Bees

I haven’t seen many bees since the peak of the drought and heat.  Not surprising since very few plants had flowers, but still I was concerned that the extreme weather had killed many of them.  

Most of the bees around here are the native bumblebee.  Nothing draws the bees like squash flowers, which must look like a buffet to them.  The Cocozelle squash that I planted on July 1 has grown like kudzu and lately has been setting flowers.  With the recent rain and more temperate weather the okra, beans, and tomatoes have also set a lot of blossoms.  And the bees are back.  Here a bumblebee is hovering around a squash blossom. 

The Cocozelle squash, unlike the previous plant in this spot is the picture of vigor.  Yesterday I picked a one pounder from this plant. 

 
It’s unusual for sure for a garden in this area to produce summer vegetables then stop then start again but that’s what happened here.  I stopped getting tomatoes, beans and squash in mid-July and now they are producing again.  The front bed has beans, scallions and carrots.   The back bed has tomatoes and peppers. 

This is the center row of beds:  The front bed has a later planting of beans and carrots.  The center bed has the lone squash plant.   Fall green manure mix is growing where the winter squash were.  The back bed has cucumbers and cabbage crops.  I finally got a batch of cabbage crops started in cells indoors – kale, kohlrabi, tatsoi, cauliflower and chinese cabbage.  I should have started them at the beginning of August.  

In the back bed the brussell sprouts are filling out.  I’ve tried for several years and never had success with brussell sprouts.  This year they look really good.  I tried a new variety this year – Jade Cross.  Maybe that’s why they are doing well.  

The two beds on the west end:   One bed has the last planting of snap beans for the season.  The plan is to freeze most of these beans.  Beans are the one vegetable that tastes almost as good frozen as fresh.  The other bed has parsnip, okra and a planting of carrots.