I’m excited because the Tendergreen Bush Beans that I sowed on June 16 has it’s first fruits :) Yeay!!!
I also went to Longs Drugs and got a Rubbermaid container to organize all my seed packets that are scattered here and there.
Why do I have so much?… Well, I bought a few, but I also got a whole bunch as a gift for being employee of the quarter; my brother bought a whole bunch when they went on sale for 10 or 5 cents and some are gifts from friends.
I went to the library again and got five books:
– Propagation Basics by Steven Bradley
– Plant Propagation A to Z by Geoff Bryant
– Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates by Robert Kourik
– Rodale’s Successful Organic Gardening Vegetables by Patricis Michalak
– Gardening 101 by Martha Stewart
I transplanted my overwintered Coleus Wizard Rose triplets into a bigger pot. Here’s the clippings before and after. (The parent plant and more cuttings are in my July 8th entry right above the hula guy.)
Before (June 3)
After (July 11)
Here’s some pics from the garden:
Tendergreen Bush Bean
Chater’s Double Hollyhock
…and for dinner, we finally had that Yellow Submarine Cucumber, which at 10 inches long and 3 inch diameter, was still young (seeds were still soft)
This morning I did a lot of weeding in the vegetable beds. I pulled out the spent Snap Peas and the bolting Lettuce. I also cut away the dead or dying leaves on the bottom part of the Cucumbers and Tomatoes.
Bolted Lettuce
The Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans and Tendergreen Bush Bean are both doing well. They are actually growing better than the Bataw that my mom transplanted.
My grandma, aunts, uncle and cousin came by and came over in the afternoon and we all gathered in the garden checking out the plants and picking fruits (pears, peaches and plums).
I potted the Coleus “Pineapple” and “Copper Splash” cutting which I took on the 27th. It took about 12 days for these to root. I also took cutting of Coleus “Wild Lime (mistagged)” and “Gay’s Delight”.
In the front yard, I cut down the spent Gladiola stalks and removed all the dead leaves off the Yucca which has grown so big.
All in all, I think I collect six 5-gallon pots full of leaves and spent flower for the compost pile.
With the success of directly planting the Tendergreen Bush Beans, I decided to try planting Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans on a trellis which had Snap Peas. I think it may be a little late, but I’ll see how these turn out.
Along with some New Zealand Spinach that my mom harvested, I harvested my first peppers (1 Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper and 2 Pepperoncini) and some White Icicle Radishes for a Filipino dish called Sinagang that my mom will make for dinner.
I also planted the 4 Coleuses that I purchased on Saturday in a large terra cotta pot. I took cuttings of the taller ones and place them in water to root.
The Sunflower seeds I planted on Tuesday have sprouted and are about an inch tall.
Today I noticed a mutant Tendergreen Bush Bean Seedling growing.
Below is a normal seedling with 2 primary leaves.
Below is the mutant with 5 primary leaves; 2 being conjoined.
Just thought this was interesting?
Thursdays
After making those newspaper pots, I planted some Grand Rapids Leaf Lettuce, Correnta Hybrid Spinach, Lemon Basil and Miike Purple Giant Japanese Mustard.
I planted some William Guinness Columbine over a month ago and didn’t think the seeds germinated, so gave up on them… When I was looking for a place to put the newly planted seeds, I discovered 2 Columbine seedlings that sprouted plus another mystery plant. So I made 3 more newspaper pots and planted these 3 seedlings into them.
The Tendergreen Bush Beans are starting to sprout and they are just breaking ground. The newspaper mulch is really helping in keeping the ground from drying.
Friday
I didn’t do any gardening on Friday because I took 3 of my friends out to sushi (yumm!!!) for their birthdays… They all have birthdays within a one week period and they live together.
Saturday
I spent the night at my friends and later went to the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery (see previous entry)
I was surprised to see that the Tendergreen Bush Beans that were just breaking ground on Thursday have 2 sets of leaves. Damn! they grew fast!
I also noticed that the bed without the newspaper bed were dry to about 1/2 inch, but the mulched ones were not, so I shredded more newspaper and mulched almost all my vegetables. I think this will help a lot.
Ready to harvest: Peas, White Icicle Radishes, 1 Eggplant, 4 Pepperocini Peppers, 2 Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers
The Garlic that I planted in the fall has totally failed, so I amended the soil and planted a packet of Tendergreen Bush Beans. I’ve never planted bush bean before, and I’m worried that once the emerge, the pincher bugs are gonna gobble them up.
The Sparkler Radishes that I planted earlier this year has bolted (pic) and didn’t form bulbous roots, so I just pulled them out, chopped it up and put it in the compost bin.
The Gladiolas in the front is starting to bloom. They are so red… I gotta take pictures of them.
The Plums keep dropping their fruits so my mom, placed a tarp under the tree to catch the fruit. I think we’ve harvest like 3 grocery bags full of plum. I’ve brought some to work, and have another batch for tomorrow.
The Grapefruit tree in front have TONS of fruits. Last night my mom picked 2 grocery bag fulls and we brought it to my brother’s house.
I noticed that one of the Strawberry plants sent out another running. I can’t decide if I wanna keep it or snip it of so the energy goes to the berries.