squash and carrots starting to sprout

I planted carrots and winter squash ten days ago. We've had some rain and the first sprouts are appearing.

The squash are starting to push through the soil.

 

The two leaflets mark squash as a dicot - a plant having two embryonic "first leaves." 

 

This one still has a few specks of dirt from its push through the soil.

 

Notice the cotyledons still trapped by the seed coat. I had to smile since it looks like this plant is wearing a little safety helmet. Within a few days, the true leaves should be visible. 

The carrots are also just starting to peek forth from the soil.

 

Carrots are also dicots. The two cotyledons are just barely visible. These look quite distinct from the true leaves that will appear in a few days. 

 

This one is so small and pale that you also can't see it. It gives me hope, though, for carrots to come. 

tiny Washington navel oranges

The flowers on the Washington navel have dropped off and the little oranges have just become visible. 

 

In the first photo, you can see the pistils still attached to the fruit.

 

Here you can see the small scar where the pistil has fallen off. 

Washington Navel Orange is flowering

The Washington Navel Orange is flowering. 

The flowers are radially symmetric, have five thick petals, and multiple stamens surrounding the pistil.

Here you can see most of the stamens have fallen off and a tiny fruit is starting out at the base of the pistil. The petals have already fallen off.

The figs are ripe!

The figs are starting to ripen. Today we picked and ate four. The best fig had ripened enough so it had just started to burst open. It was sweet and the texture was fantastic - just a hint of crunch as you chew through the tiny seeds.

the tomatoes are still green

The tomatoes are still green. We haven't harvested any yet. I am hoping that patience will reward us with our first home-grown tomatoes soon.

 


There are still plenty of bright yellow tomato flowers too. I'm hoping this means we'll have a long season of harvesting ripe tomatoes throughout the next month.

Baby corn

    I just cut thinned the corn a little since the stalks were quite crowded. The thinnings went to the compost heap, but not before the little ears of baby corn were saved. The smallest of these are tasty raw - even the inside of the cob is edible. The larger ones, though, are being packed away for tomorrow's lunch.

Carrots sprouts are still growing.

The little carrot sprouts are still valiantly seeking the sun. For now, the sprouts are mostly in the shade of the tomato plants. The new leaves on the carrots are of quite a different shape from the first leaves. At this stage, the family resemblance to parsley (a relative of the carrot) is clear.