Also, a few baby Swiss chard leaves. This cooler weather may not be good for tomatoes and such, but we'll take more fresh greens and be happy about it.
As everyone knows, it's hard to check the zucchini closely enough so at least one of them doesn't get away from you.
No, I haven't managed to get that second batch of Zucchini Bread made yet. Way too much happenin' around here. Heck, up until noon today, I sincerely thought it was Wednesday instead of Thursday. Arrrgh.
Speaking of the zucchini, this is a shot of my zucchini/nasturtium bed. Can you make out the zucchini plant in the middle of this jumble? I always plant a raised bed of one zucchini plant in the center with nasturtiums on either end. This year the nasturtiums went wild but haven't quite succeeded in choking out the zucchini. So far.
I made the first harvest of yellow beans yesterday. (They always mature before the green beans.) I also picked what I'm sure will be the last of the shell peas and sugar snap peas. The sugar snap peas we eat fresh (gobble, gobble, nom, nom) for as long as they last. I've given up freezing them because they come out so very limp and, to my mind, unappetizing. I ended up with only about a third of the shell peas put by that I need for our year's consumption. Baaad year for shell peas. I'm going to pull out the vines asap so I don't have to look at them and be reminded of the failure this year.
The pumpkin pie vines have made it to the summit (!) and are now traipsing over the top of the arbor trellis.
This is the largest pie pumpkin and is already about as big as it will get. Now if we can just get the color and ripeness to the right stage . . .
We uncovered the blueberry bushes yesterday and picked the berries that were ripe. Ended up with only two and three-quarters quarts, but I'm happy to say there are a lot of unripe berries still to come. The above shot of the three rows of bushes covered up again looks like huge, wiggly, creepy-crawly things from a horror movie.
I'm spending the day today inside (it's been raining since we got up) trying to get caught up on household-y type things. I may even get that second batch of Zucchini Bread made. Maybe. Or not.
19 comments:
I love your pumpkin arbor! I've always wanted to grow pumpkins vertically and this is just so cute. I think I'll be showing that idea to hubby...
Yea for a nice harvest! It's so much fun to eat right from the garden.
Happy gardening!
~Emily from So Sunny Day
Emily - We've been so pleased with seeing the arbor trellis "turn green" this year that I think I'll plant a climbing "something" on it each year now.
I think if more people could experience what food right out of the garden tasted like -- so much (so much!) better than store bought -- they would start growing their own!
Love the arbor. I think they make fantastic architectural interest in gardens. So wish we could grow spinach down here. May try some this winter. Swiss chard does well in the fall & I love the colors their stems turn. Nom Nom on the sugar snaps!
DFW - If one wasn't into gardening, a person might think, "If I plant a garden I can grow anything I want." So not the case. In climates such as yours, you can't grow the crops that need the cooler weather. Up here near the tundra, I can't grow crops that need continual heat. You can't grow rhubarb, I can't grow sweet potatoes. If I were to move to your area, gardening would be like starting anew. Strange, isn't it?
Wow, everything looks so good. I so wish we could grow greens in summer, I do miss them. Usually I can get Swiss chard to grow, but two plantings later not one plant showed! And I love mixed beds and your zucchini/nasturtiums look superb.
Leigh - Thanks! I've had more insect damage this year than ever before -- with maybe the exception of one of our first years on this piece of property when grasshoppers at about 50% of the garden! This year I'm very grateful for whatever harvest we get.
I have exactly two chard plants - a volunteer (which is doing swimmingly, thank you) and a teeny, sickly little plant from the entire row of seeds I sowed. Pfft. I do love the trellis idea - it makes it tidier, easier to harvest and takes up less space!
I also like the trellis idea. Is there a reason why you plant zucchini and nasturtiums together? -Jenn
Susan - You're not the first person I've heard of this season who has had trouble getting Swiss chard to germinate. Don't know why, but it seems to have been a problem.
I had to do a bit of "tying up" of the pumpkin tendrils to encourage them to climb the trellis, but other than that the plants seem to be happy there.
Jenn - Yes, I do believe in companion planting and since all members of the squash family "like" nasturtiums, I plant them on either side of my zucchini. Does it work? All I know is that my one zucchini plant is always big and healthy and produces more fruit than I can possibly use! :o}
Beautiful photos of your lovely garden! I picked 2 baby zucchini yesterday as they seem to die after reaching about 3 inches or so - so I got to them before that! Everything looks so lovely.
My pumpkins are getting bigger each and every day! I am excited about this!
MrsDM - I wonder what is causing your zucchini to kick the bucket after getting to only 3"? Some things in the garden just can't be explained!
Thank you for your nice words . . . you've given me an idea for a post. I'll take pictures of everything in my garden that isn't in any way, shape or form "beautiful!" I've had a lot of insect damage and things I can't figure out what happened. It sure ain't all beautiful!!
Hi Mama Pea :) Wow...look at that garden! I love how your pumpkins look, I think I might just have a few growing me-self! :) I got some green beans too, but the yellow beans haven't budged at all. Your spinach leaves are huge! Nice to see the progress! I'm indoors today too, it's been quite a week so I'm on the couch, playing on the interweb. :)
Hi, Rain - I just got chased inside by great, big raindrops (falling on my head . . . and elsewhere!). Been working out in the garden in near 90 degree heat. (What's next for us in this crazy, crazy weather this summer??) Big, black clouds rolled in with thunder and the atmosphere changed in a flash.
I picked a huge bowl of peppermint this morning and have half the trays for our dehydrator filled so I'll spend the time sitting, resting and getting the rest of the peppermint ready. I'm assuming this rain isn't going to last . . . but who knows?
That's funny, we had the chase-you-away rain today too! The huskies don't care though, they didn't even want to come in, I had to get soaked to drag them inside lol...dang thunder though, Marlene is freaking out today...at least it keeps the weekenders away lol! I wish I had some 90 degree weather! :) (I know you LOVE when I say that ha ha)
Rain - After I got chased in late this afternoon, the sun came back out . . . so I went back out, too. Guess what happened? An hour later, more thunder and rain that last quite a while this time. 'Sokay though because we need moisture.
Both times when I heard the thunder boomers today, I thought of Marlene. :o(
Everything looks great. I need to walk out and look at my pumpkins soon. I planted two varieties.
everything so great. thanks for sharing!
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