A MONTH HAS PASSED since we last discussed our veggie gardens. Mind giving me an update? Here’s what’s moving (and not) in my own Kitchen Garden:
Broccoli. I’ve come to the conclusion that ‘Nutri-Bud’ is the slowest broccoli in the world. But patience is a virtue. For this heirloom variety produces much larger, and infinitely-more flavorful heads than any modern hybrids I’ve tried. The moment I finish this post, I’m heading up to harvest those beauties!
Onions. I managed to squeeze 64 ‘Copra’ onions into a 4×8 bed. These are progressing nicely, although they won’t be ready for pulling until early September. How I harvest and cure onions.
Potatoes. These flowered back in June, and now the vines have fallen over. Not an attractive sight, but a fortuitous one. For it means that I can now reach my hand under the soil and harvest some baby potatoes. How I plant, grow, harvest and store this indispensable crop.
Peppers. My bell (or “sweet”) peppers flowered madly after I fed them a single application of a high-phosphorous, low-nitrogen plant food back in June. If your peppers fail to flower, consider plying them with such a “blossom-booster.”
The peppers are fruiting, too, which means my dream of copious quantities of “Piperade” — a freezable saute of peppers, onions and garlic — will be a reality.
Kale. Behind the peppers is ‘Red Russian’ kale. My favorite way to enjoy these highly-nutritious, purple-veined leaves is to saute them with garlic in a little olive oil and vermouth. The vermouth removes any trace of bitterness from the leaves.
And speaking of garlic — I recently harvested my crop, which explains the empty (except for Bachelor’s Buttons) bed pictured above. Would you like to see the crop?
Here it is, curing on the table in the Herb Garden. The heads, for some reason, were extra large this year, due, perhaps to our mild winter. How I harvest, cure, and store garlic. Tomatoes. These have reached the top of their 7-foot-tall trellises. Lots of fruit, but I’ve nary a ripe one yet. Maybe August? Meanwhile, I can always enjoy Fried Green Tomatoes.
Then there are colorful flowers in and around the kitchen garden. Here are a few:
In the narrow border on either side of the garden gate is blue Ageratum (honey bees love blue flowers), with rose-scented Pelargoniums behind. Woodland critters (rabbits and woodchucks among them) absolutely loathe these scented-leaved plants.
In the same border is Nicotiana ‘Fragrant Cloud,’ which releases its intoxicating perfume after dusk. This reseeding annual is another great critter-deterrent.
Flanking the gate is a pair of Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll.’ This is my favorite among the David Austin English roses.
Flanking the central path of the Kitchen Garden, and planted in four narrow, 2×8 beds, are zinnias. These are just beginning to open their dahlia-like blossoms which attract not only bees, but countless colorful butterflies.
Now, would you mind giving me an update on your own veggies? How are they managing in the heat and drought? And better yet — how are YOU managing in the heat and drought?
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Jess says
My tomatoes aren’t doing much at all! Some flowers, but no fruit in sight! Could it be because we’ve had a really mild summer so far? Usually I have so many tomatoes that I have to give them away. 🙁
Jess says
P.S. Your garden is beautiful 🙂
Beverly says
My onion patch looks similar to yours except a big wind came through and blew all the tops over in one direction. They are not ready for harvest yet, but I do use the bulb parts in their young stages for wraps, salsa, salads with lettuces or things like egg salad and tuna salad. What a total luxury it is to walk outside and come back to the kitchen with something so flavorful in my hand. Onions will be braided with a shoe string added for extra strength when harvest time comes.
My garlic harvest is curing in the cool garage. I think I want to freeze some of it before too much time passes. I’m looking up info on that.
An invisible pest is eating all of my cucumbers in their 2″ stage, prickly texture and all. I can’t seem to catch anything in the raised bed where the homemade, woven bamboo trellis holds two very vigorous vines. I have lost at least a dozen fruits to date. Frustrating! My yard is fenced, too. Could be a bird, I guess…
Tomato vines are loaded with green fruit but only one is bearing so far – a yellow cherry called Sun Gold.
Striped Dragon Tongue bush beans have been delicious. Garden of Eden pole beans continue to climb. Pea vines are all done and dried up to a crisp in the heat waves that continue to overspread eastern PA zone 6.
Gourd vines are meandering over to the Arborvitae hedge and have reached a 10 foot height in the past week. Egads.
Basil is glorious. I removed many flowers this morning, pinching tips back.
Peppers are a little uneven, but better than last year.
Lettuces are bolting but a new tray of lettuce seedlings is waiting in the wings, New Red Fire and Teide.
Your photos, as always, are INSPIRING!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Jess – Tomatoes are heat-lovers, so they will be slow to develop during a mild summer. Here it has been hot-hot-hot! And thanks for the compliment — the Kitchen Garden here is really easy to care for.
Beverly – Yes, this horrifically-hot, oppressively-humid summer has been hard on the veggies. But it seems your garden is doing pretty damn well, despite that mysterious cucumber-eating creature. Think I’ll take a tip from you and harvest some of the young onion bulbs. Sounds like a tasty treat!
Laura says
I have had a very bad year so far with my zucchini. Some insect is laying eggs on them. What can I do?
Thank you,
Laura
stamperitis says
We live far far north of you in a zone 3 climate. My lettuce has finally bolted. I’ve harvested very small heads of broccoli, they were yummy but the cabbage moths were laying faster than I could clean them. Loads of green tomatoes, carrots are finally forming, strawberry spinach has been wonderful and now the little berry things are ripening. I have some yellow zucchini that should be ready later today as we are suppose to be hot today. Lots of saskatoons, raspberries. Nanking cherries (small sour) are finished but the Evans cherries are coming on. Have harvested small onions, lots and lots of herbs, yellow bush beans have been lovely the last few days. Most of these are in containers as we have such a small yard with very little southern exposure. Really enjoying everything but the cabbage moths!
Tanya
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Laura – If the eggs are orange or copper colored, they are those of the squash bug. Check under every leaf, and squish the eggs. You want to destroy them before they hatch.
Dennis R says
have only picked 1 red lg cherry tomato so far,,,,,my beefmasters & celebrity tomatoes have mad crazy flowers & all green fruit. waiting for august. peppers are doing well, basil & parsley are coming in nice.
Michelle Anderson says
We put in two raised beds this year…4×8 each. We planted a bit late this year because of other things going on in life, so our peas got too hot. Looks like we’ll only harvest a few this year. We planted hull-less pumpkins this year and they are flowering like crazy right not. Hoping for a big harvest! We planted a dozen tomatoes (winter sowed using your method) and I’m thrilled with their progress! We have just a few fruits coming in, but lots of blossoms, so I’m optimistic that I’ll have lots of tomatoes to put up!
Cukes are not growing well at all this year. The plants are tiny. Granted, this is my first year trying these varieties (Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber and Boston Pickling) so maybe this is normal. But, the plants are only a couple inches tall and were planted from seed back in Mid-May. We still have a couple months of growing here yet, so, maybe it’ll be September that I’ll be doing all my pickling! ;o)
We also tried planting using the three sisters method for Rainbow Sweet Inca Corn, Sugar Pie Pumpkins and Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Beans. This is a first for us, and we’re excited to see how it works out. We homeschool our children, so, this has been a terrific history lesson as well. :o)
The wonderful thing is that my hubby has caught the gardening bug and plans to build a bunch more raised beds this fall! Woot! I can’t wait to get planning!
I’m really enjoying your blog, And always find something new to try!
Thanks,
Michelle in ID
Zone 6a
Tricia B. says
In suburban Chicago my tomato plants are tall and strong with some flowers, but the few fruits were set weeks ago and are not yet ripening. Cucumber vines are lush and full of flowers, but again, only a few fruits. It was a brutally hot June, and July’s “cool” days are in the 80s.
Arthur in the Garden! says
Beautifull vegetable garden!
Oriane says
Bonjour de l’Arizona!
My entire garden looks like your garlic bed (after your spectacular harvest I’m dreaming of roasted garlic, crusty bread and chianti)
Too hot to grow much in the low desert right now: my Noir de Carmes melons are growing nicely and the cicadas are singing!
I’ve just finished harvesting my St. Valery and Nantes Scarlet carrots for freezing – I was able to stretch the growing season almost two months so I’m pleased with the results this year. I’ve been harvesting potatoes for a month, baby roasted potatoes taste heavenly.
I spread manure on all the bed, covered them with straw and water them daily to keep the earth worms alive and cool. There are no worms in the desert so my husband bought some ($50 a pound) I’m feeding them well and hope they return the favor by fertilizing my beds.
Gardening in Arizona is challenging!
Love your beautiful pictures, your garden is an inspiration.
Comme toujours, merci!
Rosemeri says
Here in my central AZ, zone 7 garden, it has been mixed. Weather here has been crazy as it seems to be in much of the country. None of the spinach, carrots, peas, or chives I planted even germinated. I had lots of lettuce but most of it was so bitter that I couldn’t eat it. Only 2 of the 12 sweet potato slips I planted are growing, and I’ve had to replant bush beans a few time before I finally got some to grow. On the plus side, though, I have a lot of tomatoes coming along but not ready to pick yet. My butternut squash is finally starting to flower out, and my cucumbers are doing quite well. My bell peppers are struggling, but my banana peppers are going great guns. I want to try making pepper jam if I can find a good recipe. Do you know of one that you can share with us? I’ve harvested some of my potatoes and left some for later. I also had a nice crop of garlic although they were smaller this year than last. Not sure why.
Considering the weather, I guess it’s been a pretty good garden so far this year.
And as always, I love your garden posts.
Denise in NJ says
Peas, broccoli, and lettuce are done, garlic harvested. Kale doing well, tomatoes ripening faster than I can eat them, but not enough to make and can sauce. Long sweet peppers are doing ok, but bell peppers are curling up over themselves. Cucumbers and green beans have done worse than ever. Melons are doing well – the ones hanging from the trellis are growing faster then the ones sitting on the ground. No blossoms yet on the watermelon. Herbs are in overdrive – need to do some cutting and drying this week.
badger gardener says
Here in SE Wisconsin we moved to extreme drought although finally had a nice rainfall a few days back in some areas. What is bad for our farmers though has not been so bad for backyard gardeners. It is not as hard to keep a few beds watered and we don’t have all of our usual array of mildews and fungi. I wonder though if the kids will get to take field trips to the pumpkin farms and apple orchards in the Fall if things don’t turn around soon.
My winter sown tomatoes are looking good although I had expected to be eating some sweet million cherrie toms. by now. They are just starting to pop out. Also winter sown was my sugar baby watermelon which is finally vining and flowering but the vine looks so thin I don’t know how it will support a melon.
Anne B says
Here in south central MO, it’s HOT and DRY. Ugh. Tomatoes (Brandywine and Beefsteak and little Black Brandywine) are doing well. Orange bell peppers are gorgeous, red and yellow much slower. My Nu Mex hot pepper has no heat to it.? Corn ears are growing. Kale hangs on. Lettuces bolted. Melon plants grow, but only 1 watermelon and no cantaloupe-I’ve started to hand pollinate them. Morning glories wilt in the heat. Zinnias are lush. Almond verbena is thrilled and smells so wonderful. Your garden is gorgeous with those raised beds! That would be lovely.
pennifer says
Here on the cool and foggy CA coast, I am still working on figuring out the best timing for planting (just completed the first 12 months with my raised beds). Unsurprisingly warmth-loving things are taking a longer time to grow/ripen. BUT, we’re harvesting zucchini now. We have lots of leeks that I just learned I need to pile dirt around, but that are otherwise happy. Some onions growing vigorously too – need to see how big the bulbs are. A few garlic plants hanging in there – they never set proper bulbs but are yummy to use as is too. I’m waiting for the second round of salad greens, spinach and chard to grow up this year – another few weeks before we can harvest much, I think. Lastly, I have two huge horseradish plants that are a big experiment. Supposedly can’t expect them until November and they might not be that flavorful.
badger gardener says
I saw someone else here has a problem w/ that darn vine-boring squash bug. A few things I’ve done are keeping a bug net near the squash so if you see something that looks like a red bee (even though it is a moth) catch it and get rid of it in soapy water and I check for eggs constantly. However, w/o seeing any eggs I still found holes w/ wet sawdust around them indicating the larvae had moved in. I stuck the end of a paper clip up the hole in the direction the plant is growing and pulled out 2 small white worms. Later I split open a leaf stem and actually found an egg inside so this bug is getting craftier. I also “serpentine planted” the growing stem and am hoping it will develop roots in those spots. I think I may skip squash again next year. I love it but alot of work w/ that bug around.
Ellen Henry says
I’m in Albuquerque, hot and very dry. .I planted Wild Siberian Kales (from Territorial) Not only did it survive 2 weeks of 100+ temps, but has produced more kale than any I have ever planted before, it’s Mid July and still going like gangbusters! I have lots of green tomatoes but only two ripe ones. Peppers have been blooming, but not one pepper on 6 plants.but lots of potatoes, My green beans and okra have been struggling this year. Squash bugs are horrid and I have to spray Pyrethum (made from chrysanthmums)every couple days to discourage them.
Paula in Phx says
I am so envious. My tomatoes and peppers a teeny. The heat has hurt them. My zucchini has flowered and flowered and flowered and not a single zucchini.
I am hoping for a much better fall garden. 🙁
Cheryl says
Here in NC we have had terrible luck with our gardens this year! Someone (or plural) likes all our vegetables…everything has been eaten! Our neighbor has had the same problem, he even set out a deer cam for a couple of nights…only spotted a cat. My husband had some great cantalope growing…they were about 5″ around. So he put a 4′ fence surrounding that garden area….still got them and ate them all!! The fence didn’t appear to be messed with. Thank goodness for the local farmers market…but the veges there aren’t looking too good either, everything ripening early, very small.
Susan says
I love everything about your site. Enjoying immensely and learning. I’m in zone 9 in California and planted first time this year a vegetable garden of sorts. Have learned I need more space and more sun than where we have planted. Two tomato plants are growing very well with me harvesting one or 2 tomatoes every other day over last 2 weeks. Learned I need to trim back plant to allow more air and sun in to the interior. Two green bean plants began well but then died. Perhaps due to over zealous fertilizing…not sure what happened. Oregano and Basil reall easy to grow and are now flowering at tips. Strawberry plants bore about 6 fruit and that’s it. Don’t understand why more leaves do not grow as well as more flowers. Pepper plant doing okay but not much in the way of pepperonchni’s as it’s sitting in the area next to zucchini plant which just took over the area. Zucchni plant has many many white flies now. Tried to grow organic and the bugs are amazing in numbers. This is my first foray in this but caught the bug and will move to a larger area that gets more sun. Thank you for being inspiring.
Lisa Adinolfe says
Your garden is so lovely! I enjoy getting your newsletter every week, it’s the only one I open eagerly! I live in the south and pretty much garden all year. Mine is starting to look like the end of the season garden already. Zucchini and yellow squash are done, kale-done, My tomatoes look great and I’ve canned 4 quarts of marinara already and I’ve only been out 2 times to pick them. My flowers are almost done, I’m going to try another planting of zinnias this year, I love watching the butterflies. The only thing I have trouble with is my onions, they won’t stay in the ground! Last year I planted them too deep and didn’t get any. Any advice on that would be great. My garlic grows just fine.
Lisa Adinolfe says
I was also wondering what was growing on the poles to the right in your garden?
Sandy says
Broccoli not as sweet as I’d like — hoping the cool weather will improve the sprouts I will no doubt continue to get. Tomatoes seem to be suffering a bit in heat (by fruiting less, though I’m getting some and have already had the first chopped tomato and mozzarella salad). My New York Early onions are apparently truly early, for they have already fallen over (and are smaller than I’d hoped). The garlic is in the garage and looked like yours. The peppers have survived despite some creature’s repeat mining for fertilizer strips in the Earthbox and are beginning to bear. Have a nice crop of Asian greens — senposai and yokatta-na, and just seeded some of the cooler weather ones (pak choi, etc.). Winter squash is going gangbusters in one bed and suffering in another, and I’ve yet to get a zuke (something keeps eating the sprouts). I finally pulled out the Mayfair peas, but they were still going at it — very impressive in this heat. My favorite garden achievement this year is a new garden fence in the backyard. I look forward to planting nice stinky pollinator type plants all around it, but even more important will be getting the gates built! 🙂
Lisa, when onions pop out of the ground, that simply means they’re ready to harvest. So don’t panic — give them a few days to cure — hopefully dry ones — and then pull them the rest of the way out. (It’s easy when they’re sitting on top like that.) I used to wonder what the heck was the matter with mine too.
Kelli Patton says
I am also still waiting on ripe tomatoes! Verrrrry frustrating! We have already picked and eaten lots of squash, zucchini and cucumbers – and the pepper plants are loaded with green peppers. I am trying to wait until they turn red, yellow, orange and purple to harvest the majority! I planted 60 onions, and it wasn’t enough. We have used all most all of them, and now I have none to keep over the winter. I didn’t get my garlic planted until early spring, so the size is disappointing. Still yummy, though. My husband bought me a fun garlic chopper on wheels that you just roll back and forth – to make using lots of tiny bulbs more fun. I did an experiment this year and started lettuce, arugula, sugar snap peas and spinach in bins in the shade – in mid-July! I used clear storage bins with holes drilled in the bottom, and I covered them with tulle (much cheaper than shade/insect cloth) to keep out the critters. For once, I wanted lettuce and tomatoes out of my garden at the same time for salad-building! Lettuce, arugula and peas are thriving! The spinach is less successful – germination was low and the plants look a little sad. But from this point on, I will have THREE seasons of lettuce, arugula and peas!
Pam Rodgers says
SW Florida here….. my plants are done, tomatoes were good from end of March until a month ago. Cabbage too. There is a longhorn hot pepper plant that is still hanging on since last September. Can’t wait til mid Oct to plant my young plants. And again at the end of February!
Fawn Carriker says
My 10 X 10′ garden is overflowing with goodness! I have been picking cherry tomatoes since the end of May, and my Early Girl tomatoes are ripening daily. The romaine lettuce has now bolted from our 100 degree plus weather, so I have pulled the rest of it out and added it to my compost heap. Strawberries are slow, also because of the heat, but the summer squash and a strange, round, zucchini-like squash are going gang-busters. The carrots are growing nicely. This is this garden’s first season, and I am harvesting enough veggies to eat and share, which was my goal. The nasturtiums bordering the garden never really took off, but the marigolds are thriving, and without any issues of nasty bugs. I am using crushed egg-shells to deter snails and slugs, and no pesticides of any kind. Happy gardening!
Juanita says
in my SE Virginia garden my heirloom tomatoes are taking FOREVER to ripen. I have many blooms and fruit though on most plants. This is the first year I’ve noticed blossom end rot. Dang. I’m so hungry for those tasty heirlooms! My bell peppers and bananas drop leaves regularly and the fruit falls off before ripen, any idea what is happening? My red chili pepper are doing well.
I didn’t plant my garlic (forgot last fall) till early spring. I don’t see any signs of them above ground. Did I kill ’em?
Love your garden pics and recipes.
Lisa Phelps says
Hi Kevin! Well our garden has been an adventure this year. We just moved back here late last summer, so what we are seeing is hopefully just stage 1, as we hope to grow more and expand the garden each year. We got started a little late but our zucchinni is doing extremely well, producing squash every few days. Our tomatoes are just beginning to mature, and we have only picked a few. You can’t beat the taste of tomatoes right off the vine though, so it is worth the wait. We also planted carrots and radishes. The carrots won’t be ready for a few more weeks. The radishes, however, though supposedly ready to harvest have absolutely NOTHING on the root….very disappointing. I have never had radishes not produce. Our pumpkins have loads of blossoms but only two pumpkins so far. Is there a reason they don’t seem to be getting pollinated? The biggest grower this year are our cucumbers. They are enormous! I didn’t pick any last week, and they turned yellow and nearly orange. I wish I could send you a picture. I think they are still edible and don’t feel mushy at all….just a weird color. Our raspberries and blackberries are non-existent…I think the birds got to them before I could put up netting. We are also in zone 5b ( just SE of Rochester, NY) . Any comments on the pumpkins or cukes?
As always I am inspired by your beautiful gardens and I look forward to reading your news.
Sandy says
Here in the Midwest we had a mild winter, no late frosts and a hot summer. This is the first year I have ever had tomatoes before the 4th of July! It is also the first time my zucchini has lasted past the middle of June due to squash bugs. The peppers are producing like crazy, the Jade beans were unbelievable, and the unknown variety of cucumbers are plentiful! Except that we are forced to water frequently because there has been no rain here since May, it has been the best gardening year ever!
I wonder if our experiment with solarization helped to kill off squash bugs as well as weeds?? Or maybe it was the nearby plantings of tansy, catmint, nasturtiums, and marigolds which helped to fend them off.
Lori Scheuer says
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing pictures of your garden, it looks great. My little garden is doing great. We planted cucumbers, tomatoes and green peppers.
The tomatoe plants all have fruit but, I don’t think they will be ready to pick until August/September. We have been picking cherry tomatoes and a couple of tomatoes called Salsa tomatoes.
We started picking cucumbers last week, we are hoping to make a few jars of pickles. I have a question for you. Is it okay to let the cucumber vines grow up on a trellis? Or, do they prefer to be on the ground?
Our pepper plants were being crowded out by the tomatoe and cucumber plants so I moved two into a deep flower planter. The other pepper plants seem to be okay. All of them have flowers and tiny, tiny buds I am going to give them a little fertilizer (miracle grow) because some of them are a little small.
Have a great day.
Margaret Senn says
Great year for asparagus. Had the first potatoes last week. Pulled beets and made pickles
today. Cucumbers are slow. Still waiting on the tomatoes and peppers. Onions are virtually non existent. Nut sure what happened.
trillium in badgerstate says
I’d say we got a late start in our garden, but in actuality the ground hogs liked our veggies so much they got first – and second – dibs! This 3rd planting seems to be a charm, and I hope we are blessed with some produce before the frost (not to mention the critters!).
Our garden walls go 14″ underground, and are higher than my waist. Today when I finished working in it I tacked more chicken wire across the entire top. Fort Knox!!
I planted green beans again – exercise in futility or do you think there’s enough time for them to grow prior to Wisconsin’s frost?
Regardless of the outcome, I enjoying gardening and playing with landscaping so much more, and your newsletter, Kevin, is a lot of the reason! Your encouraging, up beat and accepting attitude really brings a community of people together. Thank you.
Linda Jenkins says
I live in south central WI. My garden started out well, Then I had animal problems. I had a raccoon then the biggest rabbit I have ever seen (cotton tail). The heat and drought really hurt. I just planted beans for the third time, hoping to get some this time.We finally had rain a few days ago and my tomatoes and peppers have perked up. I have never had such bad luck with my garden as I have this summer. Tomorrow I will try carrots again.
LisaF says
Kevin, love following your blog. Thanks for all the great photos, info and recipes.
Where we live in Colorado (zone 5), it’s been a very strange gardening year. Guess it is all related to the drought and heat wave. Radishes all failed due to a massive infestation of flea beetles, and they are after my turnips but think their cycle is about done. Beets have taken forever; but finally was able to harvest some last week.. Carrots are just now ready; still getting lettuce and spinach but it will be bolting soon. Lots of broccoli for the past month; but have just returned from an unplanned 2 week absence to discover that the aphids have moved in. May pull them out if the garlic oil spray isn’t effective; even though the side shoots are still producing like crazy. I usually get suger snap peas all summer, but they dried up while I was gone. 🙁 Heirloom cornfield beans are growing off the top of the 7 foot trellis, but no blooms yet. No blooms on the zucchini or pumpkins either, but I did get them in the ground late. Eggplant has one fruit on it. Need to harvest my garlic this week, but looks like the bulbs are a lot smaller than they usually are. My peppers exploded while I was gone and are loaded with peppers and blooms. I was horrified to discover that they are covered with aphids too; and have spent most of the day spraying, brushing and inspecting to try and save them. Tomatoes are huge and I’ve already harvested about 10 Sasha’s Altai and Stupices; as well as a couple of Sun Gold. First time I’ve ever seen a ripe tomato before mid August! Tomatillos are sprawled all over and lots of fruit and blooms. . Almost all of my herbs are blooming or going to seed and we have onions big as softballs already. Very weird!
Anna Lapping says
I’ve had a bumper crop of tomatoes that started early, like mid-June! Unfortunately, after weeks of triple-digit temps, then weeks of rain and humidity, I think the crop is going to end early as well. The squash, cukes, peppers, eggplant and beans are all doing well. Okra is just starting to produce, and the sweet potatoes are pretty. I can only hope they’re producing tubers, and won’t know until Fall. My acorn squash looks healthy, and will begin flowering soon for another Fall crop.
Krystal says
Even with several heartfelt sowings of cucumbers a little chipmunk rascal has destroyed them everytime I have planted them. I have one lone plant left and it seems to be doing the best it can.
I have several green tomatoes but no ripe ones so far probably mid-August. I’m very proud though because this is the second year I’ve planted from seed. Even though some of the members of my community garden may have tomatoes already from plants bought from a nursery.
Haricot Vert beans did beautifully and have been frozen for later days.
Brussel Sprouts are getting big for a harvest in late fall.
The Spanish Roja garlic did very well and is curing high up where the kitties cannot use them as toys.
Planted the Zucchini late so they’re only finger sized right no but I plan on using your method for freezing once we’ve had our fill.
Put in a pumpkin patch from plants I started on the porch in the pea and garlic beds. I know it’s late in the season but I have faith my nieces and nephew will have plenty to carve come Halloween. And my sugar pumpkins will be yummy to eat.
Betsy Naselli says
My vegetable garden was coming along nicely; I had used ‘behavior modification’ methods on the woodchucks and watering everyday and then (big mistake) went away for a week. The friend that I relied on to water did not water enough- It has been incredibly dry this summer in Central NY- and, of course, she did not check the perimeter of the fence as I automatically do each time I water for any signs of woodchuck entry attempts. My kale is all gone now, my pole beans have been drastically compromised and I am hopeful that they can survive. The sunflowers are history, along with the zucchini plants. I had been growing pole beans also outside of the fenced-in area on a tented trellis to create a bean hideaway for my two toddler grandchildren. To be brief- they will not be hiding there this year! I had a couple of lush “Patio Star’ zucchinis on my deck that had already provided several zucchinis and had loads of blossoms. They now look like they were hit with acid. Gardening can be so discouraging. Basically now I have tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers and parsley which have come through so far unscathed. I continue to be hopeful-and the last little woodchuck was sent to summer camp at the park the other day!
Syl Grant says
Your veggies are beautiful as always. I particularly love your kale and I think I will grow that next year. My garden is doing fine though I am watering almost daily due to weeks without rain. My only real problem this year is tomato borers. I had to remove almost all my tomatoes, ripe and unripe and dispose of them because those nasty bugs got a strong hold this year. I’m hoping that any further tomatoes will be free of it. Being that their evidence is at the bottom of the fruit, I hadn’t noticed them until they were drilling into all my tomatoes except one bush tomato planted on the other side of the yard. I will definitely be moving the tomatoes to a new bed next year. Live and learn.
Gail B says
Well, this was our first year gardening and hubby built me a 4×8 box. We planted about 8 plants of tomatoes, 1 zucchini, a spaghetti squash, 2 cucumbers, honeydw, purple and green beans and leeks. The tomatoes finally show a few fruits so hopefully some day soon! The zucchini fruited 4 so far and about ready to pick! I have 1 spaghetti squash trying hard to grow. I made some trellises for the needed plants. I have 3 cucumbers growing ( didn’t realize they started out as balls!) peas aren’t doing too much but they look pretty, mellon has produced several flowers so I’m excited to see what’s going to happen with that. Hubby is excited to make at least 2 more boxes for me! We thought we would have killed off more than one plant! (that’s why so many tomatoes haha). It’s been nice to have a veriety of plants. We’ll have more next time!
Laura Swieton says
Up near Kinderhook, NY, the tomatoes are plentiful but still green. Blackberries are fruiting like mad. Cucumbers are iffy; some vines are producing, some not. Mini spaghetti squash is happy and harvesting one or two every few days. Cantaloupe and watermelon are about halfway. The white pumpkin I planted for the kids was hardest hit by the hot dry spell, the vines look nearly dead but there are two pumpkins still growing. The yellow squash are sulking after I had to re-transplant them a few weeks ago. I still haven’t mastered the art of bell pepper growing (one of these years…), but the banana pepper is producing nicely. Put in new day-neutral strawberry plants this year and have a fine exhibit for my spouse as to why I need quality soil in my beds — the leftovers I potted are huge, the ones in the bed are tiny.
Lisa Smith says
Any updates on Tomatoes?