Friday, June 24, 2011

Peas' Progress II


Update on how the peas are progressing in the two different soil mixes:

In the commercial mix amended with extra compost, perlite and organic fertilizer, where all eight seeds germinated, the vines are about 45 inches tall with many flowers.

In the coir, compost, perlite, pumice mix (also with organic fertilizer), where only 4 of 8 seeds ever germinated, they are closer to 38 or 39 inches with fewer flowers. The leaves are darker green on the vines in the coir mix, but they are being eaten by something that is chomping off huge chunks, working from the outer edge toward the stem. This is not the work of a slow nibbler! I haven’t seen the culprit yet. Anyone have any ideas?

Pots L to R: Cukes, Peas in coir mix, Peas in amended commercial mix
 
The cucumbers are flowering and beginning to set fruit. The slim Asian type, 'Satsuki Midori', is looking very good – perfect baby cucumber shape and rich green, or as my friend Joel said, it’s at the “cutecumber” stage. The lemon cucumber has two tiny fruits but they are brown at the flower end – not a promising site. Hopefully the flowers that have not yet set fruit will be healthier looking.
  
"cute-cumber"          
 
baby lemon cukes

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

First Day of Summer

Looking out my bedroom window, I see plenty of blue sky and a clear view of the white-capped Olympic Mountains. The first day of summer looks like one. The peas are finally beginning to bloom in the pots on my deck. It took over two months from planting to flowering. I heard on the radio that this was the coldest spring we’ve had in Seattle since 1950. Now I hope the peas manage to produce pods before the weather turns too hot for them.

The morning sun just flowed through the Rapunzel window where I sit typing, spilling a warm pool over my left foot. Yes, it looks like a good day. I’m very grateful that I get off work at 3:00 today instead of 5:30.

I woke about ten minutes before 4:00 am to find that I’d fallen asleep with the bedside lamp on. I turned it off, but the birds were already singing and I never managed to get back to sleep. I tried to quiet my anxiety about my father’s cancer diagnosis and impending radiation and chemo by listening to the quiet morning and bird song and feeling grateful for these. One bird call sounded like “Judy”. “Ju-dee”, with emphasis and slightly higher pitch on “dee”. Over and over the bird called to his absent “Ju-dee”.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Naturally occurring bi-color mutation!


The last time I got excited about a buttercup, I was maybe 7 or 8 years old and held a blossom under a friend’s chin to see the reflected glow that supposedly revealed a fondness for butter.

As an adult I view buttercups, although cheerfully bright, as nuisance weeds with tenacious roots. But the other day, by Meadowbrook Pond, I spotted a patch with splashes of white on the petals! Bi-color buttercups! A naturally occurring mutation. Perhaps not quite on the order of a Dan Hinkley Himalayan trekking discovery, and certainly not commercially appealing, with their tendency to spread, sprawl and subjugate, but a discovery of a rarity nonetheless!