May 14, 2011 - Salad Anyone?

So....where am I going to keep all of this? I so need a second refrigerator just for the greens. Click on the photo to enlarge it and see how perfectly beautiful each and every head looks!


They had to be pulled to make room for the new seedlings, which are getting too large for their nursery in the barrel.


Some were transplanted here.


And some were transplanted here, where they'll have to compete with the turnips. The turnips that have huge tops and no bottoms.....so far.


Elsewhere in the garden:


Something is eating the beans as fast as they can emerge.


The broccoli are beginning to form heads.


All the spinach has been pulled out, due to a massive leaf miner infestation, except for what is under this netting. So far it is looking really good. There are two plantings of spinach in this bed. The crop on the left has been harvested recently, and the crop on the right has not yet reached maturity. The beets and chard are growing well, as are the turnips, although their germination was spotty.


Quadrato d' Asti Sweet Peppers, carrots, basil, parsley, lettuce, marigolds and alyssum will soon fill this bed to capacity.


Red Marconi Sweet Peppers, basil, parsley, lettuce, marigolds, alyssum and bush beans are being grown in this bed.


Snap peas are finally climbing their string trellis.


Although difficult to see in this photo, there are three Rutgers tomatoes happily growing in this bed, along with lettuce, parsley, marigolds, alyssum, salad onions and recently seeded bush beans and carrots.


After losing all of my Heavenly Blue morning glory seedlings to a killing frost, I was happy to see the direct seeded ones springing up all around the corner of the kennel garden. It looks like they will have to be thinned a bit, so I'll try to carefully transplant a few to another area. This little corner also contains some leftover mesclun, blue lobelia and a lot of volunteer alyssum. There might be a couple of forget-me-nots that didn't accidentally get pulled as "weeds". I hope so.


All of the tomatoes are looking happier and healthier now that they're planted out. The California poppy is the first one to bloom.


The rhododendrons are heavy with blossoms.


The smaller rhododendron is in dire need of fertilizer, as I've been lax about its care recently. The leaves on this one have never looked quite as healthy as those on the dark pink one, but it has still lovely blossoms.



28 comments:

  1. Your rhodies are pretty! Our azaleas have already dropped their leaves and it looks like teenagers t.p.'d the yard in pink LOL! Sorry for your beans, here it's always the birds, but I covered them with netting this time, I usually forget until it's too late!

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  2. Erin, I hate the mess when the blossoms drop, but they really are worth it while in bloom. Mine are way too large, and I have no idea how to, or if I even should, prune them. I'd hate to kill them!

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  3. OMG-your rhododendron is beautiful. I LOVE that color. Did you plant that? How old is it? Don't I ask a lot of questions?
    :D

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  4. Too much lettuce is a good problem to have! I stopped taking photos of ours. It was all starting to look alike to me. Now, when the first tomato comes along, that will really be a day to grab the camera!

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  5. Your lettuces are amazing! Everything looks fantastic: except those poor beans! I planted mine this afternoon. I can't grow Rhodies..such a beautiful flowering shrub...love them!

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  6. We did a big pruning on our rhodies this year because they had gotten way to big ... so we wont get many flowers ...I believe the rule of thumb is to prune them back 1/3 their size every year.

    Your lettuces are looking great! I have a lot of big ones I hate to harvest because they are looking so pretty ...

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  7. Sue, the (two) rhododendrons were here when we bought the house, in 1989. They've had very little pruning, 'cause I'm askeered to do it ;-)

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    Villager, that's about the only thing I have to photograph! Everything else is taking so much time this year.

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    Lynda, I'm going to go set some beer traps tonight, it could be slugs. I can replant now, and they would probably catch up with the ones I planted too early.

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    Deb, I must do some pruning as soon as they finish blooming. There is just so much old wood, I'm not sure how to handle it.

    I hated to pull that lettuce, I love how it looks in the garden. It won't take long for the young ones to fill in, though.

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  8. That is a nice lettuce haul. I've had such bad luck with my spring planted lettuce. I swear I'm going to plant a lot of it in the fall to overwinter, because that kind always gives me tons.

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  9. Wow, your lettuce heads look so .... green! What variety is that?

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  10. Daphne, I'm very happy with my semi-shaded, netting covered lettuce bed. I hope I can keep lettuce growing there year round.

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    Random, the tree smaller heads o the left are Little Gem Romaine. The next three are Parris Island Romaine. The last one on the right was a leftover seedling, not in the main lettuce bed, so it wasn't marked. I'm guessing it's a Summercrisp. There's almost three pounds total.

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  11. Random, my keyboard (or fingers) went wonky on me there! THREE smaller heads ON the left.

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  12. Gosh, I wouldn't know what to do with that much lettuce either - it's quite a bit!

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  13. As fast as I put the Cabbage in the ground, something started eating at it already...I put down some D. Earth ,I hope that helps. Annie your lettuce is beautiful, so are all your flowers.

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  14. Geez Granny, it's a good thing that you have a rabbit! I wouldn't know what to do with all that lettuce. Yes, I think that you definitely need another frig. We have two full size refriegerator/freezers and one chest freezer. That's what happens when you marry an Italian!

    After the rhododendrons are done blooming...just trim them! Do I need to come out there and trim your bushes??? I'm really a bit busy :)

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  15. Thanks for adding me to your list, Granny. And aren't Emily's chicks so cute? I get to see them in person very soon.

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  16. EG, Mr. Granny, the rabbit and I are splitting an entire head tonight. Didn't your grandmother always tell you "roughage is good for you, son!"

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    Robin, what time should I pick you up at the airport? Oh, you weren't serious about trimming them for me? Actually, it's not as simple as it seems. There are a ton of BIG, bare limbs under those flowers. When it quits blooming, I'll take photos of its interior.

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    Marcia, I envy Emily's chicks. I want to be a chick mama, but Mr. Granny says "NO!".

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  17. What a beautiful update post! Such pretty pictures! My beans look just like yours, and I'm thinking maybe slugs as well. I will be putting out some beer traps soon (as soon as my husband decides to share...) Looking forward to seeing if that does the trick!

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  18. Megan, Mr. Granny can hold on to his beer for at least another day. Before I had a chance to put some out by the beans, it started pouring rain. I was glad I didn't have it done, it would have all gone to waste.

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  19. Holy Moly that is a lot of lettuce! They are gorgeous though and should provide some really good eating. We have rhodies surrounding the entire house - transitioning between the open area and the deep dark woods, and they are all blooming or starting to bloom right now. I have been taking pics but have not bothered to do a flower photo post yet. I really like the deep pink colored one - that is a really beautiful hue and it looks gorgeous.

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  20. Kitsap, I love the rhodies, I wish they blossomed all summer!

    We managed to eat that entire head of Summercrisp tonight, with just a few leaves left over for the rabbit's dinner.

    Hey, girl, why did you send your west side rain over here tonight? Don't you know I watered my entire garden today? Then we practically got a cloudburst!

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  21. Oh wow, that lettuce looks amazing! Your whole garden looks awesome! Looking at your photos makes me think that we are so far behind!

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  22. Lookin' good, Granny. Cookie's got his work set out for him.

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  23. Gorgeous lettuce (and veggie beds). Oh, to live in the sunny part of WA. I'm in Carnation, where it's a little gloomier and my lettuce is the size of my thumb at the moment. My radishes are coming along, though.

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  24. Meems, you can't be too far behind. I can't believe how much parts of my garden (can we say broccoli and cabbages) have grown in just the past two weeks!

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    Ribbit, it's nothing that boy can't handle!

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    Kelly, well there ya go.....I can't grow decent radishes to save my life!

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  25. Oh your rhododendrons are just gorgeous! I killed off two and gave up :( One of my favorites however.

    Are you turning part bunny with all that lettuce!?

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  26. APG, good Lord, I hope we don't turn into rabbits. Cookie has been living inside since last fall, because of the cold weather. Believe me, one pooper box is all this house can stand. I'll be so glad when he can be moved out to the patio!

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  27. Absolutely amazing! Personally I would have kept some of the heads in the garden... cheaper than another fridge!

    Those beans look JUST like my slug riddled broccoli that won't grow to save my soul.

    Part of me is jealous of your weather, especially since we've had the coldest, wettest spring on record on this side of the mountains. Stay dry!

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  28. Sinfonian, the lettuce had to come out to make room for a new batch of seedlings. There are a lot more mature heads where those came from!

    We had a cloudburst yesterday, I suppose the slugs will be out in full force now. I'm thinking of stealing a bottle of Mr. Granny's beer for some slug traps.

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