A Gardener's Diary

[Monksdream]

May 20-It slipped my mind. Wednesday night I ordered a packet of Persian basil from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Free shipping until July. Never grown it. I've threw down a big container of manure where I cleared out the carrots. It's too darn hot to start them in the greenhouse so I'll simply direct sow and keep the soil well watered until germination. I understand this variety is quite different in taste and aroma compared to the standard sweet basil varieties.

Saturday was busy again. I took lettuce, purslane, and purple and Genovese basil to Angelica up the street at Woodie's. All that's left of the lettuce is about 6 heads of Green Syrian. I've cleared out the rest, taking the bolted to plants to the compost pile. Next is to clear out the weeds and prepare that soil for fall planting.

I took a nap in the afternoon. It's too hat during the middle of day, especially with hardly a cloud to cool things off. I only worked up and sowed 7 melon hills. The watermelon hills will be completed Sunday. I'm down to 4 Polish model melon seeds in the packet, so all that remains are the Charentais, the Jenny Lind and the Sugar Baby watermelon seeds. They should all be in manured hills by the end of Monday.

I continue to raise the pH in the bed of peppers. Some have already responded. I'm noticing new fruit formation in the first rows I transplanted in late April. Some paprikas have made fruit.

The melons that have germinated are now showing true leaves. I can see them in the distance while sitting on the patio. In another 10 days they will begin to vine.

Then it's a matter of waiting for the honeybees and other polinating insects to appear. It's always a concern given what has happened to decimate the bee population.