Preserving

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Plotting Along ...boy what a week!

I have spent a lot of time at the plots this week. Between the heat and then the rain everything was out of control....including the weeds!!! I have never hoed so much in my life!

I spent nearly 3 hours one day cleaning out the strawberry bed. My neighbor on that side only weeds up to 3" from the fence. Their weeds were just taking over the bed. I was so aggravated that I went into their plot and pulled the weeds. I think that they got the message. They were a bit quiet when they showed up the other day.

I spent an entire afternoon getting the tomatoes under control. I had to do some trimming in order to get them tied up correctly. I also found some aphids on some of the plants, not many though. I whipped up some insecticidal soap and took care of those babies!

This morning I finally dug an area in the front and planted my purple pole beans. This is near where we were going to put a structure until the rules changed. I have some nice long bamboo which I will make a teepee out of for them to climb up. I am also going to dig an area tomorrow on the other side of the gate for some more purple pole beans and another teepee.

Here's a view of Beds #1-4. Bed #1 is the farthest away. I took this standing on my little stool. Maybe one morning when no one is around I will stand on my car and see if I can get a shot of most of the plot.

Bed #3-6

The storage onions are starting to size up nicely! The past two years my onion crop was not good at all. I am very pleased!!

All of the cabbage is forming nice tight heads! Yippee...no second planting!

Savoy Cabbage

The last four broccoli plants seem to be doing better then the others did. I am definitely going to plant a fall crop of broccoli. Rumor has it that the fall broccoli does very well at the plots.

Cayenne Pepper.
The peppers are doing extremely well!!

Paprika Pepper

The Bell Peppers are huge and have some peppers on them too! I don't think that I have ever had pepper plants get this big so early!

Zucchini
The squash and the cantaloupe are all starting to flower. I have been checking them daily for any signs of the dreaded SVB's!!

The peas are finally starting to produce a little better. I've got a real pretty one over there that I'm saving for Harvest Monday!

That's about it for this week at the plots

20 comments:

  1. Oh your garden has become so beautiful! I can't believe it is the same over-run weedy plot from just a few months ago. You should be so proud! Your peppers are amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was going to say "WOW! It really looks good!", but Jane beat me to it.

    I'm really impressed by your peppers, as mine have never done so poorly! They actually look smaller and weaker than when I put them in the ground over a month ago.

    It looks like you have a nice corn field across the road.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Jane, it was one heck of a week over there!

    Lynda, There is so much more that I want to do over there....but it has come a long long way in a few short months!

    Granny, The plots are at the top of the Community Garden and yes there is a corn field behind us. I just can't believe how well the peppers are doing. Do you believe that I still have peppers in the freezer from last year? Well, my in-laws freeze alot of peppers so nothing will go to waste. I just hope that the tomatoes do as well.

    Hopefully your peppers will perk up soon!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, your plots look great! I was happy to see peppers on my plants so early but yours look huge and great!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Talk about green with envy..I'm as hot as those peppers..My poor peppers fizzed out twice :o( just can't seem to get them going and my poor cabbage is being eaten alive :o( so far on the bottom leaves..I'm hoping they will head enough for me to make Kraut .Maybe I'll have to visit your plots at night with a flashlight :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everything looks great! Your peppers look better than mine for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Emily, The peppers at the plots are more then twice the size of my peppers at the home garden!

    Ginny, If there are peppers missing at the plots at least I know where to look! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get enough cabbage to make that kraut!

    Liisa, I'm totally amazed at how well the peppers are doing over there. I think this year I will be able to figure out what grows best at the plot and what I should grow at the home garden.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is amazing progress. Your plots are in better shape than my garden, and my garden just a few feet from my house! The broccoli looks good. I had some more from my garden last night, it was delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! Things are looking phenominal! You have lots to be proud of! You can come weed here anytime ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love how gardens can be so similar and yet so different. I can't believe those peppers. My plants are nowhere near yours but I already harvested 7 squash. Everything looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Spectacular looking cabbage! Gosh, you're going to have so much from your harvests later...

    ReplyDelete
  12. man... i envy your chillies... hope i'll have plenty space like yours...

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's a nice play on words, "plo[tt]ing along". I like your cabbage and am very glad to see your broccoli hanging in there, even in this hot weather. The fall harvest should be outstanding! Thanks for everything.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Everything has filled out so well and the garden is moving into high gear now. I am envious of that great open location - no issues with adequate sun in your plots! Your hard work is really paying off and it shows.

    ReplyDelete
  15. We've never grown peppers outdoors - we don't have lots of success with bell peppers in the greenhouse.

    When we first took our plots the plots all around us were unoccupied and so we had to spend time strimming back a border of weeds all around us.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Robin I'm amazed that you have picked a few tomatoes already! Most of your veggies are further along than ours are!! Do you have your own private sun? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ali, It's been a lot of work getting the plots into shape and keeping up with the weeds.

    APGal, I think I'll pass on the weeding...thanks though. I've never hoed so much in my life!

    Johanna, It's interesting how our gardens are growing on a different schedule when we live so close to each other. My planting schedule has been a little off this year trying to get the plots going.

    EG, Thanks, I'm hoping for some big harvests this year!!

    GreenPlatform, Thanks for stopping by and following my blog. Those chilis are definitely doing well.

    Jody, Your very welcome. Hopefully those last few plants will provide some bigger heads.

    Laura, It's going to be something when harvesting is in full swing!

    Sue, Weeds from the neighbors at the plots are definitely a problem. The plots on both sides of us were over grown with weeds and they seeded in to our plots. Hopefully it won't be as bad next year.

    Lynn, My garden at home is also a sun pit with very little shade. It definitely makes a difference!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Everything looks great! Those tomatoes are looking really lush, do you have the bottoms cut out of those pots?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment!