Garden correspondents with Judy Whalen in Gondola Point

Judy was bubbling over with enthusiasm about the amazing growth in her two vegetable gardens. "I think this is perhaps the best garden we've ever had in Belleisle. The steady moisture and now this heat are really pushing growth in almost everything. I heard one garden expert say this is a tomato and melon year, and I'd have to agree. They both thrive on steady moisture and heat. I've already got small muskmelons forming, which is amazing. And the tomatoes are filling out fast too. There's even one that's getting a bit of red to it already! I have to tell you what I did with the tomatoes this year that I think was really worth the effort. When I picked up the little packs of four tomato seedlings, we were still in that cold and wet slow-starting part of the spring, too chilly to set out the greenhouse-tender plants. I was anxious to do something with them right away, so I decided to take an intermediate step. I made a rich soil/compost mix with added bone meal and lobster meal, and potted them individually in one gallon pots. They soon rooted in that larger volume of soil, and began to grow rapidly, not missing a blink when I transferred them into the garden about 10 days later. I think it was well worth the effort, getting them off to a much earlier start, and stronger growth."

"We're already eating new potatoes. And the potato bugs never really amounted to much this year." When Judy started to speculate that this was perhaps just a poor year for that insect, I reminded her that I have a full crop of the critters, and have resorted to Safer's Trounce (soap & pyrethrin mix) a couple times to fight them. We agreed that Judy and Bill's vigilant commitment to hand-pick the adults and eggs early in the season really is paying off with low populations.

Judy has all kinds of perennials lighting up her home garden with bloom. "The evening primrose is such a bright yellow flower- really showy right now. Rudbeckias are coming into blossom, daylilies, depending on variety, and the liliums are fantastic. I bought a bunch of new ones out west again this year, and seeing them bloom for the first time is so exciting."

Thanks, Judy, for the report. I think if you weren't already so 'mature', you'd be a foot taller yourself this year out of sheer enthusiasm!