The Beginning of the End

Now that June is here, planting is drawing to a close (unless you're doing succession planting of tomatoes, beans, etc.), but I'm having trouble letting go of planting season.  Just waiting for things to grow is not nearly as entertaining!  The side bed that I put in a week or so ago has greened up beautifully, and the squash and cantaloupe vines in the main bed are showing some growth at last (though they're still quite small for the amount of time they've been planted).  

I've also moved my Red Kuri squash from their germination pots into the front flower bed, five little plants in all.  They'll get more sun there than in the back.  The asparagus beans next to the teepee trellis are finally climbing with gusto, twining round and round the supports and tangling with one another and the gourd plants.  


My potato plants' flowers have come and gone, and I'm tempted to dig for potatoes again.  The last time I tried I found nothing but thin, white roots, like any vegetable plant.  The yellowing at the bottom of the stalks is also worrisome; a quick internet search turned up the possibility of fusarium or verticillium wilt, among other causes.  Verticillium wilt took out my tomato plants early last summer, and I do not want to have another case of it on my hands.  Finding out you have no recourse but to discard the plant is heartbreaking!

In better news, I had been wanting to purchase a fig tree, but I hadn't found a really pretty Brown Turkey variety plant until just recently.  Brown Turkey is both suited to the climate here and recommended for container growing.  I was delighted to purchase one that is roughly three feet tall; I plan to re-pot it when I find just the right pot (or when the fruiting season is finished.)  I'm keeping a sharp eye out for buds and potential fruit. 

I am getting a strawberry on occasion (when the birds don't get them first) and a snap pea or two (which I eat right in the garden), but production has been low, thus far.  Maintenance has recently been on the low side, as well, with the explosion of spring weeds under control, and there's nothing like a little spare time to send a gardener searching far more space to plant! 

(Thanks for the info, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/mean-potato-plants-turn-yellow-59326.html!)