Several folks have asked why there haven’t been more updates: the skeeters have driven me out of the garden. Even running down with DEET on for two minutes to dump compost and grab as many tomatoes as I can, I get bitten all to hell through my clothes. I seem to be allergic to these f**ers and get quarter-sized lumps from them. Maybe one of those beekeeper outfits would do the trick? Are they mosquito proof?
Totally depressing.

In good news, the rogue squash growing from the compost pile has been identified: it is a butternut squash.

Since I took these photos on Monday, the visible squash is almost full size, though still green. I think we’re gonna be making and freezing butternut ravioli again! Yay! Lowfat, filling and delicious. And cheap. Did I say cheap?

The tomatoes don’t seem to have late blight, but I’m watching them as much as I can. Another pound of tomatoes today, some fugly cucumbers and more beans. The beans have been surprisingly bountiful, and very very pleasing.

And today, the grapes are ready.
Harvested for 20 minutes, lazily in the heavy rain (no mosquitoes) and got 3.5 lbs of grapes. They’re sweet and grapety grapey. In Cat News: Gary is a fan of grape detritus.

I’m gonna see which grapejuice extraction method is going to be best, as the Interweb is divided evenly between juicer and boiling. Then, in the next few days, any and all are welcome to come to my house for harvesting, stemming and canning of grapejuice. Then, popsicles with the new popsicle mold Paul found on the street.

Again with the rain. I haven’t needed to even hook up the irrigation system or the rain barrel. This is silly.

Lots of tomatoes ripened in the couple sunny days this week, almost a pound yesterday. Which makes about a pound and a half thus far. The beans have slowed dramatically, and irritating neighbor cut the stray ones back. Grr. I even left him a nice note inviting him to eat the ones that strayed to his side of the fence. What I thought was a volunteer tomato in the kale/bean/borage box is actually a sungold, which must’ve sprouted from a wayward seed from the cold frame when I transplanted the kale. So sad that all the rest of the sungolds washed away, because they’re so delicious.

The kale is taunting me, it is so beautiful, but no soil lab has said they can test for the contaminants at issue, so the kale is just for pretty right now. The herbs don’t scare me as much, which is irrational. Kale is meatier and therefore more likely to be poison?

The basil box is fluffy and prolific, but growth has slowed again with the renewed rainfall.

The borage dropped a lot of seeds when it fell over, and I crawled around on the ground yesterday picking them up. I think I collected almost a full seed packet’s worth. They are pretty and black and ridged. I think by now enough of them have been washed around the yard that next year will have more than three volunteer borage plants. I collected about half a packet’s worth of snap pea seeds, though I’m pretty sure they were a hybrid and won’t come true from seed. It can’t hurt to grow them, now that I know the St. Patty’s planting day secret.

I think this week, I’ll try for a second planting of beans and marigolds.