Zucchini

Zucchini from seed!

Look, look!  Here is a zucchini plant that I sprouted from seed.  There is no greater excitement than to see a seed sprout and grow into a healthy, fruit-yielding plant.  We are at mid-May and this is the only zucchini seedling that I put into the ground, of the four seeds that I sprouted.  I have high hopes of bringing this plant to maturity.  Yummy visions of zucchini bread and calabasitas (Southwestern-style squash casserole) float in my head.  But, whoa Nellie!  We've a ways to go yet; perhaps I should have planted two (an heir and a spare)?  I'm thinking if plants could talk, this one would say, "Stop watching me and let me grow!"

Journal Entry: Thoughts on garlic and onions...

I am thinking that the garlic and onions in my garden have come to maturity much sooner than they should have; this according to books and articles I have read.  It seems that beyond good soil, water and tender care, temperature and climate ultimately dictate the success of what grows in the garden and how it grows.

Chris' onion patch...

From this (mid-March 2013)...

...to this (mid-May 2013)

The garden continues to follow the dictates of Mother Earth.  Things change quickly as seasons change and temperatures fluctuate expectedly or unexpectedly as the case may be.  We are at mid-May, and what was a flourishing patch of green onions, garlic, kale and sweet onions has metamorphed into a barren onion patch.  I only planted 5 onions, you might recall.  Three are still in the ground, while two have already made their way to the kitchen chopping block.  I have added little sprouts of purple onions into this patch to see how they will grow and if they will flourish with this late planting.

Up close; see the onion bulbs growing into plump goodness?