First Day of Summer 2010

The weather has been exceptionally col for Bakersfield; just 87 on the first day of summer!  Some crops may be a bit behind.

The yellow squash has been producing at a good rate.  Went with Burpee Saffron and Burpee Scallop Hybrid Mix.  I do have some green squash, Burpee Hybrid Zucchini.  The zuc has stayed a manageable size, but one plant is showing what I diagnose as fusarium wilt.  I have yet to find a green squash that does not suffer.

The ambrosia melons are picking up speed.  There are plenty of young melons hidden from view.

The celebrity tomato row should ripen soon.

First You Dig

Essential to “double digging” your beds are the right tools.  U-bar, broadfork, digging board, fork and spade.  I am in a secondary floodplain.  What little top soil the property may have had was used to make the 12 foot high pad the the house sits on.  What remained was coarse mineral sand.  The Kern River Oilfield is just across the river.  It has been a “slow go” to build garden soil.  Having horses on the property does provide one source of organic material!