Monday, July 30, 2012

Late July Garden Update

 The Garden has kept us busy this last half of July.  We harvested out most of the spring crops and the summer crops are growing quickly, but not quite producing yet.  We also planted seeds for fall crops, such as cabbage, broccoli, beets, arugula, carrots, and spinach.

We pulled the beets in mid-July...

And we harvested the Kohl rabi.

Kohl rabi roots make for a wild beard.

We boiled some beets.

Our neighbors loaned us a juicer- so we made raw beet, kohl rabi and carrot juice.  Terry promptly made some coffee after taking a swig.  I diluted it heavily with apple/cranberry juice and managed to drink a glass... followed by a nice cup of coffee.

Rutabaga (Swede)

Weird looking Rutabaga.

Tomato plants are lush, but no ripe tomatoes yet.

I refreshed the gravel paths with "#4 to dust" from Erin Rockery.  Much better than the "5/8 minus" we used the first time.  Packs down firmer, although dusty when dry.

Hungarian Wax Pepper

Eggplant Millionaire (Thanks Randy!)

Tomatillo plants are 5 feet tall and flowering like crazy.

A great year for blueberries; raspberries have been awesome; blackberries are terrible this year.  Bacon loves to pick raspberries with us.  We are picking blueberries only when the puppy is distracted to avoid teaching him to eat all the blueberries.

Terry replaced the rotten boards on the picnic table- making it an 8 footer instead of a 6.  Puppy has already gnawed one of the seat corners.

The squash and pumpkins vines are taking over the trellis and everything else nearby.

Concord grapes are growing nicely.

My first Artichoke

The prettiest Calendula this year.

We've stored away a bunch of carrots, beets, kohl rabi, and cabbages in our basement refrigerator.  I also cured a bunch of garlic and have them hanging in the basement.  The onions still aren't totally mature, but close.  The tops have laid over on the Wallas and the others aren't far behind, although a number of red onions bolted and I had to pull and refrigerate them.

Recent Pest Sightings:  Powdery Mildew on Calendula, Cucumber, and Gourd.  Black aphids on Nasturtiums.  Rat in Garden.  Puppy prints in newly planted beet bed.  Slug in refrigerator.

I think that covers most of what have been going on lately.  Hope you all are enjoying a bountiful summer.
 


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