What a difference a few weeks makes! When we last visited the Kitchen Garden, the butternut squash was just beginning to ascend its cattle panel trellis. Now the plant has climbed all the way to the top! Check out the riotous vines and more in this virtual late July tour:
Late July Kitchen Garden Tour
Beds 1 and 2: In these, I planted one butternut squash seedling on either side of a cattle panel trellis. Although the plants were attacked by a trespassing woodchuck last month (see how I thwarted the critter), they have fully recovered now. I love to pass through this enchanting tunnel of leaves and fruit.
Did you know that winter squash has a high I.Q.? When grown horizontally, the plant produces only thin, stringy vines. Grown vertically, the vines become quite thick in order to support the hefty fruit. Consequently no supplemental support is required.
Beds 3 and 4: In these narrow beds, ‘Emerite’ pole beans clamor up and over a cattle panel trellis. From reports I’ve read, Emerite’s long, slender beans do not become woody as quickly as bush beans do.
I like to eat the beans raw, straight off the vine. They are delicious too when coarsely chopped and tossed into a Lebanese salad called “Tabbouleh.” I made Tabbouleh the other day, and filmed the recipe for you. Click here to watch.
Oh. Wanna watch me install a cattle panel trellis? Here you go.
Bed #5: Potatoes. These are busy maturing beneath their “hilling” of straw. I won’t harvest the spuds until late fall, when my cellar is cool enough to accommodate them. Here’s how to plant, grow, harvest, and store potatoes.
Bed #6: Brussels sprouts (foreground) and storage onions. The Brussels sprouts were attacked by a woodchuck last month. Although the plants are slowly recovering, I do not have high hopes for them. Mercifully the onions were spared. They are thriving now beneath the searing summer sun.
Bed #7: Lovage and cosmos. This bed contained a dozen broccoli plants, too, until the aforementioned woodchuck discovered the crop.
Bed #8: Asparagus. No picture here, because you-know-who forgot to take one.
Bed #9: Snap Dragons. These flowers are not only beautiful to look at — they are woodchuck-proof! Snap Dragons bloom and bloom until the first hard frost.
Bed #10: Tomatoes. Most of the vines have reached the top of the wooden A-frame trellis that I built for them last spring. The vines are heavy with fruit!
Beds 11 and 12: Garlic and more Butternut Squash. The foliage of the autumn-planted garlic (foreground) has mostly yellowed, signaling the bulbs below are ready for harvest. Later today I’ll pull up the bulbs, and set them to cure in the shed. Can’t remember when and how to harvest garlic? Check out my garlic growing guide.
Also, check out the second crop of butternut squash! I planted it a little later than the first crop (in beds 1 and 2), and already it is making a good show on its cattle panel trellis.
And that’s all, folks! Now please tell me about your own veggie garden. How are your plants progressing in the late-July heat? Talk to me in the comments field below. xKevin
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Kay says
My garden is looking pretty good considering the heat we are having. The humidity has helped along with timely rains and supplemental watering. We watered heavily to get everything started and then mulched with old prairie grass hay. The potatoes are a bit wind-beaten from a storm 2 weeks ago but still flowering. The onions are pretty flattened but still green. The tomatoes are filled with green fruit. We picked 2 small ones today. The pumpkins and gourds are finally starting to set on. A few are showing insect wilt.
I tried to thwart our annual squash bug attach by planting zucchini in a raised pot on the patio. I used cheap potting soil and it shows. I’ve picked one. The same with the cucumbers. We’ve only had a few small ones. The peppers are small but setting on. The beets are showing small roots. The herbs are happy.
Next year I’ll go back to planting the cucumbers & summer squash in the garden. I plan to do butternut like you did this year.
My farmer made me a raised bed this year, that I was going to plant rhubarb and blueberries. Instead of a nice 4’x4′ it’s 8’x8′. Instead of nice friable soil, I have huge, boulder-sized clay soil clumps, with 4′ weeds. I’m just dumping kitchen scraps in it and we’ll let it mellow all year. Hopefully next year I can plant in it.
Barb says
Thoroughly enjoyed this video Kevin, though I don’t have a garden . I did, however, send it to both of my daughters who share your love affair with the soil! Love butternut squash and look forward to autumn cooking, though here, in southwest Florida, autumn doesn’t have the same connotation as in your beautiful area.
Kay, your garden sounds delightful!
Cecilia Dessert says
This year I am trying petunias with my tomatoes since I read somewhere they deter tomato caterpillars. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Belinda says
The only disappointment our garden offers this year is that I did not foresee the amounts that would be needed to feed everyone spending the Covid Summer with us. Cecilia’s comment reminds me that last year’s chamomile is coming up all over the place and it seems to be enhancing the growth of anything that grows next to it.
Cheryl Roberts says
My garden, here in the Northern CA foothills is very sad! I have about 30 tomato plants and ONE tiny roma tomato…… They are very stunted, some have a few flowers but no other tomatoes!!
Out of 6 zucchini plants, I just picked ONE! Basil has done well. Volunteer potato plants are growing. I have been able to pick a few meals worth of green beans. So sad!!!
Cathy says
I have a 9″ X 20′ raised garden within a community garden. I loved your article on putting a cattle panel up for a trellis and put one in my garden. I planted Kabocha squash and It is loving the trellis. I wonder how often you ‘weave’ the vines through the wires? Do you tie them in place? I find that I have to be very careful not to break the vines as I am handling them.
Carole Speton says
I only have a 4×10 area to plant and just chard shallots and rose bushes in it. We have been eating chard for 6 weeks it keeps on growing back. I have hot peppers in several pots doing well. Zucchini and yellow summer squash in my perennial garden are getting lots of fruit. On my north facing deck, 3 hours of sun a day, we have been eating arugala and mixed greens for months and also spring peas there which stretched up for more sun. I just pulled those plants yesterday and started more lettuce for fall eating. Love your blog Kevin look forward to it every Sunday morning. I live in southwest BC in Canada.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Cathy – To avoid breakage, I use Velcro garden tape to gently pull stray vines towards the trellis. Afterwards, the plant’s tendrils reach out and grab onto the wire frame. Sometimes I uncurl the plant’s tendrils and gently wind them onto the trellis. The squash soon learns to grow up not out!
Lisat says
Things are progressing well, although a few weeks behind last year. I can’t compare the tomatoes though, last year I bought one, this year I grew from seed. The bush beans just started to flower. The tomatoes on the Russian varieties are there, just not red yet. The others are still tiny pea sized. No cucs or squash or pumpkins or gourds for me this year. I’m trying to thwart the squash bugs! Corn is looking good, but who knows how well it’s pollinated until later. Not a lot of variety this year, five tomatoes (six if the rooted cutting produces), corn, bush beans. There were bell peppers, but after they were planted out in the warmth we had a cold snap. I would usually buy another, but… well, you know… not really “essential!” I don’t get out much!
Jane says
Kevin, your garden looks amazing g. I love the trellises you made and if things ever get back to normal I’d love to give it a try another year. Love your website. I’ll be joining you again when you cook some of these good veggies. Jane
Elaine says
So jealous of your garden – It’s amazing! I love the vertical aspects and that they actually have veggies growing on them.
My garden… welp I have a nice collection of micro greens & mini herbs. I’ll take photos of your garden out there and show them what they are sapose tho look like.
Gardening at 7500′ is a challenge ~
Elaine says
Oh Kevin, I forgot tho ask. How do you like that drip irrigation system? Bet you are loving it!
Meghan M Girroir says
Kevin,
I watched the video of you putting in the cattle trellis and was eagerly awaiting the trellis covered with vines and squash. It looks wonderful. Besides the health and vigor of the plants and fruit, the aesthetic is gorgeous-the added dimension brings art into your already beautiful kitchen garden. I was curious why you left your cast iron urn unplanted. Thank you, I will be cattle trellising next year.
Yvonne Keever says
Here in NW Arkansas, the radishes didn’t do well this spring but my arugula did great. It has bolted in the heat but, still not to spicy for me! I had a tomato starting to turn red and the darn chipmunks made a snack of it. I draped bird netting over the whole thing and weighted it down with rocks. The chipmunk got tangled in it one time and I haven’t had a problem since . my other 3 tomatoes in the ground continue to be uprooted regularly by an armadillo or raccoon. I replant and somehow they have managed to set quite a few green cherry tomatoes . Fighting the critters is a lot of work. They dig at night and I replant by day! Keeps me off the streets!!
Nancy says
Things going along as usual, some things great, other things not so good, and the problems are always different every year. Something got into our fenced in garden and chomped few weeks old broccoli seedlings down to a nub. We think it was a rabbit, probably a baby rabbit because we don’t see anywhere a big rabbit could get in or under. Most have started to come back but we planted seeds when that happened and those seedling are growing nicely. Now our issue is squirrels eating tomatoes just as they are turning ripe. We’ve had that in the past but in the past we think it was more the chipmunks. We’ve never had completely whole and almost whole tomatoes eaten before. What suggestions do you have for that? We planted late this year because of the very cool spring (just above NYC) so everything is a bit later. We’ve had some broccoli from a crop that we bought as larger plants, some kolrabi, arugula, lovage. We see nice cucumber and squash developing and the tomato plants are pretty loaded so we need to figure out how to save some for ourselves. Thank you in advance for any advice you have.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Nancy – To avoid critter-chomped tomatoes, pick the fruit just as it begins to ripen. Tomatoes will gladly finish ripening indoors in a paper sack (never place them on a sunny windowsill). The fruit does not benefit from being left on the vine.
Pam R says
Love your garden! Jealous! Too hot in Florida for pretty much anything. I’ll live vicariously through y’all!!
Rose says
The fennel is huge and flopping over onto the ground cherries. The asparagus is also taller than I am, but the bed is full of weeds underneath. But two kinds of eggplant seem to be stunted this year. Sweet 100 Tomatoes are doing well climbing strings on a wood trellis like yours, only I have removed bottom leaves and suckers so my plants are skinnier than yours. In the space below the tomatoes I have basil (making a big batch of pesto tonight) and marigolds. And behind the tomatoes we 3 kinds of peppers. It’s my first time growing Zinnias and I love them! And the fig tree is so big and hanging down to the ground that I am replacing the shaded out bed below it with chairs.
Pat Crosby says
I have several tomato plants and basil. I won’t have a big crop but I am looking forward to the day I can eat my own tomato. Have enjoyed my basil in numerous dishes. I do have my flowers which are soul sustaining for me. The show stopper has been my deep purple Lisianthus next to a beautiful coral pink Zinnia. Hmmmm is it time for tomato pie yet?
Lori says
Hi Kevin!
I have two tips that you might want to try.
1- you may want to replace your zip ties with then wire because the zip ties plastic goes week in weather and sun and they do break off.
2- I have found that if you nip the tops of the indeterminate tomatoes the energy used to produce new blooms goes towards the existing tomatoes inside the bush. You’ll be surprised on how many tomatoes you get out of doing that.
We have four gardens. My husband takes care of the main crop sweet corn, the main crop potatoes, the watermelon, extra cabbage, and onions. We will see how well the onions do this year because we have gotten massive rain amounts.
I plant the remaining gardens follow the following nature signs and I start early May, depending on the weather and whether if we have snow or not.
The cool weather crops garden holds broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kohlrabi, onions, beets, peas, and two raised beds that hold lettuce and carrots.
The front veggie bad holes experimental heirloom sweet corn, grapes, cantaloupe, the extra potato seed, and a massive amount of beans plus four volunteer cherry tomatoes and one ground cherry.
My tomatoes are growing in a high tunnel as well as on top of straw bales because I have blight so bad. I did have trouble with overwatering this year because we got a new well system with more water pressure but things have mended themselves and it’s the massive jungle that I usually have in early July rather than late July. I will be starting to nip some of the plants now and the rest of them on August 1.
Elizabeth says
Hi Kevin,
I am in Ontario, Canada & for the first time my garden is not doing anything. Not sure if it is the cold weather we had in May with snow or what it is but my tomatoes are doing well & of course the kale is flourishing but my peppers aren’t. One plant has nothing, no flowers or peppers & the other has one pepper. I have had several meals of bush beans but that is after having to replant them as the first lot only produced about 3 plants. I planted onions twice & nothing came up as well as beets with nothing except a few that promptly got eaten by rabbits. I am blaming them as we have quite a few this year hopping around. I did get some lettuce . My carrots have produced only about one that seems to be growing well. Now I have replanted beets, carrots, beans & will plant some lettuce & spinach & see if I get anything this time. It is very hot & humid here so everything is very dry. Hope I get a few more things from this last planting but if not there is next year to look forward to.
Sue Chiafullo says
This was really delightful Kevin. Very informative and fun to watch. Dag Gone Woodchuck!
Susie says
Your “Butternut Cathedral” cattle guard tunnels are ingenious!! (Now I understand the Gothic arch.) I too have raised beds and will get some help putting up my own cathedral next spring. Thank you for posting!!
I’ve been growing Butternut squash for 60 years to use in my prizewinning “Two New England Squash Pies” recipe passed down from my grandmother and mother. I can’t wait to make butternut pancakes now. Hurry up, squash!!
I wait for your emails every week. Thank you Kevin
Leah says
What a great idea to grow squash on a supporting trellis. I’ve never seen that done before. My father grows potatoes in a huge round planter. When he’s ready to harvest them he dumps the planter over (soil and all) and scoops the potatoes out and then returns the soil to the planter to be used next year.
dorothy hull says
Your garden and grounds are so beautiful – have enjoyed your touts