July 17th in the Garden

The last time we came the sunflowers were not in bloom yet. But yesterday - wow! They were the first thing we noticed walking up to the garden. Big and beautiful!

Saw lots of bees buzzing around.

The squash are coming in big time. Please make sure to pick anything that looks ripe and take it home for your dinner table or for your neighbors. The expert gardeners tell me that picking the squash as it comes ripe will keep up the production.

Another update on the water situation: During school hours (approximately 9 to 5) the water from the hose near the garden is available - however you will need a key to turn it on, which means that you will need to buzz into the school office and ask for it. It is something that is easily lost so please be sure to remember to return it.

If you plan on using the water barrel - you will need a container. The flow is just too slow from the hose connection.

Safety Town is being held right now at the school and the whole safety town course is set up on the playground near the garden. Please do not allow your children to play on the course or on the pedal cars unless you are sure that you will be able to leave everything as you found it.

July 4th Garden Update

This posting is a little delayed, but here are some pictures of the garden over the past July 4th weekend.

The sunflowers are getting really tall and big flower buds are forming quickly. Looking forward to seeing them in bloom!

The bean plants are starting to really climb up the trellises we erected a couple of months ago. Hopefully they will climb all the way across and make the green arches we envisioned.

The zucchini and squash plants are sprawling and already are producing not only a lot of blossoms but squash too. If you are tending the garden look for some to pick for dinner. There's some basil plants tucked in under the squash plants that are doing surprisingly well. Look for them and pick some leaves to take home. It will help keep them producing.

The cherry tomato plants are going to town! Lots of green ones for now . . .

These droopy plants are a couple of eggplants that I tried to move a little from under the cherry tomatoes. Hope they make it!

Our composter and water barrel. There is a hose attached to the water barrel now. Just be warned that the water flow is very slow and a bit of a trickle. If you are in a hurry to water - bring a watering can or container.

Don't forget to compost garden scraps, trimmings and weeds that haven't yet gone to seed!

Thanks for checking out the blog and please contact me to add your own pictures and garden news/stories. - Noreen