Mid-August Garden Update - 2013

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. 

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.