Sang as it Ever Was

Finally picked the cauliflower, waited a bit too long judging by the color and how the flowers have started to open up - I'm assuming that's what the fuzziness* is anyways. Have them soaking in a water-vinegar bath, and tomorrow I'll try a bite to see if they're salvageable. It's definitely better than last year! Need to remember to blanch much sooner as well. The heads are a little bit yellow.

It looks like you can plant a second crop for fall, which I might do after putting on some compost and replenishing the nitrogen. The heads were a little purple around the edges, which is supposed to indicate stress (the heat) or low soil fertility (I loaded the hell out of that bed).

If they're only a little bitter or off, they might be good pickled! A little vinegar and some spices will cover up a lot, and pickled cauliflower with some turmeric would be delicious.

It's nice to know that even if you don't have a lot to give your garden, it'll still give back. I'm sure it would be way more productive if I was out there every day, but I've had a lot of personal and health issues distract me.

*Edit: I should really look on the Internet before I post. This is called 'ricing', and it's likely caused by the heat spike we had the other week. Apparently high temperatures confuse the cauliflower and it thinks it should be focusing on growing leaves instead of the curd, and then this happens. It's not supposed to affect the taste, it just doesn't look supermarket pretty. The yellowing might still make it bitter though.

I swear every year I try to grow these things I understand more why it's like $4-5 a head.

The cantaloupe are starting to fruit on the trellis, which means I need to get in gear and get some nets for them. They're only supposed to grow to the size of a softball, but that still seems like a lot more weight than the vine would appreciate. I also need to add in more bamboo supports. Trellising plants has absolutely been a game changer, but it really needs a lot of rungs or places for support, especially plants not usually grown vertically.

I had given up the radishes for dead, thinking not thinning them had caused them to put all of the energy into the greens. But lo and behold, I think a week of a ton of rain caused them to really bulk up! The ones you see here are the special wasabi flavored ones. I'm not a huge fan of radishes raw, so I'm going to matchstick and pickle them. I think they'd be delicious on some rice. Or maybe pickled like kimchi!!

The three zucchini plants are starting to bear their fangs! This is what I pulled off, and that's even after all of the blossom rot problems. It could be due to all of the rain we've been getting, or a calcium deficiency. Just in case, I've ground up a bunch of eggshells and Tums, and sprinkled them in the bed.

The cucumbers are also starting to fruit! They're also the last vegetable I need to trellis. With the aforementioned rain, I need to get them as much air as possible to prevent mildew problems.

The cauliflower is starting to... Curd? Fruit? Who knows. I need to look up when I need to cover them, so they don't turn yellow and bitter.

I have more photos to post, but they're all too big for even Cohost plus. Some other day!