The Kitchen Garden in June

I guess I should just accept the fact that I am always late posting about what is going on in the gardens. This is what the Kitchen Garden looked like in June.

Pardon me while I pet my cat Izzy for a bit. She keeps shoving her face in my face, which is making it hard to type.

Ok, I think she’s done with me...for now. This shows an Imperial Star artichoke plant in a big, blue pot. This is my first time trying to grow an artichoke.

This is one of two hop vines that we have in the yard. Brian is a homebrewer, so they really belong to him. The one we have by the shed is Cascade hops. Neither one of us remember what kind this one was!

I have mentioned before how much I love this Heliopsis Summer Night. I love the dark stems with the sunny yellow flowers. It does well every year, although it does show signs of stress when it is really hot and dry.

My greens have not done as well this year as last, however, I still have quite a few. These are arugula and Merlot lettuce, both grown from seed from The Hudson Valley Seed Library. I love their Art Packs and have some framed in my house.

I had planted four lavender plants in the four corners of my u-shaped beds and only two have survived. I can’t remember if this was Hidcote or Munstead.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard with Alaska Nasturtium and Garlic Chives. 

The Alaska variety is one that does best in my garden and the splotchy leaves make it extra exciting to look at. I will occasionally eat the flowers in a salad. They have a nice peppery flavor. However, I kind of prefer just looking at them in the garden.

This is Red Rubin Basil. This is the first time I have had any success with a purple basil in the garden. I had one in a pot that did pretty well, but not in the garden. I love it and it tastes yummy. I planted this as a plant, not as seeds.

This acorn squash plant is looking really healthy, and I hope it stays that way. Last year I had tried acorn squash from seed with no success.

The Sugar Crunch Cucumber plants are looking healthy, as well. I actually have a few baby cucs on there right now that I am hoping to pickle later this month.

I have two tomato plants this year: Cherokee Peruple and Sunchola (cherry-sized). This is the Sunchola. Both are purple tomatoes – I really should’ve mixed it up. I am excited to see these are starting to form fruits, though, and can’t wait to try them. It is my first time growing both varieties.

I have found that Curly-leafed Parsley does WAY better than Flat-leafed Parsley in my garden, no matter if grown from seed or plants. Look at that curly green monster go! It does well throughout the growing season.

My Cilantro always seems to bolt before I get a chance to make anything with it! Very frustrating. I even try the ones that claim to be slow to bolt. Here it is flowering and starting to get feathery and form seeds.

I planted classic, single Hollyhocks a couple of years ago and they never do very well. They get rust and die. This is the best they have done yet. I used to grow lots of these at my mom’s house many years ago and they always did great there, but they just don’t seem to like my garden as well.

I had planted these Cut and Come Again Zinnias from seed and have gotten a few adorable flowers. They are here and there throughout the raised beds.

Keeping with the theme of pink, here is Fireworks Gomphrena. It reminds me of chive blossoms, but more pink than lavender. They have tiny, yellow tips making them look like little exploding fireworks, hence the name.

I also have Strawberry Fields Gomphrena, which is red. I like the pop of red, I just wish my gomphrenas were more prolific.

So that was June in the Kitchen Garden. I will try to post pictures of the flower garden from June soon.