New Plantings
- Tatume Squash-June 24
- The already-planted squash is not producing as hoped and may succumb to the dreaded Squash Vine Borer. So, I planted the last 14 seeds in a different location. Tatume squash is a favorite at the house because it generally produces well in spite of the heat and borers, and has a shelf life of several weeks. It can also stand in for either summer or winter squash in most dishes.
Produce Harvested
Growing in the Ground
- Purple Hull Peas – First few are ready to harvest. Will save these for next year’s seed.
- Tatume Squash – Light production/has borers
- Waltham Butternut Squash – Producing nicely /has borers
- Corno di Toro Pepper – has stopped fruiting due to heat
- Little Mama Roma Tomato – has stopped fruiting due to heat, trimmed for Fall
- Purslane
- Garlic chives
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Sage
- Lavender
- Fennel – seed is ready for harvest
- Red Romaine Lettuce – volunteered
- Beets, Chiogga and Detroit Red – ready for harvest, last of season
- Watermelon – germinated
- Lemon grass
- Kale, curly – good production, ready to harvest, no pests
- Lambsquarter -going to seed, leaves small
- Jujube – Fruiting, ready in a month or two
- Fig – Second year in the ground. Producing a small number of delicious figs. Unfortunately, the birds are on point and often beat me to them.
Growing in Containers
- Thai (Kaffir) Lime
- Meyer Lemon
- Bay Laurel
- Key Lime
- Lemon grass
- Ghost Pepper
- Lemon grass
- Garlic Chives
- Basils: Thai, Holy and Italian Sweet
- Locoto Pepper – Producing flowers but no fruit. Attractive to cucumber beetles.
- Chocolate Habanero pepper – Healthy and flowering, no fruit yet.
- Tangerine Dream sweet pepper – producing small peppers and flowers
Water Usage
We collect and use water from the air conditioner and rain events to reduce the need for metered water in the garden.
- Metered water – 25 gallons
- Collected water – 30 gallons
*We didn’t measure water for most of the month, but my new water meter arrived this week! So, stay tuned for better numbers next month!
How does our water usage compare with your neighbors ?
Our monthly utility bill states whether we are using more or less water then our average neighbor. Typically, our water usage is within 15 gallons more or less than our neighborhood average. I usually note it and then toss the bill. Which is what I did for this month. But, this is an important consideration for gardening, so I’ll be careful to include it in the future.
- Total gallons used: Unknown at this time.
- Percentage of total used for garden: Unknown at this time.
- Compared to our neighbors: Unknown at this time.
Expenses
- Water meter – $15.99
- Water – Unknown at this time, because I tossed the bill already.