21 June 2009

Summer Solstice 2009

Summer Arriveth In Earnest, and Officially...

Welcome to the longest day/shortest night of the year. The moon is new-- not visible for a few days. And it's Father's Day-- Happy parenthood to all you dads out there!

Well, all these signs add up to a propitious time to do some serious "yardwork"-- and the kind I like best is that which feeds me.
All that, and my first round of plantings had run their life cycle... so, time to cull and replace.

Here's what the beginning of yesterday looked like from the West end of the garden:


And at the end of the day?

(Summer Solstice Sunflowers!)

(East end-- where the lettuce bolted from! ha!)

Kinda looks empty, but in a happier, more spacious way. The deadening squash (low left)


and the bolting lettuce


were the largest green-materials contributors to the compost pile:


The new-made space was promptly filled with seed-- many more okra seeds, more yellow crookneck and some winter buttercup squash, and two varieties of cucumbers (having had sad luck with them in the container-- just too darned hot, and shallow dirt).

I haven't had much luck this year with my Brandywine heirloom tomatoes from seed, but we'll keep trying. Instead of direct-seeding them in the garden, I've started the seeds in small clay pots. More manageable to water and control the amount of sun-bake the pots get. I'll transplant them when the seedlings are ready.

And, of course, not everything had to go.The existing tomato plants are definite keepers-- the hopeful seedlings will be ready just about the time these here
give way to the Great Sleep.

Some things, too, were started later than the green beans and squash, due to their more hot-weathered needs. This Crimson Sweet heirloom, for example
has yet to be tasted-- but soon, my friends, very soon!!!

And while we're on the melons (what a good Father's day image that be...) I'll be letting you know this evening about the taste of this hybrid cantaloupe that sprung from compost scraps:

The thing has run amuck, fruiting like wild now (semi-tame though it be). I pulled one off the vine a few days ago-- too small, really, but it weren't growing anymore, and seems now ripe enough to give taste.

Not much else to add, folks. Just the waiting for the new seeds to sprout, and to continue the harvesting of what's offered. Next year's garden promises to be much larger, and with a bit of good luck there will be an orchard being established in them thar hills as well...
Ahh-- but that's all fodder for another post, my friends.;D

I'll close with two things:
One, again Happy Father's day to all you dads-- current and expecting ones! Hope your wife doesn't overdo the sirloin on the grill (assuming you let her near the thing! ha!).

And the second? I should say this one is directed only to the gentler sex, but who am I to deny any who care to peek?--- wanna see my banana pepper?!?


HA!!!

Slainte, folks...

Cygnus

15 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Glad to see you're an equal opportunity banana pepper flasher!

Kyddryn said...

Heh...nice pepper...does it come in adult sizes??

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

Lydia said...

Happy Father's Day to you! Hope you enjoyed/are enjoying the day. Your garden looks wonderful!

Banana pepper...made me laugh :)

lydia

Mayberry said...

Fine lookin' garden Cygnus! Water well problems have prevented mine to date. Maybe I can look forward to a late summer planting/fall harvest.....

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Debra-- I couldn't be but otherwise! lol!

Thanks, fellow Seeker...

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Lady K!!!
Now, how do you get pepper perspective on mere philm? ha!
And to answer... I'm sure it do, Lady, I'm sure it do... just a little more sun, and a bigger bush, et VIOLA!
Bigger, better pepper! ha!
Thanks for the visit, Lady K...

Felinae said...

Hiya Cygnus,

The garden is looking mighty fine.
Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
Oh,yeah, that's a good looking banana pepper you've got there. ;D

Hugs~Felinae~

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Thank you Lydia!
It HAS been a great day... a lovely weekend, in fact.
Thanks for coming by! And for the Blessing!

Slainte!

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

mayberry, M'Man!

I think a lack of water helped the prolific garden slow... but all is good. Hope you get yours in the ground soon, and that you've had a wonderful father's day, friend!

Slainte!

C.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Why Lady Felonia-- Thank You!
Now, you see, when you couple the banana pepper with a good, ripe pair of them tomatoes... THEN you gots a dish worthy of eating!!!

Um... not the same as a 'salad worth tossing', so I hear... ahem...

LOL! Thanks for the visitation, Lady Kitten...

Livia Indica said...

Hey Cygnus, you've got some good looking gardenage there!

Ken said...

...good lookin' pics Bro...thanx fer sharing...Happy Summer...

...oh yeah...and it's not the size of the pepper,but the heat therein...lol

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Banana pepper...giggle....

I celebrated the solstice with a fairy tea party for my daughter...we love this holiday!

Sanjac said...

Hey Cygnus, I meant to to confess my envy about your garden but didn't get around to it till now. Congrats on the squash, vine borers are hitting my staggered plantings in waves and my tomatoes have tobacco mosaic virus. Overwatered some of my potatoes and they got stem rot. Okra, peppers, cucumber, cantelope and melons are doing well. I'll take a 50% success and quit whining. Your garden looked/looks great.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Livia--
THANKS!! Glad you came by!


Ken-- Maybe I shoulda posted my seranno pepper?? ha!
Thanks, Buddy!


Bee and Rose--
What a COOL IDEA!!! The holiday IS, no pun intended, kinda a 'cool' one LOL!
Glad you enjoyed the pepper! ha! THANKS, LADY...


SanJac-- I got hit with a lot of SOMETHING on the squash-- beetle, overwater rot... duno, but SOMETHING.
Fortunately, still able to cull a myriad of eats from the vines! I hope the next round proffer as well!!!
THANKS so much for the visit and comment, comrade! And good luck with the melons etc!!!


Cygnus