Nelson County Rocks

June 29th produced our first harvest basket–not too bad considering that we weren’t able to plant most things until mid-May.  Mostly heirloom varieties: 2 varieties of cucumber, 4 varieties of summer squash, snap peas, (Early Girl hybrid) tomatoes, pepper, lettuce, swiss chard, parsley, basil.  (Missed the pole beans hiding at the base of their poles.)  It’s not hard to see that the quantity is about to increase exponentially (we’ve ordered a freezer, due to arrive later this week).

Given our experience with a community garden in New Jersey last year, what is perhaps most striking is the almost total absence of pests so far.  Insects have nibbled at the leaves of some of the lettuce, arugula, vegetable amaranth, and eggplants, but so far none of the usual suspects that caused so much trouble last year!  The string beans on the string trellis were searching two feet upward with their tendrils, so I’ve installed 10 foot bamboo poles to accommodate them.  There’s no secret to any gardener where Jack and the beanstalk comes from!