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.

 

Mid- July Garden Update

Many of our cool season crops are winding down.  Peas are slowing down and getting powdery mildew.  Turnip, Beets and Kohlrabi are starting to bolt and need to be picked and processed.  Some cabbage heads are ready.  Carrots are ready to harvest.  Garlic is ready.  And we've been picking onions as we need them.  It won't be long and they will mature and be ready to store.  This weekend, some of the beds will look empty as we harvest out a bunch of stuff and plant a new round of cool season crops for fall harvest.

Our first and only birdhouse gourd plant is starting to flower.

Winter squash & pumpkins are growing rapidly now except for the butternut squash which is always slow to get going.

Terry is admiring his corn patch.

Tassels are emerging on the early planting of Trinity corn.

Dahlias are blooming nicely.

The vegetative growth on the early gold potatoes is dying back.  

The artichokes plants add texture to an otherwise floriferous display of calendula, nasturtiums, and dahlias.

Can't wait for the warm season crops to start producing.  I'm looking forward to tomatoes, summer squash, eggplants, corn and peppers.

Early Potatoes

Took the bottom board off the potato tower.

Grabbed a few potatoes.

Breakfast.

So far we've found that it's easier to just grab potatoes from the ones we planted in hilled up rows.  This is due to the fact that we're often too lazy to go get the screw gun to take the boards off the boxes.  The Yukon Golds are the first plants to start dying back, so they are our earliest.  We've gotten some nice sized potatoes from those plants.  The reds are coming along nicely as well.    

Bacon, Carrots and Beets

We've been harvesting lots of vegetables lately.  I'm especially proud of my carrots.  Terry is proud of his beets.  Bacon wants to play with the strange orange "sticks."