I love exploring my garden after being away. Every bed has surprises.
Especially the squash beds! I will have to get my squash bread recipe out to use the big ones I discovered. (Or sneak them over to the compost bin…)
I have an enormous Long Island Cheese pumpkin already. Must be about 1 foot diameter. Also a couple other types of pumpkins.
My popcorn needs fertilizer. I meant to do this before vacation, but ran out of time. It is 5 feet tall now, and tasseling. The ears will form soon. I want to figure out how to prevent the corn ear worms this year and will have to start on this soon.
The cabbages look nice. Always a very pretty crop. My Savoy and Radicchio have done well this year. The radicchio is bolting some. Some compact heads, but others are popping out of the top. They still have nice red leaves inside.
The basil needs to be harvested soon. I’ve waited too long already and the leaves have gotten small. The bees like the little flowers that I should have picked off long before this.
My onions are better this year than last since I planted further apart and they aren’t shaded by nearby plants. Again though, I have no idea what variety is where – except the purple ones. I didn’t label well, but they all look good. And lots of nice carrots too.
So many beans. I only planted a couple short rows. Thanks goodness. These may need to go to the food bank. Not sure there’s any way I can eat all of them.
The peas and fava beans have totally burnt up. Lots of space now for more planting. Also the empty garlic beds are waiting for plants. I have little broccoli and greens sprouting in my hot frame at home.
My tomatoes are growing finally, but still small and only few fruits ripening. I noticed the gardeners who planted tomatoes in the community plots have lots beautiful ripe fruit already. Almost no fungal issues on them. Its a good year for warm weather crops but I rotated then out of my sunny community plot this year. Same with the eggplants and peppers.
In my frame at home I have cucumber and melons. I have a bumper crop of cukes! Time to make some pickles. The melon plants look very good too. Small fruits are trying to set.
I forgot to bring my wide angle lens, so I only got close up photos today. Tomorrow I’d like to get some of the whole garden.
11 Comments. Leave new
What are the white cucumbers called?
Your garden looks super. We lost all but one of our cabbages. We sprayed but something got them anyway. Lost both green and red. This heat wave is burning up everything. Tomatoes are going crazy though. I've done lots of canning already. 🙂
Beautiful harvest all thanks to Skippy's hard work. 🙂
Amazing photo shots.
The white cucumbers are North Carolina Pickling. I got the seeds from Sand Hill Preservation Center.
i'm told a drop of mineral oil where the silks enter the cob will prevent the worms from entering. my popcorn wasn't terribly wormy last year, so i don't think i'll bother.
lt
Use your beans to make dilly beans! Easier than pickles because you cold pack… The general recipe is: sterile jars, pack the beans, then to each pint add one clove garlic, 1/4 to one teaspoon red pepper flakes, and one teaspoon dill seed or a head of dill. Then pour the boiling brine over the top: Equal parts vinegar and water with 1 teaspoon of salt for each cup of liquid. Boiling water bath for 10 minutes (or refrigerate for 2 weeks). Yum!
Being a great lover of garden art, I enjoyed going through your blog.
Great! I need to explore my garden every day after I come home from work *lol* I love to have basil on the patio and watch all the bees being happy about those blooms. Ever heard of basil honey? I haven’t but that should be tasting great! My beans are a total failure this year, don’t know why I only got 3 or 4 plants. Mangetouts did great though.
Kathy, I appreciate your blog so much. I've been reading regularly for a couple years now. Always find great tips and techniques along the way. I have five small beds in my backyard in Oakland, California. It's been such a cold foggy summer, nothing is doing very well except the beans, lettuce and arugula.
If you know someone who has chickens, you can bring the large squash to them…our chickens loooove squash! I love the idea of bringing extra food to the food bank, we end up freezing so much of ours for the winter though, but I hope to expand our garden so that we can share more of our fresh food with others!
Thanks Kristin, I know someone down the road with chickens!