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!