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Mid-August Garden Update - 2013

So much happens in August with the garden. I thought I'd post a mid-month update.



The tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. The Amish Paste tomatoes seem to have a lot to offer. The weather has been unseasonably cold - low 50s and high 70s - so it's not done much to help things ripen up. 


The Stupice (pronounced "stew-peach-ka") tomatoes have been disappointing. They are a Czech variety and supposedly are early, prolific and cold-tolerant. They are a dwarf tomato and really didn't require the cages I put around them. I will try again next year and will save the cages for my bigger indeterminate varieties (Stupice on left and Amish Paste on right - note the vast size difference).

Oddly enough, my volunteer tomatoes by the compost pile have several very large, promising tomatoes on them! Wouldn't it be a hoot if they outperformed all the rest?



The carrots are still in the ground - looking quite well. 


These are my two bell peppers. I am hoping they ripen to red. We are supposed to get back into the 80s this week, so that should help. The jalapenos are doing great, as always.



My bush beans look like crap but they are still producing!


The dill has some flower heads that have gone to seed and I plan to harvest them once they are dry. I made pickles for the first time last week, using some of the dill weed and flowers in the jars. 


Speaking of pickles, I harvested a couple cucumbers last week. Since these are white cucumbers and the first time I've grown any type of cucumber at all, it was difficult to know whether I harvested them too early or too late or just right. The cucumber leaves have some yellowing going on, which I need to research and see if I can help.



The thyme has finally reached the size it was in the spring before I hardened killed it off. :) 


I planted some more spinach and lettuce varieties next to the kale that is still kicking butt. I may put the cold frame over them once it gets close to frost season.


I also planted a small row of sugar snap peas (bush variety) where the onions used to be. I'm told it's a week late to plant them, but I'm just curious to see what they do. Next year they will definitely be in my garden.

Raspberry bush update: the middle bush got a couple props from some bamboo sticks I found on sale. These are helping it to stay upright and not grow sideways into the lawn or up into the siding. There are some berries on there that are starting to turn pink! I bought some bird netting last week that we need to setup ASAP to avoid another blueberry incident.


Wildflowers: I gave up too soon. Two varieties have popped up. They are pretty, but I wish there were more!


My pumpkins have finally got the knack of growing up the trellis. There are two sugar pie pumpkins growing right now. I'm very pleased:



The spindly little sugar baby watermelon vine is actually growing a watermelon! It's the cutest thing ever. I can't imagine it will actually come to maturity, but it's adorable.


If I don't get any zucchini this year, I will seriously CRY. My sole survivor (or so I thought...) is huge:

And has fate would have it - the "watermelon" that I planted and then discovered it was a "pumpkin" - well, it's a zucchini. And it's growing a little squash to prove it! More proof I need to do some better labeling next year.


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Onion Harvest

Today my girls helped me harvest our onions. The tops had all fallen over and we could see many bulbs peeking out from the soil surface. While it was fun to involve them in my garden, the results were very disappointing. Especially the red onions, which were pathetic. Good thing I only planted one square of them!

The onions were planted as "bulb" sets on May 1st. That's 99 days, so I don't think I harvested them too soon. I'm not sure why they were so small.

We also pulled one carrot and it looks (and tasted) wonderful! Hopefully the rest of them will turn out just as good.


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July Garden Update 2013

July sure did fly by! Of course, it didn't help that I was gone for most of it. We took off on July 4th for New England and didn't return until the 21st. Luckily there was some rain (and my helpful hubby) to keep the garden watered. The only bummer was all the weeds that seemed to have popped up.

I was quite surprised to find that quite a few of the "weeds" were actually tomato plants! They've sprouted up everywhere! Must have had some tomato seeds in the compost... Some I've left to their own devices and some I've pulled out. Below are two examples of "tomato weeds" growing next to my little blueberry stick.



The tomatoes I intentionally planted are still alive, too. The two Stupice have provided some small, but ripe, tomatoes. I think the plants were stunted due to the "hardening off" damage done in the spring. They are supposed to have an early 2-3 in fruit but are late and are producing 1.5 inch fruit. The Amish Paste tomatoes are huge and have some very large green tomatoes on the vine. Can't wait to try them out. I noticed some splits in the Stupice tomatoes, which I read is due to inconsistent watering. I have been pouring a small bucket of compost tea on them each evening in hopes to eliminate that issue.





Seeing as we were gone for so much of July, the birds got to the blueberries before we could. Next year I hope to have a bigger yield and will be prepared with some netting. (Notice another tomato weed to the right of the largest blueberry bush...)



Our zucchini plant is still alive, but hasn't produced yet. I am trying not to compare to last year's harvest... Next year will be better and I am still optimistic that I'll still get some squash in the next weeks.



Green beans have produced quite nicely and we've harvested about 5 lbs so far and counting (shown with harvested Stupice tomatoes):


Carrots look great:



Onions are starting to fall over and should be harvested soon:


Cucumbers are climbing the trellis and we even have some little babies forming. These are the white wonder cucumbers I got from Ray's free seed giveway and I'm very curious to see what they look like.


The pumpkin vines have been growing, but they really don't seem to want to climb our trellis. It's been a daily battle to pick up the wayward vines and attach them onto the trellis.

Watermelon is really pathetic looking, especially in-between the pumpkins. I've never grown them before, so I don't know what to have expected, but certainly hoped for more progress than this! Next year I'll start them earlier.


Bell peppers are pathetic. Only one has produced any fruit so far:


Basil is going like crazy, as is the dill:



The greens have done well, especially the kale:

The strawberry plants have been sending out runners:

Apple trees show basically no change from last month. Not sure if this is good or bad?

The middle raspberry bush has totally outstripped the other two. The smaller one is still alive, but the third one that we finally saw some growth out of last month now looks quite dead again.

Where did the green leaves go? Bunnies?

How do you like the lovely wildflower patch I planted in May? Yeah, that was another garden FAIL. Next year I plan to put in a couple hydrangea bushes in this spot. It gets a lot of water from the slope and should make an ideal location for them.

The girls' zinnias and marigolds had about a 50% survival rate over vacation. My lavender plant is also still alive.

A mystery plant. Looks like it will flower soon and maybe I can identify it. It is clearly NOT a cucumber although planted as one, but also doesn't look like a weed, so I've left it alone for now.

Pretty little sunflower:

What else? Cilantro didn't make it. Will buy some starts next year.

Container garden update:
Two pepper plants died (the ones in the smallest containers), but the others are still alive, yet not really looking too big or productive.

Tomatoes are kinda sickly looking, although tall. The serrano pepper plants look near death as well. So far, the the container garden is not a "win." But the point was to experiment, after all!

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