Friday, July 16, 2021

Garden Friday

 
 
 
It's Garden Friday!
Let's see what's growing this week.

 
I recently discovered these blackberries growing wild
in a little section of our woods.
They have been hit-and-miss with regard to sweetness.
Or maybe I'm just too impatient to wait for them to properly ripen.

 
The butternut squash continues to scale the trellis,
but so far, only one fruit has formed.
There is no sign of squash bugs or eggs on the foliage,
and I haven't seen as many female flowers on it.
There are two other squash plants in the same bed,
but they are not doing as well.
I'm afraid they may have been affected by a squash vine borer.

 
The sweet potatoes and melons are growing well.
The melons are flowering and I am keeping tabs
on how many female flowers are on the vines. 

melons

 
Lettuce is still being harvested a few times a week
and the less than perfect leaves are given to the chooks.
Our rooster Gandolf, especially, loves his greens.
 

 
The Green Oakleaf lettuce (my favorite),
started turning bitter as it is ready to bolt,
so I pulled some of it for the chickens,
and left a couple of plants to go to seed
and resow the bed for fall.

 
A couple of different varieties of cucumbers were resown.
They decided to come up right away.


 
The drying beans are still producing,
but are not getting as plump as I'd hoped.
I'm wondering if I need to increase the amount of water
they are getting,
as we haven't had much in the way of precipitation.


 
The pumpkins are growing, despite the lack of rain.
I sure hope we get some of these this year,
as I've not yet had success growing pumpkins.

 
The loofah has made it to the top of the gazebo frame.
Thankfully, the chooks have left the pots they are growing in alone,
and it's just a matter of time before they are climbing across the top.

gloriosa daisy

vitex

 
Our crape myrtle trees are finally blooming!
I know these are a common tree, 
especially here in the south,
but I think they are one of the most spectacular displays of flowers.
The bonus is, the pollinators love 'em!

 
This little gem was spied near the chicken run.
I think my plant app identified it as some type of mallow,
but I know I didn't plant it there,
so I still have no idea what it is.
Of course, I'm saving the seeds.
Any idea out there?

 
The garden gets ample shade in the morning,
so I can work out there quite comfortably for a while.
I'm hoping to add a few more beds to the vegetable garden,
but we'll see if the budget allows.
Until then, I'm using containers as needed.


 Our summer has been fairly mild, thus far.
I can't complain about temps in the 80's,
when there are so many suffering with triple digits.
I'm inside more than I'd like,
but fall will be here soon enough.
Until then, I will keep tweaking the garden,
one daydream at a time.
 
What's your favorite thing to grow in the heat of summer?

8 comments:

  1. That looks like a wildflower we have, which has yellow flowers, though I don't remember what it is. Vitex is one I keep thinking we should be growing here, as it's such a nice pollinator and butterfly tree. Yours looks happy. I hope you'll get some good rain over the next few days, and have a lovely weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vitex is a fairly no-care plant. I prune it in the early spring and that's about it. Let me know if you want some seeds.

      We keep missing the rain somehow. We are in need. Hope you are getting what you need!

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  2. "Keep tweaking the garden, one daydream at a time," I love that! Your garden reflects the care you give it.

    How are you doing with female squash flowers? I seem to have very few this year and so far, have no winter squash! It's puzzling to the point it's almost a concern.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we have only a few female flowers and only one fruit so far growing on the vine. Not sure what's going on, but I will need to research that.

      Enjoy your weekend!

      Delete
  3. As usual, your garden is beautiful. We have one squash plant in our yard and it's not doing that great either. Oh well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Sometimes it's just a bad year for certain plants. Who knows why? ;0D

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  4. Well I think we're receiving all of your rain this year. We've been inundated. The rain I'm fine with (although the berries aren't as sweet this year because of it) but the accompanying humidity is a real bummer. We usually have stretches of humidity and then stretches of low humid warm weather. Not this year.... It's making lettuce growing a challenge.

    Everything is looking quite beautiful! While I didn't plant winter squash this year I did plant summer squash and the plants are stunted for some reason. I have no idea why. I hope all is well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We finally got a good dowsing the other day. What a difference it makes!
      Yes, growing lettuce in the summer can be difficult. Try the Jericho variety. A friend of mine in Florida recommended it, so I've got some planted, waiting to germinate.

      Hope your rain barrels are full!

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