Sweet Potatoes (again)

When I went to 13th Street Nursery yesterday, I found that they had sweet potato plants in 4" pots.  So I bought five.  Actually, I bought four and got one really pathetic Georgia Jet free.

I planted them this afternoon is a trench, to be filled in as they grow.

I also sowed two more rows of parsnips (four total now) and some basil in the bed under the bedroom window.  I never have enough basil.

Sweet Potatoes

Today I decided to put the sweet potatoes out.  They still don't look great, but maybe they'll be o.k.  Some look pretty sad.  I ended up with just eight plants.

I also fertilized the strawberries.  Maybe that will get them blooming again.

First Strawberry!

Today we picked the first Seascape strawberry.  It was big and yummy.  We cut it in half and ate it before I could take a photo.

The sweet potato slips are still not looking great, so I decided to try to start some of my own.  I bought a sweet potato at the market, cut it into a couple of big chunks, and suspended them in water with toothpicks.  I'm afraid it's a bit late to be doing this, but at least if it works well I'll know I can do it next year.

We've had showers for the last several days, which is good because my wrist is still not healed and I need the rest.

Yesterday we got an estimate ($2700) to put an automatic watering system in the vegetable beds.  It will make it easier for us to go away for short trips during the summer.

Lost of Firsts

Today the first rose, Lillian Austin, opened.

 Also first blossoms on the peas.

 The lemon daylily opened today.

And all the cistus in the front yard are in bloom.

 The salad greens that I planted on May 7 are all up, as are the beans.

Today I added compost, all-purpose fertilizer and 5 cups of fish bone meal to the sweet potato bed.  I then dug a trench down the center and put IRT plastic over the top.  I received the plants yesterday, but they are a bit bedraggled, so I put them in a glass of water to recover.

The tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are all in pots in the cold frame.  They're ready to go in but we're due for a couple of cool days with rain, so I think I'll keep them under cover for now.  I planted the squash in two large pots on the deck, also four cucumber plants with a cage around them.  The melon starts are just about setting-out size. 

Oh, and the parsnips have finally come up.  But alas, no asparagus yet.

The older lemon cypress has died suddenly, maybe from drying out when it was hot.  We've decided to find a home somewhere else for the newer one.  Too fussy. 

The pots on the deck are starting to look really nice.