Celery turning yellow (oldest leaves) -- will add alfalfa pellets for nitrogen

Both the potted and in-ground.

Picked off the yellow leaves from the potted a few days ago, and now more are turning yellow.

So, today added alfalfa, but to the potted only.

I don't think the celery had the yellowing last year; hopefully it's just a nitrogen deficiency.

Reference: Veganic amendments

A handy list of various options for veganic amendments -- 

from https://www.groworganic.com/blogs/articles/vegan-organic-gardening:

Vegan-friendly products and methods

• Down To Earth Vegan Mix fertilizer
• Alfalfa meal
• Cottonseed meal
• Neem seed meal
• Soybean meal
• Corn gluten meal
• Kelp meal
• Arctic humus
• Soil inoculants and mycorrhizae - read the label first, as some products contain animal-derived fertilizers too. Chappy’s and MycoMinerals are both vegan-friendly choices.
• Mulches–like Mega Mulch
• Cover crops, and cover crop inoculants
• Biochar
• Compost made from green waste (not manure)
• Composting at home
• Liquid kelp
• Calphos, gypsum, greensand and other mineral fertilizers. Many vegans avoid mined minerals though because of the effects mining has on local animal life and the earth as a whole.
• Humic Acids, such as Humax (also a mined product)
• Peat moss (vegan, but controversial due to the effects of harvesting it on the environment)
• Coco coir or coco peat
• Homemade potting mix: combine PVFS compost, perlite (or substitute vermiculite), coco peat (coco coir), and your choice of nutrient-rich ingredients such as limestone.
• Any pesticides that are barriers or deterrents (gopher wire, for example).
• Pest prevention techniques such as companion planting, removing fallen leaves and other pest hiding places, crop rotation, etc
• Biological controls (introducing new beneficial insects or pest-specific diseases) is debatably veganic. It is preferred to encourage native species and only introduce new ones as a last resort.
• Mushroom kits (except for the white buttons and portabella kits)

And, here's what looks to be a Canadian source of organic soybean meal:  https://boogie-brew.ca/product/soybean-meal

No pollen on this morning's male squash flowers! Is it the cold? (so used a fridge flower to pollinate)

Today makes two zukes hand-pollinated on same-day opening.  (both rondes)  Looks like the first, from a couple of days ago, took!!!

Piracicaba broccoli harvest ongoing

Lots of side shoots to harvest.  Getting a nice amount every ~week or so.  Even if I'm a bit late and the yellow flower starts to appear, still tastes fine.

First two female zukes opened, while I was away camping! :(

Argh!  Because of course under the netting, they didn't likely get pollinated.  Tried pollinating them with spent males, just in case.

Both these females were the Eight Ball -- no Golden Glory to that point yet.

Peas forming, probably first ones will be ready within a week

^^^

Ruby leaf lettuce lasts longer than Black Seeded Simpson

The BSSs have mostly started to climb up toward bolting, but all of the Rubies are still low.  Maybe grow less BSS next year, and more Ruby.

So, harvested most of the BSS, letting a few grow to seed.

Mock orange in beautiful full flower! Many yellow leaves -- must be Gold Leaf Mock Orange!

I can't remember if it flowered last year, but my post on May 22nd 2001 commented on how horrible it was looking.

This year the flowers are gorgeous and smell amazing, lots of bees and flies etc. visiting the flowers.  However, most of the leaves are very yellow, like last year.

Oh, wait!  Google says there's something called a "gold-leaf mock orange", and the photos look similar to mine!  This must be what it is!  Yay!

This post talks a bit about pruning it, removing the oldest stems, etc:  https://awaytogarden.com/great-shrub-gold-leaf-mock-orange/

Some more posts:

https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56959/

https://bambooplants.ca/product/philadelphus-coronarius-aureus/

Mystery solved? re: yellow powder on basil -- pollen?

Noticed some of the same yellow powder on a zinnia's leaves today.  I think it's just pollen from the neighbourhood, and presumably the rain has washed it off the upper side of the basil leaves so I only see it on the underside.

The 1 Golden Glory and 1 Eight Ball zucchini transplanted (from PT a few days ago)

The 8 Ball is in the hose bed (added 1 Tbsp mrp and 1 Tbsp kelp), and the Golden is in the central bed where I removed a puny Waltham broccoli to free up space (didn't add anything here since I think I already added for the broccoli).

Grass mowed for first time, and round 2 or 3 grass sprouted

^^^

Basils have yellow powder on underside of leaves -- what could it be? & harvested/pruned

Hmmm...  The plants look super nice and green on the upper sides, but noticed today while pruning/harvesting that most leaves have subtle patches of yellow powder.  Sort of reminds me of last year's downy mildew except totally the wrong colour, and not fuzzy.  

Oh well, it washed off well, so fingers crossed!

It's on both varieties -- the hybrid I'm trying for the first time that's DM-resistant, and the classic Genovese that I bought from the store.

Runtiest potatoes planted in a/c bed

 7 runty leftover Banana potatoes (one of which was really runty/shrivelled) planted in the a/c bed.  

Basil (home-sown) looks GREAT now!

Wow!!   All of a sudden they went from looking like I thought most of them would make it, to wow they all look GREAT!  Maybe yesterday's big rain helped.  I mean, they're not huge yet by any stretch, but definitely a really nice green.

(The store-bought basil looks good too.)

Buckwheat sowed (after sprouting in PT)

 In the SE corner of the central bed.

2 zukes started in PT to replace sickly-looking ones

2 of the 8-Ball zucchinis look pale/wimpy (including the itty bitty 8-Ball zukes which look pale already, I'm sure they have no hope), whereas the other zucchinis are looking promising.  So, started 1 8-Ball and 1 Golden Glory in PT today, to replace those.

Buckwheat started in PT

To fill in a few empty areas.

Flea beetles have arrived -- only a few so far, so kaolined sparingly

A few flea beetles seen on the weaker of the central tomatoes, and in the potato bed.

Kaolined select tomatoes and potatoes.

Coneflower x 2 (bought from store) transplanted into southwest mini-bed

"PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower" aka "Echinacea purpurea PowWow Wild Berry".

The coneflower outside the fence had been totally eaten (the seeds) by the birds over the winter, whereas the black-eyed Susans not at all.  So maybe these coneflowers will help bring some birds into the yard this fall/winter.

Grass round 3 sowed; round 1 doing great where it did grow

Pre-mixed seed with topsoil, then scattered this onto the thin/bare patches.

I don't see round 2, but round 1 is going gangbusters in the many places where it did come in well.