Garden Update: First Day Back
We stopped by our garden this evening; our first visit since we got back into town on Wednesday. A reminder: we summer in Central New York, so we haven’t seen our little plot since mid-June. (Many thanks to our good friends R & J, who watered, harvested, and tore out our infested corn while we were away.)
I didn’t take any pictures tonight, but here’s what I can report:
- Our plot looks seriously wild and tangled.
- The chards, sorrel, purple beans, and patty-pan squash all look pretty good. The sorrel propagated and looks to be taking over an entire section.
- New Zealand spinach is also looking pretty healthy.
- The sweet pea vines are all over the place.
- There’s wild grass growing rampantly at the base of our sunflowers.
- We have one rotting pumpkin full of slugs.
- The fennel and brussels sprouts are about as tall as we are and need to be yanked.
- The tomato plants look good, but they haven’t fruited.
- We have one green bell pepper that’s a bit smaller than my fist.
- Today’s harvest: 3 patty pan squash, one small pumpkin, and about 12 purple beans.
Passing through, I was scratched up and clobbered by at least 3-4 plants, and ended up with a giant patch of white foamy, sticky, slightly burning slime on my arm. (Bird crap? Locust saliva? No idea. I don’t really want to know.)
We’ll go back in a few days with long sleeves, floppy hats and some very serious digging equipment. It’s a jungle in there, and at least half of it is coming out to prep for a fall re-planting. We’re thinking we’ll re-plan our space while we’re at it.
A final note: on our way to get our standard post-garden meal at our favorite burger and hot dog shack, we spotted two worn Adirondack chairs put out on somebody’s curb. We planned to cruise past after eating to see if they might be worth carrying a block north, back to our plot. Unfortunately, they (and several other furniture items) were gone when we returned.
If you want free furniture in L.A., you have to act fast. Guess I’ll have to defer my Adirondack chair dream a little bit longer.
