. Thank you!

Yes, I would like to see it. If not in person soon, at least in pictures.