July gardens, tell me what is up with yours.

[itsheresomewhere]

Loving this geranium I found at a greenhouse that specializes in the odd and unusual.  It looks black yet in the bright light is this gorgeous dark red .
 

These are some giant lilies I bought for under 3 bucks for 3 bulbs.   This was one of the smaller ones.  Waiting for my giant white lilies bloom.  

Edited July 14, 2023 by itsheresomewhere

[Sneezyone]

Little eggplants.☺️ The saitama eggplant is setting its first fruit. I stuck an extra globe eggplant in the ground just to see what would happen. My corbacci peppers are producing fruit. I have five hot banana peppers and another round zucchini that I need to use plus a bag full of early romas in the freezer. My San Marzano’s are HUGE but still green. Sigh. It looks like El Niño is in full effect so I’m thinking through which water loving plants will work for fall. Beans is not it.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, popmom said:

@Faith-manor my tomatoes are crowding out my basil, too. It’s such a jungle out there—I wouldn’t know where to start!

I should be expressing my deepest sympathy, but to be honest, I am up to my eyeballs in Tomato Forest, and am kind of glad for the company! 😂

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Sneezyone said:

Little eggplants.☺️ The saitama eggplant is setting its first fruit. I stuck an extra globe eggplant in the ground just to see what would happen. My corbacci peppers are producing fruit. I have five hot banana peppers and another round zucchini that I need to use plus a bag full of early romas. My San Marzano’s are HUGE but still green. Sigh. It looks like El Niño is in full effect so I’m thinking through which water loving plants will for fall. Beans is not it.

These are awesome!

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Loving this geranium I found at a greenhouse that specializes in the odd and unusual.  It looks black yet in the bright light is this gorgeous dark red .
 

These are some giant lilies I bought for under 3 bucks for 3 bulbs.   This was one of the smaller ones.  Waiting for my giant white lilies bloom.  

This is absolutely gorgeous!

[popmom]

3 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I should be expressing my deepest sympathy, but to be honest, I am up to my eyeballs in Tomato Forest, and am kind of glad for the company! 😂

I get it! I'm not complaining! I want tomatoes more than basil anyway. 😉

I want to see pics of your tomato forest! 

 

[Faith-manor]

5 hours ago, popmom said:

I get it! I'm not complaining! I want tomatoes more than basil anyway. 😉

I want to see pics of your tomato forest! 

 

If it stops raining, I will take a photo. I cleared out some of the lower branches that were dragging on the ground around the basil plants. There wasn't any fruit on those, and I felt like there needed to be some air flow and light in there. So it doesn't look as dense near the basil. I definitely want those tomatoes. But, I am also freezing quart size bags of basil leaves for my kids who like to cook with the stuff, and can't take time and energy to fuss with plants. I just found some of my old jelly jars, so I am going to transfer the basil leaves to those. I really hate using the plastic bags if another solution presents itself.

[SHP]

I planted 3 hardy hibiscus plants last year and another one this spring.

I broke one of last falls early in the season while weeding, despite it having a plant label, which I obviously did not read. It is, thankfully, growing back but I am not expecting any flowers this year. 

Another is absolutely huge and giving 8in pure white flowers that the bees love. I wasn't expecting this much growth the first year and put a few asiatic lilies near by that needed a temporary home. The way the hardy hibiscus has grown though them really complements the lilies and hides how boring the lilies are post bloom. I want to experiment with moving a couple of my 5ft-8ft tall lilies near the hardy hibiscus to confirm if it will continue to grow around the lilies and not interfere with them as it gets bigger. If so then I will likely rearrange to take advantage of this. 

The last of these three hardy hibiscus had a huge growth spurt yesterday, I swear it grew a foot over night. It is putting out buds and I am excited to see what color the flowers will be. I have a file with all my plants but since I have zero memory I am planning to just enjoy the surprise. 🙂

The one I planted this spring is establishing well and seems happy. I am likely going to have to move a neighboring bush though. I bought this hardy hibiscus at a fundraiser sale where the donors label the plants. I have since learned that the claimed size is not even close to accurate. I should be able to move the neighboring bush this fall.

 

[TechWife]

I grow very little food - little tomatoes & herbs in containers. Both are doing well. My plant beds & containers are doing very well. Both flowers, other annuals and perennials are thriving. I’ve been pretty diligent about watering. I ordered two tall planters back in May and the delivery kept being delayed. They both finally arrived. I have to decide what to do with them now that it’s very hot and the nurseries & garden centers don’t have much left. Ultimately I want evergreen bushes w/leaves of some type (I’m blanking on what kind of plant that’s called) and then I’ll add some annuals around the edges yearly. They will go on either side of the front door and I’d like not to have a big planting job every year. Once planted they will be too heavy to move as well. But, now they are sitting empty - one in the middle of the front porch and the second one on a corner of the sunroom. I need to figure out what to do with them short term.

Did I post about our bird family on the garden thread last month? I can’t remember. They only spend the night with us now. They are adventuring otherwise. They have been great at pest control! Here’s the last picture I have of them altogether (sorry if this is a repeat). 

[Faith-manor]

We just got home from vacation and found all kinds of wonderful things in the garden. Three ripe "cherry" tomatoes, and I use the quotation marks because there is nothing cherry about them. They are massive. They are the jolly green giant of cherry tomatoes. Four bell peppers ready to pick green. I picked one huge one and am going to stuff it tomorrow for supper for us to share. The others I am leaving for a while to begin turning red. We ate three carrots tonight, very scrummy, and harvested 11 cucumbers. The cucumber plants are trying to take over the universe! I could not walk between my raised beds - three feet between them - because they had overgrown the sides and spread across the ground. Thankfully it was new growth with no baby cukes, so I cut all of that back right away, and then pruned them out of my gorgeous chilli peppers which they had decided to attack full force. Scallions which were planted one month ago are still growing and not ready to eat. Green beans blooming like crazy so in another week or two, I will have a big green bean harvest. My mom ate the ripe blueberries, more are ripening, and the black raspberries appear to be done for the season.

[popmom]

I am still in Colorado with 2 of my dds. Dh stayed home to take care of the pets and the garden. My peppers aren't doing ANYTHING, so I am jealous of yours! 

The weather out here is glorious. Humidity at 30%!!! WTHeck??? I have extended my stay one more night, but I am officially out of Marriott points so I will HAVE to come home. 😭

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, popmom said:

I am still in Colorado with 2 of my dds. Dh stayed home to take care of the pets and the garden. My peppers aren't doing ANYTHING, so I am jealous of yours! 

The weather out here is glorious. Humidity at 30%!!! WTHeck??? I have extended my stay one more night, but I am officially out of Marriott points so I will HAVE to come home. 😭

Bummer that you have to leave!

I cannot imagine being summer AND humidity that low. That is like a dead, Michigan winter or something.

I am so happy about the peppers. I don't mean to brag..but I have never grown a harden like this, never attempted it. I have never had fresh herbs in pots in the window or anything else. It looks like I have enough Amish Paste just beginning to ripen a little, that I might have fifteen tomatoes, four bell peppers, four jalapenos, and more red chillis than I know what to do with all come on together. I am going to make salsa. The prospect of this had made my middle two sons deliriously giddy. They love homemade salsa.

[Faith-manor]

Here are some, not all, of the cukes we got. The chilli pepper plant is one of four. I think I am going to have a LOT of chillis.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Faith-manor

[popmom]

@Faith-manor all of that just makes my heart happy for you! Enjoy!!

[Sneezyone]

I now appreciate why people put up with San Marzanos. They are so meaty compared to my Romas and they have so few seeds. Next year, I’ll grow 3 cherry tomatoes, 2 beefsteak, and 4 San Marzano, no Roma. Mine are all ripening now, just as DH and DD left. I’ve jarred a bunch with more to come. My peppers are getting their second wind. Peas are STILL going, tho slower. Harvested more eggplant. I’m in a weird in between place. My round zucchini were overproducing so I stopped hand pollinating. I have a honeynut squash ripening too.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Faith-manor]

28 minutes ago, popmom said:

@Faith-manor all of that just makes my heart happy for you! Enjoy!!

Thank you. It is a major triumph for me! I feel like Jeremy Clarkson, from Clark son's Farm, yelling "I did a thing!!!!!"

[cjzimmer1]

Mine feels like it's taking forever to take off but we are starting to see some results.

Tomatoes: I'm picking enough to regularly eat them on salads and have BLT's about once a week. My indoor cherry tomatoes are starting to produce now too.  Totally planted them at the wrong time for winter production but everything was an experiment last year and youngest is still easily keeping up with all the cherry tomatoes (3 outside and 3 inside) so it's not a waste.

Cucumbers: I've picked a couple but had to rip up one plant already.  It got the wilting disease and there isn't much to do for it.  My other two hills are showing signs as well but I'll leave them a bit longer and see if I can get anything before pulling them.  I was going to start another round and see if I could get a late planting, however, when our fridge died earlier this year everything got moved around and we can't find the seeds in either fridge so I have no idea what happened to them.  My indoor cukes from the winter were wholly ignored during May.  There was still a smidge of green so one day I finally dumped some water on them and 2 of them seem to be coming back to life.  There is 3-4 little cukes on them so hopefully between the different sources we will get some.  

Peppers: I planted over 150 because we were so long in the greenhouse and I hated to throw them out.  Most of them are in the "cage" so are safe from squirrels and are looking very nice.   I have tons of poblanos that are ready to pick and some Margeret's (sweet pepper) that are ready but I will leave them to see if they turn before I run out of the ones I just bought at the store a few days ago. But there is lots coming and I'm sure I will be inundated with them later this year.

For fun I planted one hill of Minnesota Midget cantaloupe for DS.  I've never grown any kind of melon before.  There are three very niced ones on there and lots of babies.  If they all develop DS is going to have more than he know what to do with.

I also planted watermelon.  We had one plant survive the dogs.  It is slowest growing plant I've ever had.  But it finally seems to be setting flowers.  Hoping to get at least one for DS.

Okra:  Another item growing so very slow this year.  I lost a lot in the spring to damp off so I'm left with 3 red and 1 green.  First year growing the red and it's such a pretty color.

Zucchini:  I've picked a few but a lot of them are dying due to lack of pollination.  I've been trying to hand pollinate but most days I forget to check them.  It's okay thought because usually I end up with so many that we can't keep up so the slower place is appreciated.

I had some volunteer squash type plants come up.   I have no idea what they are and the fruit is still very tiny.  I'm hoping it Delicata squash.  I've never grown it myself but bought some at the Amish last year and really enjoyed it.  The compost bin is back near where the mystery plants came up so I'm guessing whatever it turns out to be is seeds from something that I threw in there because aside from green zucchini I've never grown squash so it's a guess what it will be.

I did harvest my garlic last week.  I had 7 bulbs.  I planted 15 or so but the squirrels had dug them up (I found cloves all over the soil last fall).  I planted in the ones I found but it was a complete guess what I was going to get.  The bulbs are pretty small but considering I never fertilezed and the ground is very hard clay, I was impressed about the size they were.  I ordered some from a local place that does nothing but garlic and I will plant them in the new beds with very loose soil this fall and see how it goes. 

Earlier this spring I bought a cherry and peach tree that were bare roots.  I soaked them and got them planted and a few days later is when I injured my foot so I never really go to check on them much in May.  When I was able to thought, I poured as much water on them as I could as we had almost no rain in May and June.  The cherry tree sent out leaves but ultimately they all shriveled and died at the end of June.  The peach tree did nothing so I figured I would take it back and get a replacement (they have a one year warranty for failing to grow and this tree never so much as got a bud let alone a leaf).  I went on vacation the first week of July and it rained really good one day while we were gone (first significant rainfall in close to 2 months).  When we got home from vacation the peach tree had leaves.  I had poured so much water on that tree and it did nothing but one nice rainfall and it was happy!

Black raspberries are done but they we lovely while they lasted.  The reds are producing well for the few bushes I have.  Not many plants came back compared to other years, so I may have to consider adding more bushes next year.

I grew my cabbage products under cover this year (it's a portable chicken run) and it's so nice to not have to worry about worms on the broccoli and kale).

I've got other stuff growing too but it's all far enough off yet that I pretty much have to sit back and wait.

[Sneezyone]

On a happy note, I planted green globe artichoke this year on a whim. It’s a slow grower but very healthy. I don’t expect a harvest but next year should be GREAT. I also figured out how to kill Japanese beetles so I won’t have decimation next year. Sigh. This feels like a repeat of last year’s hornworm issue.

My lemongrass is also thriving, more so in bed that in ground or container. My ginger is doing well in an pot and may become a perennial. Woot!! Finally, I randomly relocated some strawberry starts after we cut some trees down. They, too, are thriving but mostly feed the wildlife b/c they’re at ground level. That’s ok by me tho. It keeps them away from the good stuff.

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Sneezyone said:

On a happy note, I planted green globe artichoke this year on a whim. It’s a slow grower but very healthy. I don’t expect a harvest but next year should be GREAT. I also figured out how to kill Japanese beetles so I won’t have decimation next year. Sigh. This feels like a repeat of last year’s hornworm issue.

My lemongrass is also thriving, more so in bed that in ground or container. My ginger is doing well in an pot and may become a perennial. Woot!! Finally, I randomly relocated some strawberry starts after we cut some trees down. They, too, are thriving but mostly feed the wildlife b/c they’re at ground level. That’s ok by me tho. It keeps them away from the good stuff.

Can I ask what you are doing about the Japanese beetles? So far.this year, I have not had an issue. But, these things are common garden pest in Michigan, so I would like to file away tips for combating the burgers for the future.

Let me just say, I am glad those colorado potato beetles are not super squishy like slugs, but they are still grossing me out!

[TechWife]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

We just got home from vacation and found all kinds of wonderful things in the garden. Three ripe "cherry" tomatoes, and I use the quotation marks because there is nothing cherry about them. They are massive. They are the jolly green giant of cherry tomatoes. Four bell peppers ready to pick green. I picked one huge one and am going to stuff it tomorrow for supper for us to share. The others I am leaving for a while to begin turning red. We ate three carrots tonight, very scrummy, and harvested 11 cucumbers. The cucumber plants are trying to take over the universe! I could not walk between my raised beds - three feet between them - because they had overgrown the sides and spread across the ground. Thankfully it was new growth with no baby cukes, so I cut all of that back right away, and then pruned them out of my gorgeous chilli peppers which they had decided to attack full force. Scallions which were planted one month ago are still growing and not ready to eat. Green beans blooming like crazy so in another week or two, I will have a big green bean harvest. My mom ate the ripe blueberries, more are ripening, and the black raspberries appear to be done for the season.

That all sounds very yummy, @Faith-manor.

[itsheresomewhere]

A few of you might get a chuckle out of this-  the one landscaper who said he was coming on a Monday back in the first week of May just texted and wanted to know if I wanted him to come install sod this week.  So every week he has watched me slowly do the work while he cuts the neighbor’s lawn digging out the soil, removing the dead foliage, and many other hours of labor and now he wants to come install sod.  First-  wrong time to install sod as it is too hot and I would just be throwing money away.  Second-  really?!?!?!?!?! What testes we have to even text me.

 

But in happy news- DS and I might finished up the main part of yard restoration this week.  The second phase will be in fall and third in spring. I can’t wait.  My composters are about empty restoring the garden areas.  The tips the old Mennonite farmer gave me I am friends with really did help the blackberries survive. I feel like I need to grab a notebook, buy him a cup of coffee and write down some of his 60 years of organic knowledge for when odd things happen.  

[Faith-manor]

6 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

A few of you might get a chuckle out of this-  the one landscaper who said he was coming on a Monday back in the first week of May just texted and wanted to know if I wanted him to come install sod this week.  So every week he has watched me slowly do the work while he cuts the neighbor’s lawn digging out the soil, removing the dead foliage, and many other hours of labor and now he wants to come install sod.  First-  wrong time to install sod as it is too hot and I would just be throwing money away.  Second-  really?!?!?!?!?! What testes we have to even text me.

 

But in happy news- DS and I might finished up the main part of yard restoration this week.  The second phase will be in fall and third in spring. I can’t wait.  My composters are about empty restoring the garden areas.  The tips the old Mennonite farmer gave me I am friends with really did help the blackberries survive. I feel like I need to grab a notebook, buy him a cup of coffee and write down some of his 60 years of organic knowledge for when odd things happen.  

I agree about writing things down. My sons bought me a lovely book on Michigan gardening for my birthday this past April. They love my garden, and want me to record the things I did, the things I learned. They feel that it may be valuable information in the future wince they think in a few years they might buy a few acres, build a simple log home for themselves, and work remote if possible. They are thinking about planting a small orchard and having a large garden. So I purchased a bunch of post it notes, and keep jotting down thoughts and sticking them to the relevant pages in the book.

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

Can I ask what you are doing about the Japanese beetles? So far.this year, I have not had an issue. But, these things are common garden pest in Michigan, so I would like to file away tips for combating the burgers for the future.

Let me just say, I am glad those colorado potato beetles are not super squishy like slugs, but they are still grossing me out!

I’d like to know about the Japanese bottles as well. This year our bird family ate them, so while my neighbors had issues, we didn’t. But, I worry about next year.

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

I agree about writing things down. My sons bought me a lovely book on Michigan gardening for my birthday this past April. They love my garden, and want me to record the things I did, the things I learned. They feel that it may be valuable information in the future wince they think in a few years they might buy a few acres, build a simple log home for themselves, and work remote if possible. They are thinking about planting a small orchard and having a large garden. So I purchased a bunch of post it notes, and keep jotting down thoughts and sticking them to the relevant pages in the book.

I have one for my garden already.  But this gentleman’s knowledge is one that I am going  to get a notebook just for him.  

Edited July 24, 2023 by itsheresomewhere

[SHP]

I just love sitting in my garden surrounded by all the plants. Even the ones not in bloom are doing so well.

[Faith-manor]

Well, the cucumbers do not quit. The plant I named Henrietta, in particular, is some sort of reproduction queen. I have picked another 11 cucumbers in the last 2 days. So many blooms and little babies on the plants! 

I have harvested 9 tomatoes, and three grape tomatoes. The grapes and cherries of the bunch are in the dehydrator, and the one beefsteak, Mark has chopped up for his salads. I now wish I had planted salad greens. Had I done that, we would be eating almost totally from the garden in terms of veggies. We are harvesting carrots every day to eat, and the first sowing of them will be gone sometime next week. We have a second group of twenty that are maturing

I am harvesting green beans every few days, and we ate another green pepper. I have eight more on the plants, and I really should have the discipline to let them stay on the vine and turn red, but the waiting is hard. 

Two chili peppers have turned orange. I am not sure how long it takes for them to turn red.

The eggplant are hanging on. I go out three times per day to look for those stupid beetles. We will have five or six eggplants if the plants can overcome the damage done while we were on vacation. 

I also froze another quart bag of basil leaves.

[ikslo]

It’s raining!!!! 🥰

It’s a hot summer and very little is producing here atm. My fruit tree seedlings are putting on growth and I got my second round of tomato seedlings in. Other than a few pineapples, some basil, and a few peppers here and there, I’m not harvesting a whole lot. It’s just been too hot.

But it’s raining!!!

[Faith-manor]

20 minutes ago, ikslo said:

It’s raining!!!! 🥰

It’s a hot summer and very little is producing here atm. My fruit tree seedlings are putting on growth and I got my second round of tomato seedlings in. Other than a few pineapples, some basil, and a few peppers here and there, I’m not harvesting a whole lot. It’s just been too hot.

But it’s raining!!!

Yay! Rain! I am so happy for you.

[Arcadia]

One of the three berry plants that we potted last year bear fruit this year. I am not sure what it is, my husband assume it is the golden berry one.

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Arcadia said:

One of the three berry plants that we potted last year bear fruit this year. I am not sure what it is, my husband assume it is the golden berry one.

Beautiful! I don't know what it is either! But it is pretty and looks delicious.

[cjzimmer1]

32 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

One of the three berry plants that we potted last year bear fruit this year. I am not sure what it is, my husband assume it is the golden berry one.

Looks like a gooseberry to me.  

[Arcadia]

36 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Looks like a gooseberry to me.  

Think so too. This was what it looked like about 7 days ago

[cjzimmer1]

12 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

Think so too. This was what it looked like about 7 days ago

With this shot, I'm absolutely certain they are gooseberries!

[SHP]

Japanese beetles 

 

Around 7pm they are the least active so go out with a jar of soapy water and knock them off the plants and into jar. Do not use the traps. They will move on soon enough. 

Also look at adding or replacing preferred plants with plants they do not care for.

[Rosie_0801]

I got an advertising email this morning from one of the seed companies telling me how I should have planted my tomato seeds already, so now I feel like the southern hemisphere's dunce. I don't even believe in summer in July!

But to try and remediate my insufficiencies, I've been out working on a new garden bed, which will be fully weeded before it rains again, I think. Well, as fully weeded as a place plagued with running grasses can be. After the rain I'll dig it all out and see whether there is anything useful in the worm farms to fill it in with. That patch is mostly gravel. 

[El...]

Stupid parsnips!

In the good column, we have some cherry tomatoes and more coming, and the first cucs were delicious. 

In the bad column, I have parsnip burns on my arms! Just terrible. I bought heirloom parsnip seeds two years ago and they naturalized. They attract lots of pollinators and predators, so I let them go nuts. However, twice in the last month I've gotten blisters on my arms after yardwork. It took me quite a while to figure out what was going on. I thought it was poison ivy, and then considered shingles. 

Parsnip sap interacts with sunshine to cause chemical burns, like hog weed. When it cools down, I'm going to put on long sleeves and gloves and eradicate them all.

[Faith-manor]

10 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I got an advertising email this morning from one of the seed companies telling me how I should have planted my tomato seeds already, so now I feel like the southern hemisphere's dunce. I don't even believe in summer in July!

But to try and remediate my insufficiencies, I've been out working on a new garden bed, which will be fully weeded before it rains again, I think. Well, as fully weeded as a place plagued with running grasses can be. After the rain I'll dig it all out and see whether there is anything useful in the worm farms to fill it in with. That patch is mostly gravel. 

Rosie, tell Susan and Charlie that we need to be able to like your mod posts!

[Halftime Hope]

Happily, my tomato plants are doing well under two layers of shade cloth and 3 inches of shredded oak leaf mulch. The evenings have been seasonably cool, so it shouldn't be too long before they start flowering and setting fruit, instead of just flowering.

I've been busy mulching all the empty beds with dried grass, and it's time to plant seeds (all throughout the next month) for fall. It's amazing how much less water I need in the beds with the mulch.

The thing I'm happiest about is 4 small limes on my new lime tree from this spring. It's a first for me.  They are about the size of a measuring teaspoon each, and there are a lot of tiny ones, too. My fig cutting is growing like crazy, but although the parent fig is covered in fruit, mine tiny cutting only has leaves. I need to re-pot it into something bigger as soon as it cools down a bit.

Tomorrow I'll plant a block of fall sweet corn -- I can't wait to try it!

[dirty ethel rackham]

I'm loving everyone's garden posts and am feeling quite inadequate on that front.  I'm rarely motivated to garden unless I can eat it.  

Dh planted butterfly gardens with native plants around our house, which I called our weed beds.  He ignored the landscape plan a friend did for us as part of a school project for horticulture.  He just doesn't understand that most native plants are not specimen plants - they look much better in a grouping (like more than 3 coneflowers.) They are looking more like gardens now with the coneflowers, milkweed, butterfly bush, rattlesnake master, joe pye weed and little blue stems.   He planted a couple more patches late last summer.  I wasn't there to supervise when he cut out the sod ... he did rectangles so they look like he buried bodies in our yard. 🤣  I don't remember what he planted there, but at least he used the template from Prairie Nursery so it should look like a planned garden in a couple years.  

On the plants we can eat front, our basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme are going great in their containers.  We got maybe 2 meals from the cilantro before it went to seed.  We are finally getting some roma tomatoes on the 3 plants that survived - we harvested 3 so far, but have about a dozen green tomatoes.  I hope we can get them before the squirrels.  Our cucumbers bit the dust - not sure what ate them.  We have 3 surviving pepper plants and have harvested 1 bell pepper and have 1 more growing.  I see lots of flowers, but am not seeing much come of that.  On a whim, dh tossed some seeds for green beans on a side of the garden that wasn't doing well.  We have been harvesting more than a pound every 3-4 days.  This is from our 12x4 bed (that was supposed to be raised but dh didn't understand the assignment when he built it.) 

I was hoping to put another raised bed out there for more veggies but finding a spot that gets enough sun that isn't on top of old tree roots and not smack dab in the center of the yard is a challenge.  And I'll have to choose things that we don't get from our CSA.  Green beans anyone??

 

[popmom]

It is brutally hot and humid here. And if I can tolerate the heat, then I'm eaten alive with mosquitoes. Dew point is 74 which is absolutely miserable. 😕 Highs in the mid to upper 90s and lows in the mid 70s means my tomatoes should stop producing for awhile. 

I ended my pumpkin plant. It was a volunteer that came up in the compost I added to  one of my beds. It has taken over half my yard, climbed the stairs to the deck, climbed some tomato plants--and zero pumpkins. So I ended the thing yesterday. 

I should continue to get a fair amount of okra.

I seem to have a couple of baby watermelons. Keeping my fingers crossed as I have never had luck with watermelons.

My white zinnias are so pretty. I wish I had planted more. I planted a bunch of those queeny zinnias. I love the colors, but the flowers are smaller and not as showy. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by popmom

[Faith-manor]

9 minutes ago, popmom said:

It is brutally hot and humid here. And if I can tolerate the heat, then I'm eaten alive with mosquitoes. Dew point is 74 which is absolutely miserable. 😕 Highs in the mid to upper 90s and lows in the mid 70s means my tomatoes should stop producing for awhile. 

I ended my pumpkin plant. It was a volunteer that came up in the compost I added to  one of my beds. It has taken over half my yard, climbed the stairs to the deck, climbed some tomato plants--and zero pumpkins. So I ended the thing yesterday. 

I should continue to get a fair amount of okra.

I seem to have a couple of baby watermelons. Keeping my fingers crossed as I have never had luck with watermelons.

My white zinnias are so pretty. I wish I had planted more. I planted a bunch of those queeny zinnias. I love the colors, but the flowers are smaller and not as showy. 

I don't blame you for ending the pumpkin. I had a volunteer last year that did exactly nothing but thought it owned the yard.

[Sneezyone]

Given the heat and humidity right now, I’m grateful for what I have. The eggplants, all three varietals, are thriving. I have at least 5 Japanese style 1-6 inches long: My tomatoes are struggling with wilt/fungus/mites? Hard to tell. I’ve sprayed every organic substance I can to stop the spread.

I'm still getting the occasional green/purple/yellow bean. Weird.

I’ve harvested enough tomatoes this month to make two quart and 6 pint jars of tomato/sauce combos. At the farmers market today, I bought a basket of sungolds and processed them into pint jars with onions, garlic, lemon thyme and lemon basil from the garden. They will make stellar meals with fish or butternut squash ravioli this fall. It feels like a sacrilege to make gazpacho with one but I’m tempted. It’s so hot!!
Even if I don’t grow them, summer tomatoes are sublime.

I have more German Johnson and black Krim ripening. I’m using those mostly in salads and sandwiches. They’re so sweet. Zucchini and honeynut squash are happy. Herbs are productive.

Bonus kid came over this week and learned to can with me. I sent her home with a jar of chunky tomato soup. 🥰

Edited July 29, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Rosie_0801]

2 hours ago, popmom said:

I ended my pumpkin plant. It was a volunteer that came up in the compost I added to  one of my beds. It has taken over half my yard, climbed the stairs to the deck, climbed some tomato plants--and zero pumpkins. So I ended the thing yesterday. 

It's probably too late now, but you can eat the leaves. There's a pasta grannies episode using them in ravioli. I use them in the Townsends channel's weed pie.

[popmom]

2 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

It's probably too late now, but you can eat the leaves. There's a pasta grannies episode using them in ravioli. I use them in the Townsends channel's weed pie.

Actually, I don't think it's too late! 2/3 of the vine still looked very much alive this afternoon. lol

I guess some of it rooted along the way.

What do they taste like? Do you have to do anything special to the leaves before cooking?

I will definitely look up the pasta grannies and the "weed pie"--thanks!

Edited July 30, 2023 by popmom

[Rosie_0801]

45 minutes ago, popmom said:

Actually, I don't think it's too late! 2/3 of the vine still looked very much alive this afternoon. lol

I guess some of it rooted along the way.

What do they taste like? Do you have to do anything special to the leaves before cooking?

I will definitely look up the pasta grannies and the "weed pie"--thanks!

They just taste like greens.

This is one of my favourite recipes, a good way to use a goodly amount of the weeds in my garden. I often use sow thistle, mallow, cleavers cut up well, wild lettuce, violet leaves, catsears, choko leaves as well as more conventional greens.

 

It wasn't ravioli, but all the better. Ravioli is a hassle.

 

 

I've also cooked pumpkin leaves in tomato and peanut butter like the Sudanese (and probably others) do.

 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

Have any of you guys grown peanuts before? A mate of mine had me searching for raw peanuts because he wants to try. I don't know why he can't buy from a seed company like a normal person, or let me buy them for him. Anyway, I'm not against having a go, though it seems like kind of a hassle. Do you grow something else over the top to make better use of space? Tell me all the things!

[popmom]

9 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Have any of you guys grown peanuts before? A mate of mine had me searching for raw peanuts because he wants to try. I don't know why he can't buy from a seed company like a normal person, or let me buy them for him. Anyway, I'm not against having a go, though it seems like kind of a hassle. Do you grow something else over the top to make better use of space? Tell me all the things!

First, thank you for the links and videos! 

Next, peanuts are a pretty important crop in the southern part of my state, and I was recently wondering why I don't hear about people growing them in home gardens. Soybeans are an even bigger crop here, and no one seems to care about growing their own edamame either. 

I really have no idea why no one grows peanuts. I'm going to ask around.

[popmom]

@Rosie_0801 well, I feel kinda stupid now that I didn't know this before (you probably do)... but peanuts grow underground apparently. They flower above ground but fruit underground. So that is why they are grown in the southern part of my state with sandy soil. I had no idea. So you want to have soil that is easy to dig up for harvest. 

I cannot believe I didn't know this until right now! 

I posted the question in our local homesteaders fb group and several posted that they were trying with peanuts. I asked them to please update with their results. 

I am thinking that both soybeans and peanuts require a large amount of space to make worthwhile harvest.

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by popmom

[Rosie_0801]

I'm now wondering if peanuts would grow okay in my yard if I dug out the clay and gravel and mixed them together. From a bit of googling, it sounds like they would cope with the evil summer sun. Maybe I need to get on with excavating another bed and have a go! Hmm.

 

[popmom]

2 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I'm now wondering if peanuts would grow okay in my yard if I dug out the clay and gravel and mixed them together. From a bit of googling, it sounds like they would cope with the evil summer sun. Maybe I need to get on with excavating another bed and have a go! Hmm.

 

You should try it! I mean...people have no qualms about growing potatoes.:)

And yes to the evil summer sun. That sounds like south Alabama climate.lol

Edited July 30, 2023 by popmom