Friday, July 01, 2011

Garden progress

The vegetable garden is doing well right now. I think that spell of hot weather really helped. The plants grew by leaps and bounds. Well, maybe only by leaps. This photo is not as good as I hoped because the sun came out from behind a cloud as I took it, overexposing the left side a bit. Oh well.

The four-square garden, plus the strip. You can also see one of our apple trees laden with red apples.

Early summer is a nice time for the garden. Everything looks green and healthy. We've been working to keep the weeds down, but the weed work never ends. Watering is necessary since the drought continues. Still, we already have tiny tomatoes, we've harvested a couple of squash, and everything continues to grow.

Tomatoes fill the square on the left. In the middle, toward the back, is the squash plot. There are some tomatoes in there as well. On the right is the sweet corn; it's as high as a puppy dog's eye right now. The square with the watering can in it has mostly eggplant, but also red bell peppers and lima beans. The strip, part of which is visible in the foreground at left, has lettuces (those are romaine lettuces in front that I just transplanted), leeks, and chard.

I'll keep posting photos of the garden as we go along. It's a lot of work, and we enjoy it because we know how much good food will come from our labors. One thing in particular I'm looking forward to is the sweet corn. It's something that's not readily available in France, so it's a nice American treat for us. Here's hoping we have a good harvest later this year!

11 comments:

  1. Shortly after Fred moved to the States, my Mother had a Thanksgiving Dinner at her house in which she served corn on the cob. At Fred's attempt at making "small talk", he announced that the French only serve corn to their pigs and cows. The silence at the table was deafening.
    Afterwards, I told Fred to leave the "small talk" to Americans. m.

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  2. It looks terrific. I can see how much work you've put into it and the bonus of the fab tasting home grown fresh vegetables is super.

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  3. What a beautiful garden! Do you have any wild animals causing problems with it? We have deer, groundhogs, raccoon and squirrels (and bears in the spring and fall) who love to eat from our garden and fruit trees. It's hopeless!

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  4. Your garden looks lovely. I hope the corn meets your expectations. There is nothing quite like fresh corn from the garden.

    The dsk thing is a mess. FrancoAmerican relations are not looking good right now. The lawyers will reap some $$$ while it is being sorted out. The whole episode would make an interesting movie with back stories.

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  5. Oh, Walt, I am always so impressed with the garden you and Ken put together and tend so carefully. It is sooooo much work, isn't it? Man, oh, man, will you guys ever enjoy the veggies from it, though!

    Evelyn, isn't this DSK thing amazing? What they're revealing about this woman's possible involvement with either laundering drug money or participating in drug sales is certainly damning... not to mention her having admitted to lying about having been raped when she was in Haïti, and having phone conversations about how she might profit from this mess right after the whole accusation came to be ... zero credibility for her now. Does anyone know... is this all coming out early enough that the whole case may be dropped? I mean, was a grand jury already convened for this, or is there still a chance that a grand jury will say there is not enough credible evidence now for a trial? Or, will all of this have to wait until the American taxpayers pay for a huge trial?

    And, still... this doesn't negate all of the other nasty accusations out there about his behavior up till now. And... what about his losing his job? Will he be able to sue someone over that? What a mess!

    Judy

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  6. And exactly when was the last time you saw the media issue an apology?

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  7. Judy, the whole mess reminds me of stuff that goes on in "The Good Wife".

    Still it's quite interesting to ponder when both people are not known for their uprightness. The media is still making hay off of this because we are curious.

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  8. Just when I was so excited about the new Finance Director from France... I hope she can still keep her position.

    I see those tomato curclique stakes seem to be holding up the tomatoes. Your garden looks so well tendered - because it is, naturally. Nice work.

    Has anyone seen Midnight in Paris? I've heard both good and poor reviews.

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  9. Your garden looks great! It reminds me of my father's garden, which he tenderly cared for many years. Do you have any problems with uninvited "guests" like rabbits and deer? That was the problem I had in Pennsylvania. Here in Delaware I now have a rabbit problem which I think I will resolve tomorrow when I purchase a Haveaheart trap. I'll catch that little bugger and put him/her down in the wetlands two miles behind my property. No petunias for him to chew on down there but lots of other good stuff.

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  10. Judy

    She is from Guinea ( western coast of Africa) not Haiti. He was planning to resign from his job anyway in June to run for the primaries as the PS candidate for the Presidential race.
    Lagarde was already tapped to be the prospective replacement back in February.

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  11. mark, funny, but he was right!

    craig, as long as the weather stays kind, it should be good.

    buddy and ron, we don't have a critter problem because the property is fenced in. Rabbits don't seem interested (although there are plenty in the vineyard) and the deer can't get in. We do have hedgehogs, but they're good for the garden. The big problem is moles. They don't eat the plants, but their tunnels can uproot them.

    evelyn, I love fresh corn!

    judy, this is the seventh year for the four-square garden. We've kind of developed a rhythm.

    starman, suprisingly, I've seen the French newscasters do it from time to time. One time was when they prematurely announced the death of a celebrity. He died two days later, but the anchorman did a big apology on air.

    mary, I don't think she has anything to worry about.

    t.b., yup.

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