Onward and update - June 1 update

It seems a little late to advise planting melon seeds now (see previous post)! But maybe there's hope for my puny melon plants. Only the cucumber and the honeydews have really taken off. Lots of bloom but no fruit set so far.

The Early Girl and cherry tomatoes are at peak harvest. The yellow pear tomatoes are just starting to ripen. They are cute but a little bland for my taste.

Japanese eggplant and zucchini for picking every day. There's good looking chard too but somehow I avoid it right now. I'm letting the last few artichokes stay on the plant. They are small and I do like the blossoms when they mature.

I removed the Italian (flat) parsley but the curly parsley and the basil is doing well. The peppers continue to languish.

I picked the first butternut squash this week. However, I was informed that usually people leave them on the vine until the whole plant withers. This will result in a deeper flavor and harder shell. They are called winter squash because the hard shell makes them keep well through the winter! I did not know that before.

We did have a very few nectarines and aprium, tasty but not enough. The second peach tree is starting to ripen. We just picked the last grapefruit - it is still not as good as the others in the neighborhood and I am thinking of removing it.

We did remove the giant lime tree and it is strange to have that pocket of sunlight in the orchard. Maybe I'll plant big flowers like hollyhocks and sunflowers there next year.