We've been having to water the garden with either the sprinkler or hand- held hose a couple/few times a week. So the 1/2" of rain we got last night was very welcome.
Some of the vegetables are starting to mature while some cause me to wonder if they will make it.
I planted two varieties of garlic last fall. Most of the bed was taken up with Chesnok Red and a small portion was given to Northern White. I dug and tied up to cure all the Northern White this past week which matured quite a bit faster than the Chesnok Red that is still a ways from being ready.
Papa Pea mowed the grass yesterday and with the bag on the mower, collected the cuttings to use as mulch and a bit of natural fertilizer for the bare areas of the garden I didn't get planted this year. (You can see how brown the grass is that was taken from an area that gets baked in the sun all day.)
My pickling cucumbers are finally showing some growth. I need to make both Bread & Butter pickles and dills this year. For the dill pickles I need . . . well, dill.
I think I mentioned I had to plant the dill seeds three or four times to get anything to germinate. They are finally growing but the plants are still only about 3" high. I think I need to regularly give pep talks to the little guys to try to encourage them to grow big enough to use when the pickling cukes are ready.
Something is dining well on both my yellow and green beans. I've never had this happen before and am hoping the plants will remain strong enough to give us the beans we need. We've been dusting with DE in the mornings while the dew is still present.
The green pepper plants are tall and healthy producing lots of peppers in various stages. We haven't even had an especially hot summer (lots of nights down into the 50s) yet they look as good as they ever have. Makes me wonder why I've always gone to the trouble in the past of putting them under protection to hold in the heat.
Peas will have to be picked again tomorrow. (They're still soak-y wet from last night's rain.) We've taken two harvests from the vines thus far and by the looks of them today, tomorrow will give us more than from the previous two pickings. Love those fresh frozen garden peas!
I have a dehydrator full of parsley, sage and rosemary as we speak. (All on separate trays, of course.) Do any of you grow and dry your own herbs?
9 comments:
Hey Mama Pea, just wanted to pop by and say hi. Your peas look amazing! That dill might just catch up for you. I've had little beetly things on my beans in the past. My garden is very full and lush - best I've had in ages. We've had some good rain which really helps and I've put the sprinkler on, too. Take care and have a good week. -Jenn
Those peppers look amazing! So green and healthy. Could it be earwigs eating things? We are fighting them here this year; nasty, nasty critters! Wish I could send you some of my dill...as I have way more than I need. Just finished drying sage yesterday, and oregano a while ago. Waiting for my parsley which seems to be taking longer than normal to produce enough greenery to snip. Couldn't source a rosemary plant this year. I have no luck at all overwintering them indoors. Beautiful peas! They do freeze well and are certainly delicious.
I'm sorry to hear your garden has been struggling. Long stretches of no rain are so worrisome. And for you, that slow growth is a race against first frost! But everything is looking good, and hopefully, a happy harvest is right around the corner.
Our garden is struggling this year too. Our tomatoes are way behind everyone else’s in terms of growth. I’ve already bought some farmers market seconds so I could do at least one canner of tomato quarts.
Anyway, do you prefer to dehydrate parsley rather than freeze it? Do you use the dehydrator or hang it to dry?
Jenn - So happy to hear you're having a wonderful garden this summer. Might be because your retirement gave you the time this spring to really concentrate on it. Or it could be your good weather. Hey, we blame garden failures on bad weather so we should give the good weather credit for good growing conditions, right?! ;o)
Rosalea - I haven't been able to find the munching critters on the beans, so it could be earwigs. Oh, I hate those things! I have found one in the house, but some years we see several inside and I smoosh them as quickly as I can! I'm with you in that I've never had success overwintering herbs in the house so I do dry what I can. Hope your parsley gets a growth spurt going. I use so much of it during the winter in the dried form.
Leigh - Thanks, Leigh. There's a little more rain in the forecast for this coming week. But when it's only a chance of 20-30%, it usually doesn't pan out. Just grateful we have a good well that allows us to water when we need it.
Katie C. - How many tomato plants do you have to raise to get enough for canning your tomato products? Hoping yours do catch up soon. I've never frozen parsley (although I do freeze chives) but am really happy with that I dry in a dehydrator which is much faster and easier for me than hanging it.
You're lucky at least your deal is growing I've killed all of mine haha! Tried planting all different parts of the yard and just does not like me. Looks like your garden is going great otherwise!
Nancy - Believe me, I was starting to wonder if I was doing something wrong when planting my dill! Now these itty-bitty plants that have peeked through the soil haven't seemed to grow one bit in a couple of weeks. I'm watering it so what's going on? Sounds like I'm doing better than you, though. Sorry about you not being able to get it to grow!
I'm on for the first tomato canning of the season today! Didn't get one jar last year. So, this year I'm going to be putting anything related to 'mater in the jars. My peppers went 'futtt' and my time has been torn away from me. So it goes.
Your garden looks great! Enjoy what you have, don't worry over what you don't. I'm saying that for me, too.
Cheers!
Tim - As usual, so, so envious of your tomatoes, not matter how many you get and how many end up in jars for the winter. When we lived in Illinois, I can remember getting reeeeally tired of canning everything I could think of with the tomatoes we could grow. I was actually happy to see the end of it. Now, up here near the Arctic Circle (!), of course I can't grow a ripened full-sized tomato for nuthin'. So it goes, huh? On the other hand, my peppers are going gangbusters. Why is that? ;o)
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