July 28, 2019
I don't know why it's so much fun to grow green beans but it is. Especially the pole type beans that you watch encircling their supports as they climb to the sky. They never really quit growing when they reach the top, but start circling around each other until they get too heavy to continue. When they fall over you wonder if maybe you should have used longer poles. Like "Jack and the Beanstalk" they might have made it to the clouds..
What pole bean grower hasn't used a Sharpie to mark where the tip of the beanstalk is, and returned the next morning to marvel at it's ability to grow an inch and a half over night? The shade they provide attracts your children, and you will feel the urge to take a picture as they huddle in their bean Teepee. Pole beans provide beans all summer long, and the pick'n is easy standing up. I plant bush beans because they produce more quickly, not having to grow so much vine. They quit producing after a flush so I plant more rows through the summer..
July 29, 2019
I really enjoy how the Brussels sprouts look with their bottom leaves removed. They look like miniature palm trees instead of Danny Devito in a trench coat. I'm actually getting tightly formed heads this year, as if to spite me for all the badmouthing. The summer sprouts are not as sweet or tender as those harvested in November, so I still have grounds to complain. They also really stink up the house when cooked..
The whole house smelled like cooked broccoli, which smells worse than a gas leak. They are another example of a plant I would grow just for looks. The thick main stalk with tourquois leaves hanging down every four inches, and tiny sprouts in the crotch of each, make a unique contribution to a garden setting of assorted shapes, colors, sizes and textures..
July 30, 2019
I got a fall planting of peas in yesterday, and the seed packet recommended planting 10-12 weeks before the first frost, so I'm within the window of opportunity. I had half a pack of Iona pea seeds left from spring planting, and upon rereading the label discovered that they don't require trellising. That's good news for me because I didn't have enough room along my trellis to plant them all because snapdragons have claimed that place. Snapdragons will go on flowering all summer long, so now is not a good time to remove them..
I planted a row of peas where the first planting of bush beans came out, and they won't have a trellis to climb on. It will be interesting to see how well they do, and what disadvantages there are, compared to the trellised ones..
