 July 25, 2002 Click on photo for large photo |
The corn followed the "Corn Rule" of being knee high by the
fourth
of July which astounded me, especially since it was planted so
late.
Additionally, the seed was a couple of years old and I was told that it
would not grow more than 50 percent at best.
Well, it looked like every kernel grew! Therefore, even after transplanting some outside the fence along the sidewalk and giving away many plants, there is quite a stand of corn there in those two short rows. Some stalks already have as many as three ears of corn starting. What a great birthday gift! (July 25th, the day my son took this photo, was my birthday.) The corn outside the fence is much shorter but is also forming ears which is also amazing since corn plants are not supposed to transplant well. |
 July 25, 2002 Click on photo for large photo |
These tomatoes are in the main garden. This is the
third year
for this section of the garden which has had tomato plants in this
particular
spot each year. There have already been ripe tomatoes on three of
the plants in this part as well as some in the newer parts of the
garden.
There are tomato plants in the newer part of the garden even taller
than
these, especially the Sun Gold tomatoes.
Often people stop and ask what I do for such huge and prolific plants. Besides several loads of aged horse manure on the garden each spring, grass clipping mulch early in the season and surface watering, I really do very little. I truly believe this yard is blessed. |
 July 25, 2002 Click on photo for large photo |
This fennel plant is well over seven feet tall. I
consider it
Delaina's plant since she always visits it and takes fennel home with
her.
This is its third year in the garden. It produced a good crop of
seeds last year and is producing even more this year. This is one
of Delaina's favorite plants, perhaps her most favorite. Since
the
summer she was one year old, she had readily identified it and calls it
by name. This year she has been proudly telling her little
sister,
Victoria, all about it. (Delaina is three and Victoria is one.)
Behind the fennel (to the left) are the tomatoes pictured in the photo above. (And, no, the house in the background is not mine. It is a neighbor's house and has been being remodeled for three years. In this photo, I am actually facing my own house.) By the way, in case you didn't know, fennel is wonderful sweetener in your cooking. When it is cooked, it loses its anise flavor and leaves only the sweetness. One use in my kitchen is cooked in oat bran cereal with the fennel replacing the brown sugar or honey which I previously used. (Oat bran is an effective and safe way to significantly lower cholesterol; it can be purchased in the bulk section.) Surely, it could be chopped and frozen in ice cubes for winter use. Fennel is especially wonderful in baked salmon as well as soups, stews, etc. as well as baked chicken. I often bake salmon or boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts with tomatoes (lots of onions also in the salmon), several herbs, including rosemary, with wild mixed rice; it's a wonderful fix-ahead meal to put in the oven an hour and a half before time to serve dinner. |
 |
This is the south end of the garden right after the season's
first
rototilling was finished. This includes the 2000 portion which
was
expanded in 2001 to include a bit more here. More was added for
tomatoes
along the walk just north of this. The pear tree is in full bloom
and produces delicious pears. The compost bin which has "lived"
there
for two years was removed and placed by the Seattle composter on the
north
end of the yard. The area around the pear tree and to the west
(right)
of the currently rototilled area was also prepared for planting; the
corn
is planted where it is grass in this photo, between the edge of the
garden
and the lilac bushes. The remainder of the short garden fence is
also gone now except a small portion near the chain link fence, left
because
a squash plant decided to grow through it.
Looking at this, it's really difficult to realize that this photo's garden looked like that just 3-1/2 months ago! |
 |
This cherry tree in the west end of the garden was so very
beautiful
each spring and absolutely gorgeous to look at both out the kitchen
windows
and from the patio and yard. It gave the most delicious bing
cherries
to both us and to the birds. Sadly, it fell down at the end of
June
with absolutely no warning. It was a loss of beauty but even more it was an enormous loss to the birds. It was the Redwinged Blackbirds' landing point to visit the feeders They graced the yard both in 2001 and in 2002 but come in very seldom with the tree gone. In 2001, there was one pair which brought in their fledglings and in 2002, the first pair and four other pairs (likely the youngsters from the previous year) also brought in their fledglings. I'm hoping that by next spring they will find another satisfactory landing point, either the magnolia tree or the other cherry trees. Sadly, I had the tops cut out of the other fruit trees on the north end of the yard since the two cherry trees and two apple trees were not getting enough sun because of too close spacing, something I'd not done if I'd known this one was going down since the blackbirds used them also. Redwinged Blackbirds are unusual for town so this yard was blessed to have them. |
 |
This is one of five male Redwinged Blackbirds that frequented the yard in the early spring through when the cherry tree fell in June (this particular one was the adult male from 2001). There were many magnificant territory displays with the males. There were also five adult females that also visited throughout the day. The males would come alone or in pairs or more, but the females usually came two or more. This year's ten are surely the parents and babies from last year. I'm not sure if it is typical of the breed, but, here, the males brought in only male fledglings and the females brought in only females. |
