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| Can you find the bitter melon? |
Though rain was predicted, we were in the garden harvesting 50-55 lbs of veggies including tomatoes, corn, eggplant, peppers, okra, onions, cucumbers and bitter melon which Linda Levins delivered to the Kearney Center along with herbs, instructions for preparing and cooking the melon, and a small bouquet from Laurie Jones’ pollinator patch. The bitter melon is an experiment by gardener Yen Chen. It’s the cute little hedgehog-looking gourd in the middle of the picture above. It has seeds inside surrounded by a brilliant orange-red jelly-like substance which is edible, but the seeds themselves can be toxic. It is used in Asian recipes and is said to have health benefits.
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Buckwheat sprouting on
Hugelkultur bed |
The buckwheat finally sprouted on the new Hugelkultur bed and Peter Goren was able to remove the row cover and wire grid he had placed on top to keep birds from feasting on the newly broadcast seeds.
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| Bitter melon and Cumelon vines |
We’ve harvested quite a bit of bamboo lately for trellises but it is sprouting new culms that are bigger and more vigorous than those we removed. The powdery film on the new culms is beautiful making them look blue or gray. It will fade as the culms age and the green underneath will shine through.
Speaking of trellises, the tripod we constructed a couple of weeks ago for the passion flower vine (Maypop), has thrived with its new support. We were rewarded with opening flower buds and several Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. It is also the host plant for Zebra Longwings, so we hope to see more caterpillars soon.
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| Gulf Fritillary caterpillar |
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Maypop bud
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And finally a view of an ideal Southern summer garden. Field peas, sweet potatoes, and okra planted by gardener Cathi Wilkinson.
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| Foreground Field peas, middle Sweet Potatoes, rear Okra |
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