SUMMER UPDATES July 2012

**Summer greetings!  Hope your summer is going well and you are keeping cool in this heat.  The Irving Garden Plot is looking pretty cool.  Many plants are growing and flowering.  The volunteers have been doing a great job of keeping everything watered.  In the planting beds, I have observed lettuce, mint, basil, baby kale, radishes, chard and parsley that are ready for harvesting.  Look closely and you can see tiny purple eggplants.  In our class garden plot, the onions are nearly ready.  Our zucchini plants are HUGE and I have had to trellis them.  Look closely and you can see the squash blossoms (flowers.)  The female blossoms are located at the end of an emergent zucchini.  The male blossom grows directly on the stem and are slightly smaller.  The zucchini plants need the bees around.  Don't be afraid of the bees!!  We still have time before we will see little zucchinis.  The plants should be at least 6 inches before we harvest them.  I will keep you posted on the harvesting of onions and zucchinis.  Please stop by and harvest some of the plants I have mentioned above.  Please be careful not to step on any baby plants.  Have mom or dad work with you.  Check back again in a couple of weeks for an update.  Keep cool and have fun!!!!