Corn Box Day 61

   The Corn Box on Day 61.  The tallest measured 48 inches/ 4 feet tall.  I'm starting to see the fronds of corn 'flower' at the top of some plants.  Daily high has been record-breaking lately with triple digits on consecutive days and the leaves show signs of heat stress.  Today is a bit overcast, so they get a bit of a break from the harsh western Colorado sun.

   The view of the four SFG boxes in our backyard.  I was giving the plants something extra in the form of the kelp solution this morning.  You can see one of our adopted cats, Loki, sitting between the spring SFG box and the corn box.  The kitties love hanging around the boxes.  Luckily, most squares have filled out enough to discourage them from going in too much.  The one bare square in the middle of the spring veggies SFG box where I pulled the bolting spinach is still being targeted, though.    The peas, amazingly enough, have still not died out, but producing some tiny pods still.

   The summer veggies SFG box is looking nice and lush!  I really like the way this box is looking.  The different shades of green from yellow green to grey green and all the different textures are so beautiful!  The eggplant, broccoli, bell pepper plants are really getting big and looking healthy and so are the string and soy beans.  The basil (There are 3 plants in one spot.) is overflowing its square.  The once-lanky Italian parsley has gotten greener and more compact.  I still have a few empty squares in the picture.  I planted more Swiss chard and soy beans this morning so all squares are being used as of today.  I like leafy greens and I am not quite getting enough from that one square of Swiss chard in the spring veggies box, so I'm hoping that I'll start getting more plants to harvest from in about a month. :D

Simple Pleasures

   We seem to be hearing about crops of lettuce or spinach contaminated with Listeria on the news more and more.  Whenever there's a recall announced, I feel so lucky to be growing and having access to fresh greens right in my backyard.  I know exactly what goes into it, too -- all organic, no pesticide, no herbicide.  Since the soil mix is 1/3 compost, I don't use any fertilizer like Miracle Grow.  The only thing I use is a sea kelp concentrate that provides trace minerals.  Oh, and I'm a firm believer of the benefit of fish tank water. :D  Whenever I do a partial water change on my three fish tanks ranging in size from 26 gallons to 72 gallons, I water my houseplants and outdoor plants with the water that is siphoned out of the tanks to be discarded.  As far as I can see, the plants LOVE the fish tank water. lol

   Anyhow, to be able to eat salads every day and know that everything is exactly as nature intended and disease-free is wonderful.  I'm sure the nutrients are doing wonderful things to my body, but the psychological effect can't be overlooked.  There's something very special in helping nature along in the form of growing one's own garden and keeping it healthy, lush, and thriving.  It's life affirming.  It's soothing to the spirit. ^_^

   The Summer Veggies SFG box.  The part of the backyard they are in is just getting out of the shade of the tree in this picture.  In the north part of the box, I have three heirloom tomato plants.  We plan on building a strong support for them so we can grown them vertically.  If all goes well, we will have dark purplish red on the left, yellow in the middle, and pinkish red on the right during the peak of summer and onward.  I also have basil, Italian parsley, eggplant, beans, and soy growing in this box.  I can't wait for the first tomato sandwich of the season! XD