Giant plants laden with veggies.

Hmph. When I grew zucchini, I was lucky to get 5 fruits the whole season.

I still have a lot to learn about desert gardening, but Baker’s amazingly productive garden is proof-positive that summer gardening is achievable. Mine is still in its infancy (I’m crossing my fingers my cucumbers will actually produce).

Some things you can start from seed right now:

- Cucumbers
- Melons (cantaloupe, muskmelon)
- Pumpkin (plant June 15th for pumpkins at Halloween time)
- Sunflowers
- Black-eyed peas

I’ve got a head-start on cucumbers…

beans…

and my very first sunflower…

I first planted my daikon (aka Japanese radishes) in mid-October…and waited.

First, they sprouted, then I could see bits of radish under the dirt. Eventually they emerged from the gound about an inch or 2. Later, one started growing what appeared to be a flower. Hmmmm…

So when is the proper time to harvest a radish?

You might think there’d be loads of information on such topic, but you’d be wrong. Google searches provided precious little about proper daikon harvesting. Luckily a Gardening Examiner had some good information:

“Radish roots tell you when they’re mature by the root top bulging above soil level.  Some radishes are “runts” and won’t get as big as their neighbors no matter how long you leave them there: if it’s bulging it’s probably not going to get much bigger.  No matter how big you’re letting them get, if you want to eat the root you’ll need to pick it before it bolts.  Watch the leaves to see when this is starting to happen: instead of new baby leaves in the center of the mature leaves, you’ll see a tiny stalk forming.  This means that it’s starting to bolt: pull it out quick and eat it, or it will be too late!”

Shoot — it’s harvest time.

In my readings, I learned about daikon pests: flea beetles &  cabbage root maggots. Lovely.

Luckily mine were pest-free. The largest measuring 12 inches (See boot pic).