Making progress....

I really love this blanket I'm making for the baby but it's getting to the tedious stage and I still have a ways to go. Still, because it's so pretty and cheerful it's easier to keep going.  In terms of size, In this picture it's laying across the extended foot of my recliner.  That makes it probably close to 3' x 3'.

This week in my garden, 7/15/15...

The view from the end of the squash and bean bed.  It seems like everything is late this year, but maybe it's just the unseasonably warm June we had that makes me feel like we are later into the growing season. But maybe it is a little slow this year.  I think I was a little late getting it in and the water shortage may be having an effect.  But looking back, it looks like I didn't tell you about that.
The aquifer that supplies the water to Junction City is low and so we have mandatory water restrictions.  Currently, we are only restricted for outside watering but we still haven't gotten any rain so I'm a little concerned about what the rest of the summer might look like.  I can water outside 20 minutes per zone on odd week days between 6 pm and 6 am.  My new watering system has a reduced flow so 20 minutes isn't doing a lot. So, to have some water to care for the garden, I've been standing in this to take my showers.

Then I'm using a bucket to empty the water either onto the plants directly or  into one of 2 20-gallon garbage cans.

I'm also collecting the dish water from rinsing dishes. It's a little scuzzy so I'm mostly watering the grape vines with it.

It's a royal pain but I'd like to keep my garden going.  The two garbage cans are currently full.  I get about 3-4 buckets per shower.
Even with the supplementing the zucchini is looking a little puny.

The tomatoes seem to be doing well and I've had a few tomatoes off the Roma which started out as a bigger nursery plant. The pepper plants love the heat and the walla walla onions seems to be doing ok.  The parsnips have been reseeded but there isn't much life there yet.  The broccoli is leggy with no fruit but the lettuce is going gangbusters.


I even have one little banana pepper that's almost ready to pick
I planted shade flowers in the front flowerbed but then discovered that some kind of borer had killed the tree.  They seem to be doing ok.  The bigger tree provides afternoon shade.

The blueberries are doing ok but are still small.  I've gotten a few small handfuls of berries this year.
The dahlias are coming up and starting to bloom.



This is Bashful in the foreground.  All of my Dahlias have come from Swan Island.

This is Inflammation.

This is Gay Princess.

The strawberry bed has finally set in and is fourishing.  I didn't get many berries this year but maybe I'll get some late season berries.  This appears to be a red plum...but I think this is supposed to be a flowering, not a fruiting tree.  It's the only one I see and since I'm not sure, it won't be eaten.



That's it for this week in the flower and garden beds.