June
The new candy bowl of 2020. Lord please protect us from this virus.
Thai Basil, Holy Basil and Moringa
Essential herbs. My friend gave me some Moringa seeds. In October, they are 4 feet tall! Wow.
Growing Mountain Laurel from seed
I’ve tried growing Mountain Laurel from seed before. It was a very arduous task. I picked the hard seeds, filed them down with a file, wrapped them in a paper towel. Kept towel moist in the refrigerator for weeks in paper towel, in a zip lock bag. They finally swelled up and sprouted…and now I have a few Mountain Laurel plants I grew from seed several years ago.
Then I learned there is a much easier way to grow ML from seed. In June, after ML forms seeds, pick the seed pods while they are silver. That is the color between when they are green and when they turn brown. If you shake the seed pod, you will not hear the seeds rattle around. Peel out the seeds. The seed pod will be leathery. Do not nick the seed. If you do, start over. The seed should be white with a pink tint up to red, but still swollen. Do not plant a white seed, because you don’t know it is ready to plant until it starts to turn pink.
Don’t cut off the end of the seed like this. 
These are good. Seeds should have some pink. 
These are good too. Still swollen 
Plant under about 1/2 inch of soil 
Plant them 
100% success. This is in July.
Veggies continue
What to cook with all of these veggies
Did you know you can make squash bread and it tastes just like zucchini bread? I did not get a picture of the bread…but below is a picture of Chicken calabasita and squash casserole.
June fruit
Here is the lone fruit from my Honey Jar Jujube. It is just the beginning. First year in the ground. The best is yet to come!
Fruit update
Orient and Fanicks pear; June’s Gold and La Feliciana peach; unknown fig variety. All delicious. So many peaches, we shared with neighbors while maintaining social distance of course.
Probably the last blooms before the heat sets in
I’ve heard of Texas being called the death star because of our triple digit heat.
