Out of Control!

The garden and yard have really gotten away from me this year. Luckily the native grass seed we planted last year came back easily. What also had no issue taking hold again is the vetch, which is good if it's used for its intended purpose, a nitrogen rich cover crop. It is not so good when you let it grow, and grow, and grow then go to flower and seed. I think I'll be battling the vetch in the veggie beds next season.

Things could be much worse. We could have to rely on rain to irrigate our crops, rather than the acequia which would be miserable as we haven't had any rain in a very long time. Right now I hear thunder and a few stray drops have hit the window. If it really opens up I'll have to go outside and enjoy it while it lasts.

A fire started on our beloved Bosque yesterday, jumped the river and seems to be fairly under control today. It is so difficult to see New Mexico burn. We love its wild places and national forest to escape the city and enjoy the beauty of this beautiful state. I hope the monsoons arrive with a vengeance and soon.

Because of our access to the acequia, we've been flooding once a week. This is what things are looking like these days. It is such a relief to walk through our gate and see the lushness that is our yard.

The plum and vetch is in the foreground with the peach looking lovely in the back. Behind the peach you might be able to make out the porch structure that is awaiting a roof. Behind the wheelbarrow is a massive weed (I think). I've been hesitant to do anything about it because the pollinators absolutely love its little white flowers.

We've been eating apricots daily from this tree. They are so delicious and their season is so fleeting. I'm afraid we might have a borer issue as there is a sticky sap-like substance oozing from the trunk. Darn. Chipper is enjoying all of her free-ranging.

The veggie garden. The vetch is growing up the fence which has provided shade for the plants inside during the hottest time of the day. Bumblebees also love the flowers. I'm looking forward to the giant sunflower flowering.

The peach regained all of its leaves and then some after the brief, but fruit-killing, aphid invasion of the spring.

I really dislike flash-induced washed-out pictures, but here is the best I could do today with this pic of an apricot.

The garden contains 2 beds-one that is cultivated with intentional seeding of carrots, lettuces, turnips and rutabagas (which I roasted in the solar oven for a work potluck today). This bed, however, is mostly volunteers with a few nursery-purchased seedlings. The volunteers are tomatoes from last year and squash/melons from having left the seeds in the compost. This plant is reminiscent of a pumpkin. Another looks to have either a watermelon or a Hubbard Squash. I'll try to snap some pics tomorrow for some id-ing.

 Things are definitely going well in the growth department. The weeding and maintenance departments are suffering from some busyness on our parts, but there is something really great about the chaos of it all.