Garden Update

The garden is growing like crazy. It took me a couple of days after coming home to get it under control. The beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and cantaloupe had grown so much that I could not get between some of the beds. The excessive heat we are still having made it difficult for me to go out and take care of everything in one day. But, it's under control now!

I harvested over 7 lbs of cucumbers in two days after throwing out at least a dozen that got too big while we were away. The Alpine Strawberries are starting to produce very nice size fruit. It's hard for me to keep track of the strawberries harvested. My "Little Garden Helper" tends to wander over there and eat them.

I finally harvest a head of Savoy Cabbage. It weighed 2 lbs. There are two other heads in the garden that  are much firmer, but not as big in size. We will see how they do.

I also harvested a couple of Hot Cherry, Jalapeno & Hungarian Paprika peppers on Wednesday. I have the paprika peppers hanging up to dry. I am excited to see how the ground paprika turns out when they are dry.

The tomato haul for the week will be announced on Harvest Monday!!

Cabbage, Peppers, Cucumbers & Strawberries from Wednesday.

Cantaloupe are starting to grow!

The Lone Artichoke is coming along nicely.

I am hoping that the other plants start to produce as well.

What's Going on around the Garden

The garden is progressing quite well, despite this extreme heat wave we are having. Much to my surprise, the tomatoes seem to be continuing to set fruit. There are many small cantaloupe and muskmelons on the vines. I have yet to see any female zucchini blooms though.

There are a couple of baby Spaghetti Squash growing on the side fence.

It looks like we are going to have 3 heads of Savoy Cabbage.

The plants had bolted in the spring due to a previous heat wave. Therfore, I had to pull 4 of the plants.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I found a bud on one of the Artichoke plants this morning! The outer leaves have been turning yellow due to heat....I guess.

All of the pepper plants are producing like crazy.

This plant has a couple of large peppers that have yet to change color.

Tomato Beds

The photo on the left is the front tomato bed and the photo on the right is the two back beds. The back beds were planted three weeks earlier then the front bed. Most of the plants in the back beds are nearly 6' tall or taller. While the plants in the front bed ranges from 3' to 5'. I tested the soil a couple of days ago and the nitrogen is lower then I would like it to be in all 3 beds.

The cucumbers are really taking off. The vines are just loaded with baby cukes.

These two photos are of an unknown tomato variety. The seeds were given to me by my in-laws 4 years ago. They got the seeds when they were in Italy.

I am very concerned about this plant. The leaves and stems have been turning a very bright yellow. I remove them and then more turn yellow. I have had problems with this variety in the past. Two years ago it developed blossom end rot. Then last year, it was the first to get the blight. I have been thinking about removing the plant. There is another plant of this variety in the front bed.....which is doing well.

The "Early Pack 7" variety from the Italy seeds this year.

This is the sturdiest plant for it's size that I grown this year. (This plant was germinated very late in the season).  It looks like I will have to take it out of the pot and put it in the ground somewhere.

Tomatoes, Artichokes, Peppers, Peas & Little Cukes

The tomato plants are really taking off. Thirteen of the nineteen plants have tomatoes on them already! Two of the nineteen plants have yet to be planted. They are from the seeds that I received from Italy. I will probably plant them this weekend.

Tiffen Mennonite - Similar to a Brandywine

Eva's Purple Ball - This variety is very prolific and ripens early

Matt's Wild Cherry - a/k/a Garden Helper's Tomato

Long Winter Storage

This is the first time I have planted a winter storage type.

Imperial Artichoke

Thomas, I lied...this is one of the first batch of plants that I received. It is a bit bigger then your artichokes.

Serrano Pepper

The pepper plants are doing much better since I gave them a nice shot of fish & seaweed fertilizer. Thanks MojVrt for mentioning the fertilizer.

Little Marvel Peas

They are almost ready to pick....just a few more days!

Cucumber seedlings are coming up after only being planted 6 days prior to this picture. I was surprised to see them since we haven't had much rain.

Artichokes arrived

The artichokes arrived yesterday not looking very happy. I have been trying to grow artichokes for the past two years with no success. The first year I started them inside from seed. They germinated, looked good for awhile and then died. Last year, I purchased plants. I don't think I planted them in their containers (very large containers) soon enough. They did not get very big, did not produce and then I killed them over the winter!

My new husband (the cook) is Italian and really really wants some fresh artichokes!!

I called "The Tasteful Garden" from whom I purchased the plants. We decided to give them 5-7 days to see how they do. They will send me more if I am not happy with their progress. They have really great plants and are wonderful to do business with. I used to purchase plants from them before I started everything from seed.

I also purchased 2 Cherokee Purple tomato plants from them. I have purchased Cherokee Purple seeds from two different suppliers in the past few years. None of the Cherokee Purples that I have germinated taste nearly as good as the ones I have purchased from The Tasteful Garden. I decided to purchase just two plants from them and save some seeds for next year.

The tomato plants look great. They are a little curvey from being shipped. But will straighten out just fine.