Down & Out

The Vegetable Knot Beds are growing nicely in the sun.

The raised bed constructed early August is now completely shaded and the size of the plants confirm that more sun is needed for the plants to increase in size and mature.

So I pulled all of the radishes and the turnips out of the shaded raised bed. (Wrangler said it was about time!) Here are the shaded radishes at 42 days (21 dtm!), they have taken twice as much time, and the radishes at 16 days in full sun equal their size! We will resume the topic of Shade Cloth for just a moment to point out that it would delay the growth of plants as well, and increasing the time it takes for vegetables to mature also increases the time that insects and pests have to enjoy them. (I'm thinking get in, get out unscathed!)

Here are the other vegetables.

I am hand watering them until the plants get larger and reach the water depth. Today I picked up a different watering system to try out, so I'll be working on that tomorrow. These chard are top heavy and have fallen over.

These are green beans and peas, with carrots, and in the center is an artichoke that will winter over and next spring have the bed all to itself. Already the peas seem as though they will pull the green beans down and over the rim of the pot so I will keep you posted on the effect of planting these two items closely together. I already think the green beans will not like it and the outcome might not be good. Looks like the peas could snap their stems!

Here is a speckled lettuce that came in the mesclun mix. When I took off the cricket cloche, and had the netting off, I bent down to pick up the cloche to replace it, and there was Symba standing on this speckled lettuce. I look up and there is a quail atop the blockwall right on top of us and it was an amazing sight. The quail flew up to the neighbor's roof right over our heads and stood on the peak and called for his peeps. I hope I can get a picture of him tomorrow because I think quail are just way too cool. Let's hope he comes back!

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!