Last week of July! Garden check-in

Well, long time no blog. It takes a lot more time to put together a blog post than I ever realized. I imagine I will have more time for this in the cold months, when I'm cooped up indoors dreaming. But the pictures won't be as fabulous.
I picked the first cherry tomatoes last week, and this past weekend saw the first harvest of green beans, new potatoes, and peppers. There are TONS of weeds, but I'm trying to do what I can. For the most part, things seem to be doing OK in spite of the weeds; important stuff, anyway. There are a few failures to discuss. The broccoli and cabbage, which never grew that much to begin with, were way to small to compete with the weeds once they started really growing. I pulled them all this weekend, and will try to plant some for fall this coming weekend.
The beets are also not a success. Only about 5 or 6 seedlings have survived to date, and they are still very small. I will throw some more seeds in that row this weekend, also. The first round of peas is done, and the climbers will be ready by this weekend, I think. I hope to get some more planted this weekend for a fall harvest.And, the corn, *sigh*. I just can't grow corn, I guess. Every year I try, and I have yet to harvest one ear. This year, at least, the plants are still alive, but they don't seem to be growing. They are still about knee-height, if that. I know they are probably the most weed-choked, and are suffering from it. Oh well.
How about some pictures?
The view from the entrance. Yes, there is a garden in there!

The cucumbers will be here soon!

 The peppers don't seem to be as robust this year. Each plant set on fruit early on, but they show no signs of flowering any more, so I guess I'm only going to have six home-grown peppers this year.

 The climbing peas:

 The potatoes, which I still never hilled.

 Cherry and slicing tomatoes:

 Sad corn:

 The Potimarron squash (also known as Red Kuri) started blossoming this weekend:

The string beans looked a little forlorn after weeding, but they are a tough bunch:

 We picked several the day after weeding:

And the Jacob's cattle are looking good too:

 Here are the carrots in the foreground, and the parsnips in the back. They look good, but I really need to find some time to thin the carrots.

 My garden helper is not amused. I should be playing with him, not all this dirt!

I also found some spare time (ahem, called in sick to work) to go to our favorite local pick-your-own farm:

It was the very last of the season for the strawberries, but they let me scrounge around. I couldn't bear the thought of going a whole year without homemade jam. Of course, I haven't had time to make jam, so these beauties are now waiting patiently in the freezer for their day. I will probably do it during the first pickle day, when the canner is already out, and the kitchen is already steamy. Someday, I hope to be able to get my berries in my own yard, but, unfortunately, my berry bushes only provide me with handfuls here and there, never a large quantity at once, which would be needed for jam.

We got a glimpse of this handsome guy this weekend, chilling out in an old tire:

It was a glorious weekend, with my sweet children and an excellent book. I'm reading Lucy Maud Montgomery's selected journals, and I'm really enjoying them. They combine so many things I love: history, first person narratives, Prince Edward Island. They are really very good, and I can't believe I didn't know that they existed before!
Until next time!

Garden check-in, July 13th

Well, I haven't posted in a couple weeks, for a couple of reasons. First, I couldn't find my camera. It was behind the filing cabinet. Second, because I am so overwhelmed and ashamed by the weediness of the garden. But, let's be honest. I started this blog because I wanted a record. The record won't be much good if I don't take the time to record how things are doing, growing, or happening. Also, let's be honest. No one reads this blog, Jen. It's for YOU. Basically, your journal. Look at the stats: no one's watching, no one's following, no one is judging your weedy garden. But, next year, you will be wondering in the middle of July if you are ahead, or behind, or on par garden-wise, and then you'll be glad you made this post. So, without further ado...
So, after our cool June, Mother Nature woke up, decided it was almost June, and then reigned down the blazing hot weather for the first bit of July, interspersed with several rainy days (and our first named storm of the year, Arthur, awfully damn early). The result is flourishing growth of both weeds and vegetables. The garden suddenly doesn't seem as far behind as it did two weeks ago.The exception to this is the melons planted in tires, which I haven't photographed or even metioned in this blog thus far. They are still very small, and, at this point, I don't think they can recover and make up for lost time. I think the late coolness is probably to blame, but I also got them in late. I doubt we will have melons this year (ALAS!).
But let's have a look at the garden.

This weekend witnessed the removal of the row cover from the cucurbits, some of which showed their first blossoms this week:

 I picked my first Sungold cherry tomato today. If the number of blossoms are any indication, we will have tons of cherry tomatoes. Some regular-sized tomatoes have set on fruit too, but I'm hoping there will be more than what's there now. The plants themselves are still very short.

 There's plenty of lettuce to be had, as long as you don't mind picking out the grass!

 And the squashes are glad to be rid of their row cover, which they were pushing against with crumpled leaves:

 In the above photo, you can also see the row of sunflowers in the background.

 The beans started to blossom this week. The Provider green beans:

 and the Jacob's Cattles:

The potato blossoms also showed up this past week, though I haven't even hilled the potatoes at all:

 We started picking peas this week. I swear, I could have this whole garden planted with peas, and it wouldn't be enough for this family! Daddy and S eat them endlessly.

 The climbers, which are later, are coming along nicely:

 Alas, this week also witnessed the return of my nemesis, the striped cucumber beetle:

 So far the damage hasn't been too bad. Hopefully the plants are large and healthy enough now that it won't be.

The carrots are looking good, and are one of the few things I have had a chance to weed. There aren't as many of them as I wish there were, but that makes them easier to thin:

And there's a handful of other stuff worth mentioning, but without photos. The corn is still alive, but only about 10 inches tall. The parsnips are doing great. The beets are almost a total bust, but I weeded them out anyway, and the six anemic looking little seedlings will at least have a chance at getting some sun now. The cabbage and broccoli are also not promising, the small plants are being overrun by tall weeds. And the squash seedlings I got from a friend are blossoming (they were further along than my squash plants planted from seed.

After 5 straight days of glorious sunshine, the weather forecast is calling for four days of rain. We shall see what this means for the garden. 

In other news, J took his first steps today, while I was at the grocery store. He is having a really difficult time with teething right now, and our sweet, happy boy has been replaced by a whiny, crying monster. I can't wait until he is through this! I want my darling back! S is crazy about picking flowers, and it makes me sad that my flower gardens have been neglected and swallowed up since she has been in my life. Maybe she can help me rediscover them in the future.

The rain has begun and bed is calling me. Until next time!