Garden update...mid-season

This is my first blog on a "Windows" PC because I'm not home and am using an old Dell laptop at the campground. I was surprised when I viewed the blog from the laptop that the font looks much bigger on a PC than it does on an Apple computer.

For the last few weeks I have been watching a rather delicate type of onion plant shoot up in the central landscaped area of our front yard. These vibrant purple flowers finally exploded

with such a beautiful deep purple color.

What I failed to notice as I walked by these plants was that nearly every one had one, two or sometimes three bumble bees, seeking the Alliums pollen. Anyone within a reach of a TV or newspaper should know the plight of the honey bee but the bumble bee, who is also an excellent pollinator, is at more of a risk than our honey bee's. When I was a kid I can remember screaming when I saw a bumble bee, I thought it was coming in for a "kamikaze" attack... while in actuality it was so less concerned about me than I was of it.

Our yellow banana, crookneck, scallop and zucchini squash have all just started producing this past week.

I can see a baseball sized beet peeking out just above the surface with a couple mushrooms in the background as a bonus.

Talk about a beautiful flower? These "volunteer" sunflowers (volunteer meaning I didn't plant them) started

coming up all over the garden early this spring. I must of pulled 50 or so out of the ground before I thought to see what they were. I usually only see the black and yellow sunflower...this one is outstanding.

We also have some very nice Walla Walla onions coming to fruit. My big fat size 12 foot is only there to judge the width of the onion. Pretty nice flip-flops, eh?

Lots of potatoes are being grown in two of my ten foot long rows, only problem is I have to dig up a plant just to see how they are coming along. Donna is planning on making a potato salad with these today.

I wouldn't say my Anaheim peppers are doing great, sort of a small anemic plant with only a couple peppers each.

This is a large group of garlic plants with  twisted stems on top that  are called garlic scape. I pulled three of the garlic plants out but they looked a little small so I will hold off till fall in order to get a larger bulb. We have grilled the scape before to eat them like you would a sauteed green bean and have also made a paste to put on bruschetta. Donna loves it when I combine, great amounts of garlic, onions, potato and peppers and top it off with an ice cold beer. I am then politely asked to leave the house for a while. haha

These raspberries are so sweet when freshly picked. Donna likes them in her morning cereal while I will pick and eat them right off the stem. I also have a few blackberries stems but I am trying to eliminate them because they are so darn invasive.

Tomatoes anyone? I have dedicated three of my rows just for the many different types of tomatoes that we planted, all of which are starting to bear fruit...but still green. Along with the tomatoes, some cilantro and jalapeno peppers are being grown and we hope to preserve some salsa in mason jars for a little homemade winter heat.

Because there is a real good possibility of us being uprooted to Seattle for up to four months in the next few weeks or so, I may miss some of the late ripening fruits. If that does happen I'm happy to leave the gate open so our mountain critters can clean up the garden for me.

Since we will be going to Seattle soon, I had the damaged bay-doors (caused when a diesel pump guard attacked the coach) repaired in Spokane last week and I am testing all the equipment on Roosevelt Lake for two weeks. It's a rough job and someone has to do it! Donna was supposed to join me but the heat and these terrible fires in central Washington have cause the air quality to become a problem for her. It's only 18 miles from home so I jet back and forth everyday.

Speaking of jets, yesterday two fighter jets came around the corner in the upper photo at about 500 or 600 miles an hour and only 300 feet above the water...it was awesome. The air above is zoned as a military  training ground and I was told that at times the Canadians will join them for maneuvers. 

While the fires are a terrible consequence of the lightning storms a few days ago they do provide a hell of a photo-op. 

UPDATE

 The smoke is now getting very bad. I think I'll lockup and go home for a day or two and maybe this will blow away. It may look like an evening picture but this is near noon!