Veggie Garden Adventures

We have warned all of you of the dangers of an aggressive veggie garden. The zucchini have been the most dangerous aggressors this year. We fought them back for a bit, until Dog Dad forbid us to attack them anymore. Now the green peppers are under assault. First the peppers and then the world, just remember you were warned. Sure, you say it can never happen. That is what the peppers thought, too. Sure, they thought, what's so bad about having zucchini next door. Now they are taking over the whole raised bed. They've already grabbed us a few times.

This giant is ready for the kitchen. Despite its hostile nature, Mom and Dad have been enjoying quite a few Zucchini dishes. They've even been able to share with neighbors.

Look at this brave pepper trying to grow despite the ongoing plant hostilities.

The tomatoes are still in their crates cages, but they are trying to break out.

Mom was pleased to see some are ripe and ready to eat.

Mom has a weeding planned as even the nasty Zucchini can get killed off when the weeds take over.

Friday Flowers: Oriental Lilies

Mom is so pleased to see these blooming this year. The last few years they've been under nasty attack by beatles. She doesn't know if it was a change in the weather of just a beatle cycle, but for the first time in ages, the Oriental Lilies seem to be doing well.

I am not sure why Mom gets so excited when she sees one in bloom. Hoewver, if she wants to give me treats for posing by one, who am I to complain?

Friday Flowers: Mystery Yellow Flower

Mom has a tendency to pick flowers up at the local garden club sales. She knows she got these there, but doesn't know what they are called.

She loves the bright cheerful colors, but these flowers grow like weeds. We had to go out and help Dog Dad trim them back a little while ago. They can take the whole garden if you aren't careful.

Friday Flowers

Mom believes these are Dahlias. She has planted a hodgepodge of perennials in her jungle garden. However, she does remember buying pink Dahlias and planting them. She can't figure out what else she would have bought that these might have grown from over the last many years.

These bloomed in June, which surprised Mom because they are usually blooming in late July or August. The weather seems to have some of our flowers off cycle. She's not complaining too much because she was getting fresh Asparagus from the garden in late June when it usually is gone at the beginning of the month.

Tales from the Veggie World

Welcome back to our garden update. You may notice that this week I'm staying further back from that plant Mom calls zucchini. She says plants don't eat meat, but let me tell you stuff goes into that garden that never sees the light until that plant dies. I'm taking no chances. Where the bright yellow flowers first appeared, we are now starting to see greenish round creatures. Mom calls them veggies, but I'm telling you these could be some kind of monster creatures growing out there.

Notice the difference here. This zucchini is grown in captivity. It knows it is caged and will not escape. The plant is smaller and not looking like its ready to attack. It too is producing those odd green things, but I know I can still take it out if I have too. Well actually, we aren't admitting to it, but there was some zucchini tipping that happened last week and Dog Dad wasn't too happy about it. We tried to convince him that the zucchini had just grown so top heavy it tipped over. Since nothing broke off and it resumed its monster expected growth, he seems to have let it go. However, the zucchini are under warning. If threatened we will strike. Like the monster zucchinis, these smaller cousins are producing green round things Dog Dad are convinced are edible veggies.

The tomatoes are behaving in their cages. We’ve had no threats from them. They are already have green tomatoes from the yellow buds Mom saw last week. The parents are looking forward to fresh tomatoes from the vine. The asparagus is starting to wind down, but Mom thinks there may be another meal left in the plants. They had fresh asparagus, spinach, and lettuce despite the bad weather over the holiday. Dog Dad picked it before the rains hit. We had a rabbit visit over the weekend, but we made quick work of chasing it out of the yard.

Tales from the Veggie World

Mom is constantly harping about how much damage we can do if we aren't careful in the garden. Have you seen how big these zucchini plants are Mom? If we stop posting send someone in to check out the zucchini. It might have taken us all. Can you see how it is kind of reaching out towards me?

This is why we normally don't watch the Sci Fi channel with Mom and we stick to watching sports with Dad. Now it has led Bailey to an irrational fear of veggies. I like the shade this one is providing. If it gets a bit bigger, I can sit underneath the whole thing and get a nice break from the heat of the sun.

With blooms appearing on the zucchini plants, Mom is hopeful that she will have some fresh zucchini soon. She and Dog Dad use zucchini in quite a few different recipes. From the look of the plants, they should have a decent crop.

Mom and Dad were very excited to have fresh lettuce and spinach for their salads this weekend. Both are doing quite well this season. Katy did you see the zucchini creeping into the picture, making its presence known? I'm telling you the stuff is taking over. You’ve got to stop turning your back on it. Don’t you remember the The Celery Stalks at Midnight? Veggies can go bad and not in a smelly way either.

What has been most surprising this season is that we still have asparagus in July!!! This has always been a short spring crop. The parents aren't complaining, but they are shocked that they still are getting quite a healthy crop.

As for the rest of the garden, the tomatoes are starting to expand fully into their crates cages and flowers are just starting to appear. Katy has been walking the line on the peppers, much to Dog Dad's dismay. She thinks it keeps critters away. Dog Dad is convinced she's going to step on a plant and kill it. So far, she's done amazingly well at walking the rows.

Mom found out about an edible perennial presentation being offered at the local library this month and she and Dog Dad signed up. They love the asparagus and the chives and would love to learn what else would keep coming back every year without having to be replanted.

Veggie Update: The Fence

We reported last week that do to our vigilance there were lettuce casualties. We thought the worst was over, but we came this weekend to discover Dog Dad had forgiven, but not forgotten. He has created barriers to prevent us from entering the back gardens.

Look at that fence. That may look like a small fence, but that Dog Dad is smart. While I might squeeze through this hole without any blockage, jumping over it requires me to jump blindly into the bush. Not something I'm crazy about doing. They are clearly not designed for rabbit or squirrel prevention. Nowhere do you see anti-rabbit fencing, only Sheltie prevention. It is an outrage. Sure, we've killed more plants than all the critters together to date. You know they will do more damage in the end.

Just a note to our friends out in Blogville, our Google Dashboard reader has gone bonkers. From what we've read this is a fairly common bug that has yet to be addressed in Blogger. As of Monday, we could still click on our individual list of Blogs to get to your Blogs to read your articles, but we only get the person who updated lasted posted to our Dashboard. We are doing our best to keep up to date on what is happening in Blogville. Mom may have to look into another reader if this becomes a problem.

News from the Veggie Gardens

Welcome to our Tuesday Veggie Garden tour. There is lots going on in the Veggie World. Mom is amazed we are still getting fresh asparagus. Normally it is a spring perennial for us. It comes up shortly after the snow melts and starts to turn into ferns just as it warms up in May. However, here we are in June and Dog Dad is still finding new stalks sprouting. The parents are thrilled, as they love grilled asparagus.

So far, the tomatoes have been loving this wet rainy spring. We were afraid we might have plant rot, but so far there seems to have been enough dry days in between the wet ones that the plants are holding on and thriving.

Mom was sick over the weekend so she hadn't gone out to check on the veggie's progress. She was amazed at how big the zucchini plants had grown. Let me tell you guys in a month, you lose a ball in there and it will be fall before you see it again. What the zucchini takes it keeps.

Next, we have Katy's gardening tip of the week. The parents really don't mean do whatever is necessary to keep the garden's safe. We take our critter patrols seriously. However, Dog Dad made it very clear after I killed a lettuce, OK a couple of lettuce plants this weekend in pursuit of a squirrel that it wasn't OK to kill a plant while protecting it. I am not allowed to jump in the gardens even in hot pursuit of a critter. So, let that be a lesson to all of you eager gardeners doing your best to protect the produce. If you kill it while trying to protect it, they won't thank you. They won’t see the heroic effort you made in chasing off the varmint. All they will notice are the dead plants you killed while trying to defend them.

Protecting the Compost

Mom has been composting since long before she knew it had a name. She doesn't have the land she had when she was a kid, so now she has a container to keep it in.

We not only protect the compost from intruders, but we provide escort service for Mom to and from the composter. See, Mom is cool with the composting, but she's not so crazy about the bugs inside the composter. She also likes company when its dark and its time to empty the storage bags she keeps in the kitchen. Who is she kidding she likes company when it is bright daylight. The Mom just doesn't like traveling alone. So, being good dogs we head out with her.

As you can see, it is nice and shady back here. So, of all the chores we have, watching over the compost isn't the worst. It is shady, the larger animals haven't figured out how to break in, so others than using it as a landing point from the trees, we have limited need to clear them from the area. Just don't tell Mom or she'll be thinking of tougher jobs for us.

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Hosted by Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs

Garden Update

We can't believe it is June already. The weather has been good to the tomatoes and they are adjusting to their cages. We helped Mom with the weeding over the weekend. Mom was surprised that even with all the tropical weather, the weeds were minimal this first week.

Dog Dad only used to use newspaper wraps for the tomatoes. However, with the funky weather and the extra critter and bug attacks last year, he decided to experiment and use them on some of the other plants to give them a starting chance. He is pleased by the process and has seen stronger than he had last year.

Dog Dad added spinach and more lettuce to the back gardens this week. Mom remarked that the spinach looks remarkably like the weed grass we generally remove from the garden. We've never tried growing spinach before so it is a whole new area we are exploring this year.

They've been cooking and using spinach more in salads these days, so it seemed like a logical choice to add to the gardens. Along with squirrels, we noticed more chipmunk activity in the backyard since the gardens have been planted. We scared one into jumping into a tree. We are inspiring new heights in squirrel and chipmunk gymnastics.

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Wordless Wednesday: Supervising the Planting

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Happy Memorial Day!!

We had Mom prepost this because with Dog Dad around we know she'll be too distracted to remember to put up anything. We love long weekends. An extra day with Dad is always a treat.

The morning starts early on Memorial Day. The City has a Memorial Day parade that visits all the war memorials in the area. It isn't like the more formal Labor Day Parade that Mom and Dad go to in the fall. However, even if you aren't there, you can hear it from our house. The bands and the guns are pretty loud. No sleeping in on Memorial Day.

Memorial Day has a special meaning for Mom because her Dad was a Veteran of WWII and Korea. She was always taught to remember that while it was nice to have a long weekend, this day was about more than a day off.

Mom and Dad usually start thinking about the veggie gardens this weekend. They check out the local garden shop and see what he has in for veggie plants and start working on the raised beds. As of this posting, the weather is questionable. However, Mom will still probably talk Dog Dad into checking out the veggie plants. Those go quick if you don't hunt early.

We'll let you know how all of that works out.

We hope you are all enjoying a beautiful Memorial Day with your family and friends.



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Look What We Found!

Over the years, Mom has turned more to perennial gardening for her flowers. She loves the idea that no matter what the weather is like, her health, or other situations that get in the way of her gardening ambitions, there are always flowers that magically appear each year. She loves getting out as soon as the snow is gone to start checking for the crocus. We already missed the chance to get pictures of one that she saw just a couple of days ago.

We noticed the tulips are coming along. Mama has some daffodils ready, but they never have really taken to the environment here. The rest of perennials will be along, as it gets warmer. We’ve been protecting Dad’s asparagus garden. Those pesky rabbits are back. We are going to have a busy season protecting the veggie gardens. So far, the asparagus is our main duty as it is a perennial so it comes up without having to be planted. Mom and Dad will wait until after Memorial Day to plant the rest of the veggies. We are keeping in shape chasing the squirrels. They seem to have slowed down a bit during the winter. One barely made the tree this morning.