The weather is still gloomy, cold and wet. Within the first two weeks of the month we’d set a rainfall record for June, and have been setting daily records for cold. You know that if you are setting records for rainfall in the NW, it must be really wet!

Out in the garden things are growing along. As you can see from the first bed on the right, the lettuce is loving the weather!

As is the second planting of lettuce and spinach.

The arugula keeps trying to bolt. The onions seem to be doing well also. I have three broccoli plants that survived the slug onslaught. The slugs have been real pests this year, partly because the rain keeps washing away the slug bait. They ate my cucumbers as soon as they appeared, leaving little stumps 😦 I’m about ready to try the ‘piepan of beer’ trap on the slugs, but then I would have to go buy some beer to waste on the slugs.

The squash has blossoms

The beans are poking up. Pole beans on the left, yellow bush beans on the right. I’m looking forward to doing some canning and pickling with these guys! Right now they don’t look particularly happy, a little yellow and stressed. I think this bed didn’t get the chicken compost like the rest, but I know it got plenty of llama compost.

The potato plants are peeking out of their mounds of straw. I hope the slugs and potato bugs are not gobbling up all my potatoes under there. In a wet spring like we’re having, I’m wondering if growing potatoes in straw was a good idea. The straw is absolutely infested with those little black grass spiders. When I walk by I see them scurrying in every direction. They don’t bother me too much. I hope they eat potato bugs!

My waist-high heritage variety tomatoes almost make me look like I know what I’m doing. Unfortunately the tomatoes I started from seed aren’t doing nearly as well, maybe half as tall and wimpy stems. Was it the vigor of the variety, or something I did wrong in starting them? Oh well, learn a bit more every year. I’ll be saving seeds from these heritage varieties this year for next year, so we’ll see what happens then.

That’s the garden so far. I’m surprised at how quickly it has filled in, and there’s still more I want to plant! I need to find room for the cuke starts I picked up, and the peppers. I would like to find a spot to stick some winter squash, like acorn squash. I’d like to do some winter veg, and I want to raise lettuce in a cold frame so I’m reserving the raised bed for that – if I ever find a window to use as a cover for it. And of course everytime I set foot in there there is weeding and pruning and other chores to do. I must say, the garden is keeping me plenty occupied this year!

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