Cambium's Garden 2016 (Pics) (butterflies, rats, perennials, bloom)

[Cambium]

Been a while. Time to update:


June 10, 2016


Lets see.. Low 50s yesterday morning. 40s this morning. Dewpoints in the 20s (bone dry air), strong winds. Lack of temps in 70s (Its either been 80s or 60s during the day)


We are about 2 weeks behind last year here. This year is reminding me why I wonder why I do all this for just 2-3 months worth.


Anyway .. here we go...


Fava Beans. Ants and Aphids gone. Still waiting for the pods.





Close up





Broccoli Rabe all bolted when it was in the 80s last week. Planted too late, waste of space.





Cauliflower. Seeing progress but slow. Probably confused with temps either being in the 80s or 60s. No consistency or middle ground





Potatoes. Still looking awesome.. Probably another 4 weeks to harvest





Snap Peas. 1st time growing them. Way different then String Beans. These seem more delicate, thinner, and picky about soil and weather.





Snap Pea Closeup:





Hot Peppers: No consistent heat, Lack of sun. Little growth. None are flowering. Only tiny buds trying to make an appearance.





Hot Pepper Close up of the only one producing something. "Bala Sweet"





Cucumbers: Really? Makes sense. Lack of sun lately and no consistent heat. I was picking cukes last year in June.





Cucumber close up. Cardboard still holding up holding weeds down.





Onions. Can't imagine they are going to be big without heat around. We'll see.





Bell Peppers. Slowly but surely.





Eggplants. Slowly but surely. At least it's alive. Always a challenge past few years





Radish... Will harvest them all today. They deter beetles so will replant seeds.





Tomatoes: Slowly but surely. Buds are on every plant and some opening





Tomato close up.





One more close up

[Cambium]

My first harvest of 2016. Radish





Got some nice moderate rains here so everything drinking nicely although hasn't been hot at all. Low 50s again this morning. 60s at lunchtime. 70s for the max.





Rain against the Spruce

[Gerania]

Those fava bean flowers are very pretty. My tomatoes have flowers for the third time. I hope that's the charm. It's been too cold for anything to happen, but hot today. Crossing my fingers.

[Cambium]

Turning my compost pile today. Ton of worms in it which is awesome.


From left to right. Always Incredible to see how fast leaves, grass, Hay, and food scraps turn to soil! This was a huge pile of leaves.





Close up. Is it me or do I find this so sexy? (Sexy Soil? )





Interesting what I found as I was turning it. A small section underneath did not break down. Not enough heat, air, or microbes! leaves were still whole.







All done. Now I sit and wait. In couple months will spread the soil in the garden

[Cambium]

Compost Comparison...


November 7
December 8
April 10
May 18
June 12

[LIcenter]

Sexy? Absolutely. My last house had a perfect spot to compost. I used to get quite a rush digging in that pile. This house, I'm dealing with everyone else's trees, and cannot get the pile hot enough. So now I resort to buying it from the locals. Sad ):

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by LIcenter

Sexy? Absolutely. My last house had a perfect spot to compost. I used to get quite a rush digging in that pile. This house, I'm dealing with everyone else's trees, and cannot get the pile hot enough. So now I resort to buying it from the locals. Sad ):

Glad I'm not the only one. My pile is in the shade most of the day (Only like 2 hours of sun). It got to 125 degrees last I checked. You don't need the pile to be in the sun. Just the right height, size, and material. Don't let the trees make you stop.

[hunterseat]

It all looks great. I wonder if the roots are growing stronger even if the leaves look puny. And most of your plants look like they're thriving. Mine, on the other hand...

I really love the picture of the rain!!

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by LIcenter

Sexy? Absolutely. My last house had a perfect spot to compost. I used to get quite a rush digging in that pile. This house, I'm dealing with everyone else's trees, and cannot get the pile hot enough. So now I resort to buying it from the locals. Sad ):

My compost pile was never big enough to stay hot. It didn't get much sun, but that was OK because it rarely dried out in the summer. I had to deal with a lot of trees, and though it could be annoying, I never had to look for something to throw on the pile. I used to vac, shred them all summer. I never had enough green material, though.

[Cambium]

Weekly Update: June 18, 2016


Summary: Cool and Dry with only a couple of muggy days. Jet Stream keeps digging down in the Northeast bringing dry cool Canadian air to the area.


Last time I had decent rains was on the 5th. 13 days ago. None for another 3 more days so quite the dry pattern we been in. We had a couple of downpours on the 9th and 11th but less than 1/4" fell.


Record clouds and cool to start May. Cool and Dry June. Cucumbers, Peppers and Onions well behind previous years. Tomatoes thriving but not as big with yields as previous years.


Speaking of diving Jet Streams.....lets dive into some photos from this morning .




Sugar Snap Peas...see anything?





Close up. Mmmm





Closer up.





Hot Peppers in pots are flowering on some of the plants. We haven't had many 80s or hot days so they aren't growing as fast.





Pretty Purple Hot Pepper got some pretty blooms.





Cucumbers. You can scroll up to last week and notice the growth difference but if you look at previous years you'll say WOW, they aren't growing. #noheat







Tomatoes unbelievable deep green and all with flowers now.





Campari.





Cauliflower and Potatoes.





Of course... My arch enemy... the Eggplant.. Just don't get it.