Harvest Monday................... 09/24/2012

I weighed the Kennebec potatoes that I dug last week figuring that would be about it for the harvests this week. Then I went to the plots to start Fall Clean-Up! I always take my harvesting containers just in case. It's a good thing I did!

Here are the Kennebec Potatoes that I harvest last week

They were a nice size and the yield was OK

These are the ones we will eat first. 

They are the tiny potatoes and the potatoes that have some type of damage.

I pulled all of the tomato plants from the one bed and managed to get some nice tomatoes

and some pretty tomatoes

and some more green tomatoes for Green Tomato Salsa. Since some of the other green tomatoes turned red.

Sweet Peppers

A few more yummy Raspberries

The last of the Sugar Pie Pumpkins and biggest leek I have ever grown! This baby is at least 2" across at the bottom!

The nicest Jalapenos so far this year and the Habaneros are finally getting ripe! 

More Eggplant

I have no idea what I'm going to do with these! 

The first Lima Beans of the year. 

The vines were so dense that I couldn't find them until I trimmed them back.

Total weighed harvest: 50.92 lbs.

Beans,Lima - 12.8 oz

Eggplant - 34.15 oz

Leek - 8 oz

Onions (not pictured) 38 oz

Peppers:

    Hot & Spice - 30 oz

    Sweet - 24.52 oz

Potatoes, Kennebec - 450 oz 28.13 lbs

Pumpkin, Sugar Pie - 47.5 oz

Raspberries - 3.2 oz

Tomatoes:

    Red - 138.55 oz

    Green - 28 oz

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in gardens around the globe!!!

The State of the Plots Mid-May

It seems like it has been non-stop since we got home from vacation! I spent a few hours at the plots on Saturday and then we had to go shopping for Sophia's BD Bar BQ on Sunday. We always seem to be away on her BD. So, I told here we would have a BD Bar BQ on Sunday after we came home. After shopping there were important things to do, like bake a cake and start the homemade baked beans. Sunday was packed full of putting the cushions on the outdoor furniture, cleaning up a bit, cooking and then putting up a canopy since the temps were in the 90's! The Bar BQ was a great success and Sophia was very happy!

Yesterday I had planned to catch up on blog reading and visit everyone's Harvest Monday posts. In the morning I decided to clean out the refrigerators and some canned peppers that I was not happy with. All went well until I managed to clog the plumbing in the under-slab in the basement between the main pipe coming from the kitchen and the floor drain. The remainder of the day was plumbing related, including a visit from the Roto Rooter man!

I was going to post the pics I took on Saturday. But, this morning I ran over to the plots in the misty rain to cover the strawberries that the birds think is a buffet! So, I took some more pics. There are lots of pics in this post!

Click on any picture to enlarge.

Before we went on vacation, I planted all of the Tomatoes, Eggplants & Peppers in the rain!! It wasn't the perfect time to plant them. Although Sophia is perfectly capable of taking care of the plants, I really didn't want her to have to tend to them. She does have school and track, which is very important.

Bed#1 The Potato Bed

The potatoes really took off while we were gone. Some of these weren't even out of the ground when we left. Hopefully, I can get over there tomorrow and mulch them with straw.

Bed #2 Tomato Alley #1

The tomatoes are doing very well with the exception of Aphids. I found aphids on some of the plants on Saturday. I was hoping that the pests wouldn't find the new garden the first year. I am going to make a spray today with potato leaves and see how that works.

The new growth looks great and so do the weeds!! Mulching to do!

Bed #3

The empty front section of this bed will have a Three Sisters Planting and some trellises for beans, cucumbers and cantaloupe

Toward the other end of this bed is Cauliflower, Eggplant and Hot Peppers. 

There is also space for another trellis at the end.

The cauliflower was really small when I put it in. I didn't think I would have the plots ready in time to plant spring cauliflower. We shall see if they produce. If not, I have plans for a fall planting in another space.

New growth on the Eggplants look great!

The Peppers also seem to be doing very well.

Bed #4 Tomato Alley #2

Not the best pic, but the tomatoes are doing just fine. There are two though that are struggling a bit. 

Bed #5

The empty section at this end will have trellises for more Beans, Spaghetti Squash and Korean Melons. At the far end is where the Zucchini will be planted.

This is toward the other end of Bed #5. 

I have planted Broccoli, a few Cabbage, 4 Chinese Cabbage and the Sweet Peppers. There are also some tiny Leeks planted in front of the Chinese Cabbage. Hopefully the Broccoli will produce since it was started earlier then the cauliflower. If not, there is a fall planting planned. One of the Chinese Cabbages bolted from the heat over the weekend. So, it will be removed.

Bed #6

The Blackberry & Raspberry transplants are doing very well. Since the blackberries won't get too big this year, I planted onions & celery around them. There is also space for a trellis on the end where I will plant Lima Beans.

Bed #7 The Strawberry Bed

The plants that I covered were transplanted from the old site. The new strawberry roots that were planted this year are at the far end mulched with straw. They are all doing very well.

Bed #8

This bed is along the right side of the plots. The Asparagus beds are at each end and there are onions and a few celery plants in the middle.

As you can see, the asparagus is going to ferns. I am so pleased that they made it through the transplant. Even though we did not have much of a harvest this year. The Fava Beans in the front are doing much better with the exception of ants. Last year I had the same problem with them. As soon as the rain stops I will try using cinnamon on the plants as a pest control.

That's the "State of the Plots" right now. There is still a ton of work and planting to do over there. I haven't decided what I am going to do with the paths. The gate is not up yet and I also have to sow the popcorn and beans along the front. I really think the worst part of the work is over. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and I can spend a few days over there sowing some seeds and tidying up a bit!

2011 Garden Overview & Totals......Part 2

Part 1 of the 2011 Garden Overview & Totals can be found here. Part 1 started at Asian Veggies and ended at Garlic.

Greens: There were a few different veggies planted that I put in the Greens category. All were originally planted in the cold frames in early December of 2010. They all did well and we really enjoyed them. This year I planted an additional variety of kale in the cold frames.

    Arugala - 1.3125 lbs.
    Chard - Rainbow - 2.0625 lbs.
    Collards - Vates - 1.375 lbs.
    Kale - Squire - 1 lb.

Kohlrabi: I have always thought that Kohlrabi was a very cool looking plant. I had never tasted it but planted it because I had the room and I thought that it was very cool. The varieties planted were Early Purple Vienna & Early White Vienna. Both did very well at the plots. I am not sure if I will start any this winter for next year since I don't know if the new gardens will be ready in time for planting.

    Early Purple Vienna - 1.9375 lbs.
    Early White Vienna - 1.9375 lbs.

Leeks: It was a very strange year for leeks. I usually don't start harvesting them until fall and leave many in the garden to harvest during the winter. This year many of them had to be harvested early since they were getting slimy. I think it was due to the excessive heat then the excessive rain. The remaining few were harvested a couple of weeks ago for two reasons. One, bad planning on my part at the home garden. Two, I didn't want to leave the remaining 4 at the plots over the winter. Total harvest was 7.125 lbs.

Lettuce: I didn't do a very good job of separating the weights of the different varieties of lettuce. The varieties planted this year were; Romaine, Freckles Romaine, Buttercrunch, Gourmet Mix, Eva's Burgundy, Rocky Top & Quattro Stagioni Sel. Rossina Di Pescia. Total harvested - 12.9 lbs.
I really need to do a better job keeping lettuce growing in the garden. I was so so late starting lettuce for a later crop.

Melons:

Watermelon: There were two varieties of watermelon planted at the plots; Sugar Baby & Moon & Stars. Both varieties had an encounter with the groundhog. The little monster ate the Sugar Baby melons when they were young. So we didn't get any for ourselves. We did manage to harvest a couple small Moon & Stars though. Total harvested - 8 lbs.

Cantaloupe: Two varieties of cantaloupe were planted at the plots; Organic Delicious & French. They did OK and both varieties were good. I was really bad at my record keeping and don't remember the details and which did better. The Total harvest was - 13 lbs.

Misc. Melons: Two other varieties of melons were also planted at the plots, Korean & Tularosa. The Korean melons were from seeds that I had saved from a melon that a dear friend of ours gave us a couple of years ago. This melon did OK and 1 lb. of fruit was havested. I was very excited about the Tularosa melon. The seed was gift from Holly. This melon is supposed to be wonderful! I ended up with only one plant. It was planted at the plots and was doing well. One day it just died. I have no idea why. It was fine one day and wilted the next.

Onions: All of the onions this past year were planted from sets or purchased plants. I had such a bad year when I started them from seed. It was so much work and the results were the worst that I had ever had. Maybe some day I will try my hand at growing them from seed again. All of this years varieties were storage onions. Sown from sets were Red Baron & Stuttergarter. Sown from purchased plants were Red Zepplin & Copra. The onions really liked the soil at the plots and did great! I didn't separate the totals of the two different varieties of red & white. Next year we are planning on sowing some sweet onions in addition to storage onions. I think that we also need more poundage to get us through the year. We shall see how we make out.

    Red Onions: 23.3 lbs
    White Onions: 16.5 lbs.
    Spring Onions: .7 lbs

Peas: There were a lot of different types of peas planted this year. Some were planted at the home garden and some at the plots. The peas did pretty well. I did notice that of the varieties of peas that were planted in both locations, the ones planted in the home garden did better.

• Shelling Peas: The only variety of shelling peas that were sown were Little Marvel. Some were sown at the home garden and some at the plots. Most of the first sowing at the plots rotted due to the excessive rains we had. The Total harvest was 4 lbs. Next year I will be adding some new shelling varieties.
• Snow Peas: There were three varieties of snow peas planted; Oregon Giant, Mammoth Melting & Carouby de Maussane. The Oregon Giant & Mammoth Melting were sown both in the home garden and the plots. They did pretty well. The early peas of these two varieties were great. As the season moved on the peas got tough and stringy and the plants were pulled. The Carouby de Maussane were only sown at the plots and did not do very well at all. I don't think that I will be planting that variety again. Total harvest was 4.7 lbs.
• Snap Vine Peas: We had some great new snap pea varieties this year that we absolutely loved! These were; Spring Blush Snap & Sugar Magnoila Purple Snap. Both varieties are vining and were purchased from Peace Seeds. The Spring Blush peas were sown in the home garden and yielded 1.8 lbs. The Sugar Magnoila peas were sown at the plots and yielded 2.6 lbs. Both of these varieties will definitely be planted next year!

Peppers: It was definitely the year of the pepper for us! They just would stop producing!!

Hot Peppers:

• Habanero - This one plant, seed from Mimi, produced the biggest Habanero peppers that I have ever seen. This baby just kept going and going!! I have a lot of them dried that need to be ground for Habanero Powder....which was requested by my Sister In-law.
• Jalapeno - These seemed to produce at their normal rate and we had plenty pickled for use over the winter. The Jalapeno peppers were extremely hot this year.....right from the start.
• Pepperoncini - These seeds were from Thomas. This pepper has got to be one of the most prolific varieties! It was amazing how many I got from just 3 plants! I have to say that I am disappointed in the flavor though. They were very bitter with an odd flavor. I love pickled pepperoncinis on just about everything. I am going to have to look for a different variety though.

Spice Peppers:

• Cayenne - The Cayenne peppers seemed to produce at their normal rate. There are plenty dried that need to be ground for cayenne pepper.
• Paprika Hungarian - The Paprika peppers did very well this year. They were much larger then usual. There are also plenty of these dried waiting to be ground in to powder for cooking.
• Pimento - The pimentos started out great....until the groundhog decided that he was going to eat each and every one of them. I only managed to harvest two before he had his feast! We were really looking forward to canning these.

Total Hot & Spice Pepper Harvest - 25.7 lbs

Sweet Peppers:

• Orange Bell - These were very prolific this year. I just wish that they would turn color quicker. I may need to look for a variety that gets a little bigger and turns color quicker. I'm open for any suggestions.
• Corona - Yellow Bell - This variety produced well also. It does have a few problems though. The color is the same as the orange bell, it doesn't turn color quick enough and they aren't all that big. I am open for suggestions on a yellow bell as well.
• Red - Corno Di Toro -Italian Heirloom frying - This also did very well since it was the year of the pepper.  
• Red - Marconi - Italian Heirloom frying - This pepper did great and is bigger then the Corno Di Toro.
• Red Bell - Quadrato Rosso D'Asti - Granny gave me this seed. I have to say that this pepper is wonderful! They are big bells that turn an absolutely perfect lipstick red! Now, if I can only find an orange & yellow bell that are this good!

Total Sweet Pepper harvest - 51.2 lbs.

Potatoes: I planted three varieties of potatoes this year; Yukon Gold, Sagre Red & Kennebec. I choose these varieties because they were early or mid-season potatoes and are supposed to be good for storage. Even though we did have some problems with the potatoes this year, they did pretty well. The Yukon Golds  were planted in a bed next door at the rental house that I use to own. They started to look like they had a disease. So, I pulled them early. I also planted half of the Sagre Reds there and half at the plots. All of the Kennebecs were planted at the plots. While digging around for some potatoes at the plots, I noticed that something had been nibbling at them. So, all of those potatoes were pulled early too. The Yukon Gold is our favorite potato. The Sagre Red were OK, but I have had better red potatoes before. The Kennebecs  were definitely the best performers. I think that I am going to look for a different variety of red potatoes to plant next year. I planted 2 1/2 lbs of each variety and the harvests were as follows.

Yukon Gold - 7.5 lbs.
Sagre Red - 9.5 lbs.
Kennebec - 23.1 lbs.

Raspberries & Blackberries - All of the raspberries were Heritage.  Some were new canes that I planted and some were already at the plots. They didn't do all that well. There was an early modest harvest and no fall harvest due to the hurricane. The total harvest was 3.7 lbs. The blackberries that were at the plots when we got them are a variety called Hull. I have to say that we really really loved those blackberries. They made the best jam ever! The total blackberry harvest was 11.5 lbs. I am planning on moving some of them to the new Community Garden location early next spring.

Spinach- I have to admit that spinach has got to be the most difficult crop for me to grow. I have tried everything. The best crop that I had was last year when I got so disgusted that I just ignored it and we went on vacation. When we came home we had tons of spinach. Maybe it needs the passive gardening approach. This year I got absolutely nothing from the spring crop. So in disgust, I threw a ton of seeds at the one end of the one bed at the home garden for a fall crop. I think that I planted  a couple of varieties of Bloomsdale and maybe some Matador. They are growing! So, we may have some fall spinach after all. If not, we will definitely have some in the spring!

Strawberries - I planted a new strawberry bed at the plots this year. There were three varieties planted; Jewel & Annapolis (June bearing) and Ozark Beauty (everbearing).  They did not do very well. They all took off early in the season.Then they had a hard time with the many heat waves that we had and a long hot drought period and then tons of rain. I think that I have lost many of the plants. It looks like I may have to buy some more next year. The total harvest was 4.2 lbs.

Squash:

Summer: The only variety of summer squash that was planted was Cocozelle Italian Zucchini. We really like this variety and it did well this year. No SVB's! Total harvest was 17.7 lbs.

Winter:

• Spaghetti Squash - The spaghetti squash were planted at the home garden along the fence at the end of the herb garden. We won the SVB war with these too! Total harvest 23 lbs.
• Sweet Dumpling - These were planted at the plots in the one Three Sister's planting. The squash bugs tried their best to get to them. But we ended up with a decent harvest of 8.8 lbs.
• Field Pumpkin - The SVB's got to the pumpkin vines and we only ended up with one orange pumpkin that weighed 6 lbs.
• Long Island Cheese Squash - The seeds for this squash were from Mimi. They were quite small but did well. This is the squash that I used to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Total harvest 6 lbs.
• Greek Winter Squash - Jane in Maui gave me these seeds and I was very excited about this squash. The vine grew like crazy but it failed to produce one single female flower.
• Fortna White Pumpkin  - I planted this pumpkin because I thought that white pumpkins were pretty cool. They are on the small side. But, they did well. Total harvest 16.2 lbs.  We haven't eaten any of them yet. So, I can't give an opinion on their taste.

Tomatoes - It definitely was not the year of the tomato here in eastern PA! The total tomato harvest was 316.8 lbs. I did a tomato review that you can read here.

That's about it for the 2011 Garden Overview & Totals. I will do a short post on the herbs this year....even though I failed to weigh any of them!

Here's to a great gardening year for all in 2012!!!

Harvest Monday...................11/14/2011

This past week I harvested the remaining leeks from both gardens. There were two leeks left in one of the beds at home and four leeks left at the plots. They aren't all that big....but, they will make a nice soup!

Normally a lot of the leeks are left in the garden to harvest over the winter. This year due to bad planning on my part at the home garden and the weather....all of them are now out of the ground.

Note: We are going away for most of the day. So, I may not get to respond to your comment or visit your blog until tomorrow.

Total weighed Harvest: 1.25 lbs of Leeks

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in Veggie Gardens around the Globe!!

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!

The rain has just been relentless! Yesterday we had more then 3"!!! Most of that was from one horrible storm! We probably got another inch of rain today!

Tuesday, I finally cleaned out most of the summer veggies in the cold frame beds and sowed some seeds.

This is the Left Cold Frame Bed

If you look closely, you can see what the rain did to the soil. I will most likely have to re-sow the seeds. There are a couple of carrots that managed to survive the horrible heat, some leeks in the back, a huge pepper plant that I couldn't bear to pull out and one of the celery transplants from the plots in the right back corner. 

This is the Right Cold Frame Bed

The soil in this bed is a mess from the rain too. There are two little celery transplants (they are doing well!) in the left back corner a couple of carrots, a basil plant and one lone onion. It's a good thing that I am behind in my fall planting...or everything would have been ruined! I put netting over the beds in order to keep the Darn Squirrels out! They have been horrible the past couple of weeks, digging in everything!!

Look at my Sage Bush!!

The Thyme is not doing so well either!

These brown sticks used to be Rosemary :(

Boy, we certainly have had the most horrible weather this year!

Harvest Monday..........09/26/2011

I can't believe that this is the first fall Harvest Monday and the last one of September! As of yesterday morning, I thought that my harvests for the week would consist only of the last Spaghetti Squash and 5 tomatoes. Well, I was wrong! I went to the plots late in the morning on Sunday and once again came home with a great harvest!

Look at this container of sunshine!

There are still tons of peppers at the plots. I'm letting them ripen and will not pick any green ones until we have a threat of frost. The Rosa Bianca eggplant are still doing great and the other three varieties are still small. I even found a ripe Kellogg's Breakfast tomato on a dead vine! Jose, a great gardener at the plots, gave me some Yard Long Beans which are pictured here. We had them for dinner last night and I think that I may just plant a few next year.

I picked this big zucchini at the plots on Sunday. To my surprise, there are two small fruits on the plant that should be ready by the end of this week. The Spaghetti Squash is the last one of the season. We now have 8 nice squash to store for use over the winter!

To my disappointment, most of the Leeks had to be pulled. The outer layer was getting soft from all of the rain. I will slice and freeze them for use over the winter. It really doesn't look like we will have any left in the ground for over-wintering.

I also pulled the remaining bush dry beans at the plots on Sunday. There are still some dry pole beans over there that are not ready to be picked. I couldn't leave the bush beans in the ground any longer or they would just mold and rot from all this rain. I have a lot of the dry beans hanging on the back porch to finish drying. Due to all of the rain and humidity, they are not drying very well. I think that I will move them to the attic later today.

That's about it in the harvest department, with the exception of herbs. For some reason, I haven't weighed a single herb this year. There's been a lot of other things going on that I will post on during the week.

Total weighed harvests for the week - 15.625 lbs.

Beans, Purple Pole - 6 oz

Celery - 3 oz.

Eggplant - 2.75 lbs (44 oz)

Leeks - 35 oz

Peppers:

   Bell - 33 oz

   Hot & Spice - 39 oz

Spaghetti Squash - 2 lbs 7 oz. (39 oz)

Tomatoes - 20 oz

Zucchini - 31 oz

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in Veggie Gardens and Kitchens around the globe!

Harvest Monday..............09/12/2011

This past week was not a nice week weather wise, here in our parts. It rained all week. The days are getting shorter, we don't have any more news on the garden move.....so, I have not been a happy camper and have not felt like blogging one bit. I have been getting some canning done which will make for some good posts at a later date.

The only harvest from the home garden that I weighed and took a picture of are two more Spaghetti Squash.

These fine babies were harvested on Tuesday or Wednesday. The green striped one was on the same vine as a few of the others I have harvested. It is now changing to a nice golden color.

The Moon & Stars watermelon from last weeks harvest was ripe...but, could have been left on the vine a bit longer. It was OK and I'm sure that it would have been sweeter if I had left it on the vine.

Sunday, I finally made it to the plots and harvested the last Moon & Stars Watermelon, a White Fortna Pumpkin, 4 Leeks and some small ears of Popcorn. The popcorn will be dried and weighed at a later date. I don't know what is with my leeks this year. They are so early and the outer layer of these four were starting to get mushy so I had to pull them. I really like to leave them in the garden and harvest them during the cold days of fall and winter.

I also harvested three Eggplant a hand full of Purple Pole beans and lots of peppers at the plots. The bean tepee fell down again from all the rain and wind this week. Unfortunately they are done for the year. I think that I will get some more eggplant and definitely  a lot more peppers from the plants at the plots.

These beautiful Habanero peppers some Serrano peppers and Pepperoncinis were also harvested from the plots yesterday. I'm working on making different types of hot sauce.....so, we will see how they turn out.

Here they are....the last salvagable tomatoes from the plots. The green tomatoes will be made into something that will be canned and posted about at a later date. The red tomatoes will be made in to some more tomato puree. There are also a couple of Trail of Tears dry beans in between the tomatoes. They are just starting to get ready. I think it will be a couple of weeks before most of them are ready though.

Total weighed harvests this week - 26.5 lbs.

Eggplant - 24 oz.
Leeks - 18 oz.
Peppers:
   Bell - 22 oz.
   Hot & Spice - 33 oz.
Pumpkin White Fortna - 34 oz.
Spaghetti Squash - 92 oz.
Tomatoes:
   Green - 67 oz.
   Red - 86 oz.
Watermelon - 48 oz.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions our host of Harvest Monday to see what's happening in Veggie Gardens and Kitchens around the globe!!

Happy Harvest Labor Day.........09/05/2011

The summer is definitely coming to an end. The nights are cooler, days shorter and the harvests are dwindling.

Here are a few pictures of some of what was harvested from the gardens this week.

The first harvest from the plots after the hurricane.

I was going to pull the celery at the plots awhile back and then decided not to. I'm happy that I didn't. These plants turned around and gave us a decent harvest. They aren't nearly as nice as the celery from the home garden....but, I am happy with them. I also separated three small plants from these bunches and planted them at the home garden. We shall see if they take root and grow.

One of the two remaining Moon & Stars watermelons from the plots. As you can see, there is a little nibble mark from a few weeks ago when the groundhog was using the gardens as a buffet. It's just a surface mark and did not hurt the melon. We haven't sliced it open yet. We will do that later today. If it isn't edible, I will remove the weight from my totals.

Part of the harvest from the plots yesterday. I thought that I would be pulling the tomato plants. But, they are still managing to produce some ripe tomatoes. I did harvest some green tomatoes this week which have been used in hot sauce and pickled green tomatoes.

Also harvested this past week but not photographed were two more leeks from the home garden. With the four that have been harvested so far this season, I made a wonderful Leek & Potato soup! There was another nice Spaghetti Squash harvested and a couple more on the vine. I have started to shell some of the dry beans and will weigh and take pictures of them at a later date.

Total harvest for the week: 41.1875 lbs

Beans - Purple Pole - 16 oz.

    Slicing - 11 oz.

    Burr - 6 oz.

Celery - 4 lbs.

Eggplant - 13 oz.

Leeks - 6 oz.

Peppers:

    Bell - 60 oz.

    Hot & Spice - 75 oz.

Tomatoes:

    Green - 47 oz.

    Red - 190 oz. (11.875 lbs)

Spaghetti Squash - 60 oz. (3 lbs. 12 oz.)

Sweet Dumpling Squash - 12 oz.

Watermelon - 5 lbs.

Zucchini - 19 oz.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's happening in gardens and garden kitchens around the globe!

The State of the Plots............Part 2

Last week was very busy around here and I didn't post Part 2. Although things have changed a bit at the plots, here it is!

The other "Three Sisters" planting is very happy. There is popcorn, Long Island Cheese Squash, Fortna White Pumpkins, Greek Sweet Red Winter Squash (which never produced a female flower) and Trail of Tears Beans planted here. As you can see, the grass in the paths is very happy too. I was going to weed wack it today...but, didn't get to it.

Here are some dry beans, some leeks to the left and a few small broccoli & cauliflower in Bed #2. There are also dry beans planted in Bed #1 between the Brussels Sprouts in the back right of the picture.

This is the one Aspargus bed. There are Sadies Horse Beans and Trail of Tears beans growing up the fence in the back. All of the bushy stuff to the left of the asparagus is parsley. They are supposed to be good companion plants.

The tepee planted with Dean's Purple Pole Beans is really tall. I think about 8' right now. I will be surprised if this is still standing after Irene makes her way through our area this weekend!

Some broccoli & cauliflower was finally planted at the end of Bed #2 today. Don't mind the convalescing mummy tomato plants in the background. They are still alive...so, that's a good thing!

The Bell Peppers are huge! You can't tell from this picture, but, they are at least 3' high and loaded with peppers!

The hot & spice peppers are doing great also! They aren't as tall as the bells, but they are loaded with peppers! I left the celery (right end of pic) in the ground and it doesn't look all that bad. I can dry some of the leaves and freeze some of the stalks that are good.

The two remaining Moon & Stars watermelons are growing like crazy in spite of the little nibble that the groundhog took out of the one!

The Burr Gherkin Cucumber plants are growing like crazy! They are in between the two trellises were the cantaloupe and Korean melons were growing. I removed those vines today. You can also see some more convalescing mummy tomato plants in the background.

There are at least 4 more Fortna White Pumpkins on the vines....looking good!

And the zucchini plants are still producing!!

Well, that's all the Happy Stuff going on at the plots, with the exception of fall raspberries starting to ripen!!

So, what kind of Happy Stuff do you have going on in your garden??