Six on Saturday-June 9

It’s “Selebration Saturday” here because 1 1/2″ of rain fell on Thursday night, allowing this gardener to do something besides watering!  Berry rows have been weeded, annuals have been planted, and the Cutting Garden tidied.  With the rain, the plants are celebrating with a burst of growth.  In the newly mulched potager interior border, the final “spring” planting of peas emerged   along the potager’s fence.    The “Parisian” cukes had babies!  Overnight!!!  Although slower than “Cashflow, Clarimore and Raven” who already have 4″ fruits, the “Sunburst” squash exploded with these enormous blooms.    When more squash are blooming, I’ll steal some of the male blossoms to stuff.  YUM!  In another section of the potager, these “Artwork Baby” mini broccoli shot skyward.  It’s a new one for me, and the jury  is still out on this variety.  Even though they are very cute, the plants take up just as much space as the nearby “Blue Wind” broccoli, whose heads are 2-3 times the size.  Unless the “Artwork Baby” produces tons of side shoots, or produces better in the heat, they won’t have a space again.  For some reason, I mistakenly assumed a mini-broccoli would have small plants and take less space.   This pretty lettuce just showed up at the edge of a bed and was allowed to stay.  I’m a softie when it comes to allowing lettuce to not only set seed, but to distribute itself here and there throughout the potager.  These volunteers fill space, shade out weeds, keep the soil softened until other crops need more space, and provide a lot of texture and color in the garden.  Also, birds love the seeds, and I love seeing the surprise colors and forms that pop up.  Excess plants are easily pulled.  What’s not to love with free plants?  And we are salad lovers, which also explains why I’m growing dandelions in the potager, even though wild dandelions are abundant anywhere in the lawn.  I can’t wait to try these pretty Italian dandelions, with their burgundy stems and veining.  So far, I’m impressed with their appearance, their upright growth that keeps plants cleaner and makes harvesting easier, and their continued good flavor despite the heat.  They are showing no signs of blooming yet, although all the “wild” ones have already “puffed” and become very bitter.

That’s my “Six on Saturday” for this week.  Thanks to The Propagator for inventing and hosting this meme.  Visit his blog to see other offerings from around the globe!