Garden Friday

 Well, hello there!

It's Garden Friday and we've got the blooms to prove it!

Here's what's growin' on in our mid-July garden.

 This Swiss chard has really surprised me.

It is known as a crop that loves cooler temperatures,

but even through our 80 and 90 degree days,

it's still tasting mighty fine.

I'm wondering if being planted in the shadier part of this bed

has made the difference.

A volunteer cantaloupe started to sprawl this week.

As soon as the yellow flowers were spotted,

it got fertilized with worm castings.

I think it liked it!

 In a nearby container,

this cantaloupe is putting on some size

and looking more melon-like with its newly textured skin.

More space was made for the watermelon to ramble.

The first of the melons was spotted just yesterday!

A little late to the party,

I hope there are enough hot days in summer to get this to harvest.

lily

 Cucumbers have been regularly picked for fresh eating.

I may venture into doing a quick pickle recipe with them.

 Is it me or does this look like the strangest butternut squash?

I planted three varieties, but this type is the only one that's producing fruit.

Is it possible that the seeds could have gotten mixed up underground?

Hmmmm...

 The remaining onions are lying down on the job.

I think that means that they're ready for picking.

We've been adding them to all types of veggie dishes.

 It seems the turmeric was just waiting on the heat to arrive.

It's now springing up out of the containers

and growing noticeably each day.

 Most of the lettuce has bolted.

I'm planning on starting some Jericho lettuce,

which is supposed to endure the heat a lot better than most.

The nasturtiums are exploding out of the raised beds.

I'm not sure if they help with bugs, as has been proposed,

but they are mighty pretty to look at.

Edible too!

The battle with the squirrel goes on.

So far, many of these sunflowers have not been touched,

although several others have been eaten right on the stem.

I'll enjoy them while they last.

I hope your summer garden is blessing you

with good food and beautiful blooms.

Garden Friday

(Not sure why, but the spacing is off on this post

and I couldn't fix it.  Ah well...)

Happy Day Before Summer!

We hope you enjoy this garden tour on this last day of spring 2020.

The Yukon Gold potatoes are getting ready for harvest.

We have a 3X8 bed half filled with these buttery spuds.

Although they haven't yet flowered,

they seem to be ready for picking,

as the green stems are falling over,

as is common when harvest time draws near.

The first one picked will be cooked up this weekend.

The garden expanded a bit this week.

A trench was dug from the straw bales

so that we could bury the drip irrigation

out to this island bed I'm calling The Pumpkin Patch.

There were some crepe myrtle trees planted here

once upon a time,

but they were taken down because they shaded the garden too much.

The plant you see in the background is a beautyberry,

which will help to feed our feathered friends.

Our first pumpkin popped up this week.

The snap peas are still doing well on the arches.

Each day I pick a handful for snacking or adding to a salad,

and this promotes more pea production.

For the first time since I've been growing peas,

I noticed some funky shapes among them.

As long as they still taste good, it really doesn't matter

what they look like.

beet greens

I spied a few green beans growing in the straw bales.

This is one harvest I really look forward to.

I never get tired of eating green beans.

The cantaloupe being grown in a container

shows the first signs of fruit.

The melons develop next to the female flowers.

Looks like we've had no trouble with pollination.

leek collecting rain

rain barrels overflow

So far this week,

we've gotten a full three inches of rain.

No need for the irrigation, which is just fine with me.

Let Mother Nature do Her magic!

I'll have to get a photo with me standing next to these monsters.

They are the Mammoth sunflowers

and they really live up to their name.

These giants dwarf everything around them.

I really need to get a measurement on these,

they are simply amazing!

In this area where I sometimes place seedling trays,

a few ornamental plants have taken hold.

More mulch needs to be added to cover the cardboard.

coneflower

lavender

The first black swallowtail was spotted on the milkweed

in the front porch bed.

I'm not sure if you can tell here,

but, this one has a defect on the right wing.

It didn't seem to affect its flight.

Although I planted dill (one of this butterfly's host plants),

it hasn't yet come up.

It also lives on parsley, rue and fennel.

I better get to planting some more herbs!

On Tuesday, we woke up to 53 degrees.

Quite a surprise for us,

but for the plants as well.

Things will start warming up now,

as summer officially starts up.

We will no doubt be blessed with more color in the ornamental beds

and bounty from the veggie garden. 

Grateful for it all.

Garden Friday

It's Garden Friday!
We are working on prepping for fall veggies
and the garden is going through a state of transition.



The straw bales started out in the spring 
with lettuces and kales and a few other gems planted in them.
They kept company with the Yukon Gold potato towers,
seen in the foreground.

By the time summer hit,

the bales were showing their age.

As they are nurturing crops,

they are continually breaking down,

allowing the plants to be enveloped in nutrient-dense compost.

It was time to redesign the garden,

which doesn't include bales for veg this season.

I will most likely work them in come springtime,

but for now, they have done their job.

With a couple of plants still doing well in the bales,

I hated to disturb them.

But, planting time is nearing,

and I had to make room.

I ended up transferring the remaining crops into these

earth-friendly containers, and hoping that they endure the move.

The melon plants were left as is growing on the arches,

because I figured I could work around them fairly easily.

Then, yesterday, after a hard rain,

I found two cantaloupe on the ground.

They must have gotten blown down

or rained on so hard, that they lost their grip on the trellis.

They sit on the kitchen counter, in hopes that they will ripen.

The remaining straw will be used as an amendment when the new raised beds are created.
While dismantling them, it was obvious that they were abundantly laden with worms.
The good kind.
This will no doubt give the fall garden a boost right from the get-go.

 Elsewhere, on the stake-a-cages,
the tomatoes are finally realizing it is summer
and that they are supposed to be gifting us with fruit.

Although the first vine-ripened prize has not yet been picked,
they are checked daily for worms (the bad kind) or other pests.

 I have found a handful of cutworms on the plants,
but vigilance should help me keep ahead of them.
If you've read my gardening notations on here before,
you know that the tomato is my personal litmus test.
I think I'm almost there,
but I won't be completely satisfied until I am sampling the first one.

While most folks I know have been harvesting tomatoes for weeks,
mine are just beginning to flower and fruit.
I don't mind.
What's important is completing my goal of growing my own.
What a blessing.

I was watching one of my favorite PBS gardening shows
where the garden featured was on a historical homestead.
The host mentioned that early in our nation's history,
crops were supported using simple wooden stakes and torn fabric.
When I fashioned these strips for just that purpose,
I didn't realize that I was following in my foremothers' footsteps.
It's just what I had laying around and it has worked perfectly. 

 The first of the okra has been picked this week.

It was sauteed with some fresh-picked banana peppers and
home-grown eggplant in a bit of coconut oil
and simply seasoned with salt, Italian herbs and garlic.
What's not to love?

 

It's incredibly satisfying to be able to pick your food yourself,
knowing that it was your hands that sowed the seeds
and nurtured those seedlings to maturity.
Of course, all with God's blessings.

What have you picked from your summer garden this week?

Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday!

It's been a steamy summer,

but we have a few things that don't mind one bit!

The cantaloupe should be ready in a couple of weeks.

This will be the first time in a while we've grown melon.

The trellis has worked well

and I've already decided to try some other varieties next season.

 Watermelon, too, has enjoyed the sizzling heat.

We will be increasing our varieties here too.

 

The turtle beans have germinated and grown well,

and are starting to dry on the vine.

Another first-time crop, it hasn't had any issues with pests or disease.

 The Japanese eggplant will soon be picked

and pan-fried in a cast iron skillet.

I could eat this stuff everyday.

 Even with all this insect damage, it still produces.

We grow organically, 

so I'm hoping the beneficial insects will do their job.

Cucumbers have been enjoyed everyday in salads.

Dairy-free ranch dressing pairs well with them.

 Although one of the banana peppers seemed to have been damaged

(probably by a squirrel),

we still have a couple of other plants to harvest.

Eggplant, onions and peppers is one of my favorite combinations!

Even the tomatoes showed up this week!

I learned from my farmer friend Lynn in Florida,

that I may have fertilized them too soon.

It's best to wait until the fruit is set on the plants

before fertilizing for the first time.

Lesson learned.

 The okra doesn't seem to need much of anything.

Except heat.

It is almost doubling in size every few days.

For some reason, the plants in the foreground bed

are getting much bigger than the raised bed to the rear.

Haven't figured that one out yet.

The sweet potatoes seem to be pretty happy.

The vines have taken off and are starting to climb the teepee.

I think they were just ready.

Out of several pots of pumpkin seeds that were sown,

one pot germinated.

The others were disturbed by something

(those dang squirrels again, no doubt),

and never took off.

 This is my way of dealing with those varmints.

It's just household screen draped across the pots

and secured with bricks on the ends.

Take that, you rascals!

This week some dismantling was done on the garden.

All of the pots that were between the straw bales got moved

and soon the used bales will be piled up to use as mulch.

The garden was measured, so that I know where I want to add on

and drafts of several ideas concerning design were recorded in my garden journal.

The aspect I'm mostly focused on with the new layout is irrigation.

I want to make it as easy as possible to water.

Drip irrigation and a timer would be ideal solutions.

 I'm hoping to get to this project on the weekend.

The idea is to line these (free) crates with screen

and plant flowers in them.

They could be placed in various spots in the veg garden

to attract pollinators to our crops.

Incorporating flowers and veggies seems like a marvelous idea.

With no planting in sight for the next couple of weeks,

there is time to reflect on design and function.

It's one thing to dream,

it is another to bring it to fruition.

If I can see it, I can make it happen.

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic;

it takes sweat, determination, and hard work."

~Colin Powell