Cold June Gardening

I'm not sure what this is! It started growing in my front yard this spring, and there is only one plant. I'm sure I didn't plant these seeds. I don't think this came from a bulb, but I did think there were some ranunculus bulbs in this planter that never did anything.

Well, the point is, I think it's beautiful!


The flowers themselves are papery and sweetly shaped, and they unfold from their blooms so magically. Hmmmmm....this one was looking a bit raggedy....






Yep. Aphids. I see you, and your friend. But I'll let you live. Maybe I should get some ladybugs to go in the flowers. It's funny, I see them occasionally, but there just aren't a lot naturally. That seems strange for the area.






My poor veggies. June was just cold and wet. And not even that wet, just mostly drizzly and overcast and blech. So my veggies are growing (which I can tell because I took a picture of both beds when I originally planted; seeds have sprouted, and starts are indeed tripling in size) but not very fast. It's been warm for a couple of weeks, and downright hot this week, so I'm hoping that I'll see some good growth this month. Ask me in two weeks if I'm disappointed in my garden this year!


I noticed that my wee-tiny tomato plants (still half-the-size they would be if there were to need caging, for example) are actually making tomatoes. It shows a real leap of faith that I plucked those tomatoes off.

I learned last year, from the garden teacher at one of my schools (a lovely young hippie who lives in an urban homestead commune sustainable living community in Oakland) that when the tomato plants are small, if they are flowering a ton or producing tomatoes, you have to pinch all the flowers off and pluck off the fruit. Basically, the plant only has so much energy, and if it's small, you have to eliminate the flowering and fruiting that is sucking away growing energy. She was proven quite right last year, so I have my fingers crossed again!

Next time I'll take pictures of the strawberries I planted! They are also producing lots of fruit, but you may never get to see. There is no time for a photoshoot between the plant and my mouth. Ahem.