The bush beans & pole beans I planted this weekend are already starting to break ground. Yeah! I still have more tomatoes to get in the ground. Hoping I'll finish that this weekend. Then I can start on the expansion. I hope it's a warm fall!

But jimster.....I like it slow....

Jessica!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: This one is for jessyf

Well..I just came in from weeding..still picking off lettuce...since the weather has been cool and DAMP..it's not tried to BOLT..lol
The cabbages are forming their balls..the strawberries have green berries and are sending out runners already!

I'm going to go back out after a big slurp of water and put radish seeds in the ground and maybe try and break ground for the pumpkins, butternut and cucs..Corn will have to wait some more time...

oh and trim the rosemary and plant some dill...

I went outside and did a little more digging after work. A couple more tomato plants are in the ground. I also picked a colander full of strawberries. DH & I already ate most of them.

We trimmed some leaves from a big palm tree in the back yard which was creating heavy shade, and as a result my nearby large herb pots are getting more sun. The rosemary, parsley, sage and thyme are very happy and growing quickly.

The lime tree is starting to blossom again. Thanks heavens, as the last blossoms were made infertile, despite the many bees, because of the hot desert winds which brought a lot of sand and ruined the current citrus crop all over the islands. I hope this time I get some fruit, as I have the one lime that did appear saved in the freezer for juice and zest. I think the grapefruit tree might flower again too.

SharonCb

hehe Denise if you think thats bad go see what I linked on the TGIF thread

Since we had some rows that didn't come up with anything, DH and I picked up more seeds yesterday. We put in some edamame. Later we'll put in muskmelons, cilantro, more flowers. He was hoeing with the weeder and pulled up two shiso seedlings :-( and NO PUNS ABOUT HIM 'HOEING' thankyouverymuch

Yesterday we ate our first ear of corn (I know... only one. Next year, we'll do a bigger crop)! It was amazing. Had the pot of water boiling, picked the ear, short time on a boil, and yum! Also made roast chicken with a fig and madeira sauce from the first batch of figs. And we have green heirloom tomatoes... another week or so and BLTs will be on the menu. I love summer.

My garden is growing like carp and I am so bummed about it. I have been babying my raspberries and they looked so healthy and had profuse blooms and were setting berries. Now it's all gone to heck, I have verticillium wilt and it is pretty much a wash with all of them. I was so looking forward to those berries. But they wither and dry up. Now I'm just trying to control my losses, as other things may get infected. I think my peppers had it last year so I'm moving the ones I had just bought to plant. This started last year but I thought it was drought stress in August. Yesterday I went to the cooperative extension with my raspberry canes and the agent told me she thought it was wilt. From what I've been reading about it online, it sounds like I do have wilt, but I am sending a sample off to PSU today for analysis. I could loose my lilac, spirea, roses, japanese maple, peonies . . .

Seems the only thing I can ever get to grow worth a darn is herbs. I still haven't used up all my basil from last year. I have mint and thyme coming out of my ears. Oh, and my porchboxes with geraniums and petunias seems to be OK so far.

DH found a little bitty tomato on my tomato plants - which have now grown way above and out beyond the cone-shaped tomato "cage" that I put it in. I'm so excited!

Grocery store tomatoes "on the vine" are running $3.99/lb. A little bitty box of grape tomatoes is $2.99 even at the military Commissary.

DonnaR/CA

I've almost got enough room cleaned out to plant my corn..atleast the eating variety..then I'll plant the popcorn variety..and end up with cross polination..LOL

My garden is booming! With steady night time rains and mid to high 80's during the day the tomatoes and peppers are jumpin'!

92 tomato plants and 40 pepper plants, yee haw! I had 91 'maters but found a volunteer cherry pop up in the corner of the garden. Will get pics as soon as they grow a bit more.

Duane

I was a busy kid this weekend in the garden. I put in 9 more tomato plants, making the grand total 37 tomatoes. I put in 6 more hot peppers, making the grand total 18 plants. If they all grow, I think I will regret putting in that many. I also planted 3 zucchinis, basil, oregano & marjoram & a few flowers. This week I need to eradicate the mint and put in a few more melons & winter squashes.

I also picked a colander full of strawberries on Saturday. DH and I ate them all by Sunday. I need to pick some more too.

Finally some pics of the garden.

Garden long shot

Some Brocolli we'll be eating tonight

Tomato plant (we'll be waiting a while for tomatoes){{gwi:1526057}}

A few beans for Jim

Boo...yummmm...

I ate my first strawberries from my garden Saturday..not enough to share with any one..~evil laugh~

We've been eating lettuce for months! But soon it'll be gone because the heat is here..

I still have things to plant..but my "garden" goal was really fall and winter gardening for this year..so anything we enjoy this summer is bonus.. :o)

Yesterday's harvest: 4 ears of corn for dinner, about 2 lbs. of bush beans, 2 onions, and about 1 pint of strawberries (Terri, I know what you mean about not sharing... DS and I pretty much picked and ate them all before we could carry any into the house!).

Today I dug up a new area and planted sugar pumpkins and edamame.

We just started new garden boxes this year, and with new 4 or 5-way mix dirt, I expected it to flourish...But it isn't. Of course, our cold Pac NW June probably didn't help much. But some of my tomato plants look positively sickly...Curled leaves and wilty, even though properly watered. I fed the garden and the beans and peppers look happier, I think the squash plants are starting to look promising, but a few of the tomatoes still look iffy. I have 1 measly green strawberry. Of course, with new plants, I'm not expecting a lot there this year.

Getting sick of lettuce, but like Terri said, it won't last much longer. Chard is still going strong, but spinach (what little germinated) has already gone to seed.
Lots of snow peas and strawberries are really starting to ripen now. I've got 1 1/2 quarts in the freezer and we've had a couple of "Shortcake Nights". Rhubarb is harvested every couple of weeks and will continue well into summer....depending on the weather.
Dill is starting to head up. Oregano, sage and thyme are drying. Mint is ready.
I snuck a couple of small Walla Walla onions to take to a BBQ on Saturday. Yum! Stronger flavor now than they will be later though.
Shallots and garlic will be pulled in a couple of weeks.

Blueberries are very green, but loaded!

And a long, long wait for bean, cukes, toms, peppers, squash, broccoli and corn.

It IS very green out there!! I love summer!

Deanna

rhome..my goal this year was more fall and winter gardening..so I'm not disappointed in the progress of some things..I planted butternut a week or so ago and it's just got 2 leaves and one little jagged one coming out of the middle.
I'm trying to get corn and pumpkin seeds in the ground this week.

The new area I just unearthed from over grown grass yesterday and today is pretty soil nutrient dead...So I'll be adding some kitchen waste and the cardboard treatment to encourage El Wormo's to move in..:o)
Much cheaper than buying some compost and peat in bags.

Nice size garden. Really coming along. I planted some peas but they haven't started to climb yet.

Ann

Thanks, Terri. I'll just be more patient and will mulch better to hold in moisture. That dirt just doesn't seem to be doing it.

We have a small back yard so we have limited space for a garden. We have about 7 tomato plants that have about 10 tomatoes all together, hopefully they will ripen soon.
About 6 strawberry plants with 1 green berry and one plant that is only sending out runners....my herb garden is doing great...rosemary, thyme, chives, basil and Italian parsley.

Linda

Took my chances for one day too long. I need to get some fencing around our garden, because a rabbit or deer had a nice snack on my strawberry and bean plants last night!

That's a nice garden, boo. Everything is thriving and soon you will be chowing down on some veggie delicacies.

I especially like those big old white pine trees. I love white pines and those are great.

Jim

JESSY..... WERE YOU BORN THAT WAY........

Rhome, I had a terrible time with bunnies until I put up my ugly but useful fence.

Jim, thanks for the complement on the trees. I wish I could take credit for them but we leave them alone & they grow. They were already mature trees when we bought the house.

You know the old saying about "sneaking a zucchini on your neighbors porch?" I feel that way about lettuce this year. I overachieved.

Diana, how'd you get Jessy's baby picture? LOL!

Just came in from a few hours of fun...made some more dirt! Removed more of those darn giant grass clumps...

I planted some more radishes, some more cucumbers, 2 hills of pumpkins, 3 small rows of popcorn, 2 rows of corn (I'll plant a few more rows as the days go on.) and split a small sprouting potato. (This time russet.) So I'll have Reds, Yukons and Russets.
Oh and planted my 2 gallon tomatoes I bought on Friday.

Picked 12 strawberries! and ate them!

I love reading about your gardens. I missed the first thread - will be checking that out when I have some time. Laptop out of commission and on a very old, slow computer.

This is our first year planting lettuce. Can I start clipping it or do I wait for it to form a cone shape? If I clip does it grow back? After reading some comments here I am wondering is it done by mid-summer with the heat or does it continue all summer?

Terri - you got me wanting to plant potatoes...can I do that now in the NE or is it not the right time? Same question about garlic?

I am jeolous of the strawberries!

Sorry for all the questions - I appreciate the help. Great thread Jim!

Lettuce can be harvested at any stage of growth before it bolts (sends up a seed stalk). When that happens the lettuce gets bitter. Whether you should wait for the lettuce to form a head depends on what type it is. I start when it is large enough to give me a usable amount. While there may be some lettuces which can be harvested leaf by leaf, I pull up the whole plant.

I can't take credit for this thread. I just continued the one started by Lars. But I agree it's a great thread.

Jim

While I've been picking bouquets for 3 months now, I'm starting to eat out of the garden as well! A batch of pesto this weekend, and sorrel sauce on cold poached salmon last weekend. Chocolate mint brownies, lemon verbena poundcake and now lime mint simple syrup in the fridge.

Okay, thanks Jim. Do you replant at this point or is that it for lettuce? I have Romaine which is forming a cone and I forgot the other - it looks like Boston Bibb and is spreading out more. I think I will leave the romaine but cut some of the other to eat tonight. The bibb lettuce is pristine - nothing has touched it. Something has been nibbling a bit on the romaine.

Alison, is there Mojitos in your future? Great idea to do the syrup with the mint.

Looking forward to reading the other thread that Lars started:)

It's not the best time to start lettuce. You could try another planting of lettuce a little later and another after that. Lettuce is not a great hot weather crop, although some varieties are said to do OK in heat.

Jim

Here my garden is growing well, but the only thing I've harvested so far is some baby romaine and radishes:

We also had something called mizuna, it grew in my mesclun mix. I picked enough for Elery to saute with some lambsquarter and purslane, and sprinkled it all with parmesan, it was really fresh and good.

Elery's pink and white half runner beans are growing well, and he keeps hoeing them. Behind him is a half row of rutabaga:

I have tiny little peppers on my pepper plants:

The tomatoes are all in blossom and you can see the corn just beyond it, it's easily "knee high by the 4th of July" if you use MY knees. I planted the butternut and acorn squash in the rows with the corn, as Grandma always did.

If the potatoes are doing as well under ground as they are doing here on top, they're right on schedule. Those are cabbage, brussels sprouts and eggplant in front of them, also two rows of onions and some leeks.

Here is mesclun, romaine, cilantro, dill, swiss chard, beets, radishes:

My garden is bi-sected with a couple of apple trees, so I didn't get the cucumbers, the watermelon and muskmelon, the zucchini. Oh well, you get the idea....

Annie

My green beans are starting to give us enough for a side dish every few days, which is about all the green beans we want to eat anyway. Later, I'll probably be swamped and pickling.

We're getting enough tomatoes for eating as well, and still have two plants that aren't ripe yet.

However, my cukes have been a real disappointment this year. One, planted in a location they usually thrive in has given me 2 cucumbers, and now it's just sort of sitting. The other just isn't doing much. Lots of flowers, but no cukes. Both of them aren't green enough either. So, I've dosed them with minerals, so we'll see what happens.

It's meant to get up into the triple digits again this week, with a high of 111, so today I'm going to put a layer of mulch around in my pots to protect them a bit from drying out too quickly.

Annie, you have the perfect setup! I love the property and the view. I had to laugh. Elery has the look on his face that I do when I weed the garden, and mine is much smaller! But....I recognize that look :-)

How you do all that and work full time is beyond me.

I will post of pic of my 'maters and peppers later. I am going to wander out with the camera shortly.

Duane

For tomatoes we've had stupice and tumbler,neither earthshaking but better than store bought. There are some set on just about every plant. The parsley bolted one day when my back was turned. That does mean that summer is here. The sweet basil and all the herbs are doing really great.

Good growing to all...Tache

Looks like I'm not going to get too much from the tomato plants again, but I do think I'm going to get a lot of peppers, especially the chile arbole. I'm not getting much from the basil, and I planted quite a bit. Next year I think I'll just plant basil seeds, as I got better plants when I did that.

I used to have an artichoke plant in the back yard, but it got weird after a few years, and I removed it. The first year there weren't too many artichokes, but they were a nice size and very good. I cut them with stems a long as possible and cooked the stems until they were tender. After a few years, the plant branched out too much, and the stems weren't as tender. I do think that the 'chokes in the market have stems that are way too short.

Lars

Harvested the last of the corn...20 ears. My hands are cramped from shucking and cutting off the cob. DS has been begging for creamed corn soup.

We're still just getting enough strawberries to pick and eat for a snack.

Heirloom tomatoes are huge, but still green. I've had to stake and restake to keep the branches from breaking.

Today we cleared out the finished bean plants and planted another round. And the pumpkin and edamame have sprouted. So far, so good.

I finally have broccoli starting to form.

Lettuce is about done, as are the peas. Shallots, carrots, chard are still growing well. Spinach has gone to seed.

Corn and pole beans coming along:

English Cukes are growing well, but no fruit yet (inside the tomato cages):

Garlic should be ready to pull in another week or so. There's a few volunteer potatoes, cilantro, some storage onions and just out of site is my red basil:

Here's one of my Walla Walla onions, broccoli and a dozen tomato plants:

And the other big bed with wax beans, peppers, squash and at the far end are the Eng. cukes:

And here's one of ME in the garden!!

HAHAHAHHAHA.......couldn't resist!!

Deanna

Cool Deanna what a bounty you have!

I have a volunteer squash....or cucumber or whatever in my front garden growing among the roses. It looks pretty healthy so we're leaving it. You never know what will show up when using your own compost to fertilize lol.
Took this today after the gardener did some hoeing there.

SharonCb

I agree! I've got volunteer potatoes in several places, and a cantaloupe growing right in my compost pile, dill and cilantro that "jumped ship" last year and somehow survived the winter and now have popped up in the walkways.

I am harvesting those first! :+)

I guess God's garden plan was a little different than mine...Oh well.

Deanna

I updated my thread on the Gallery. Everyone is having so much fun!

Annie, I LOVE mizuna, I cook it in a dashi (bonito) broth with sliced shiitake mushrooms.

(very funny Denise and Diana)

Here is a link that might be useful: Gallery link

"...I cook it in a dashi (bonito) broth..."

How about that, Annie!!! You just happen to have some packets of instant dashi on hand.

Jim

The first crop of lettuce is past and going to seed and the second one is just coming in. I have lots of little green tomatoes but no ripe ones yet. And I won't plant Brandywine tomato again. I just found out it is tempermental and doesn't set fruit well. Not one green tomato and the plant is huge!

Got lots of herbs and have been using chives, basil, and parsley. Have a bunch of rhubarb to pick for a pie. The pepper plants have little peppers. Still waiting for green beans, summer squash and artichokes. And the star of the garden is a giantic banana squash that is taking over the garden.
Clare

{{gwi:1526076}}

Maggie, good questions..I don't know the answers for you.

Garlic is usually planted in the fall, for summer harvest..I planted my "starts" I bought in April.

So I don't know if I can really get them out the ground or not..LOL

Most of my potatoes look like Annies..Some are just starting to get leaves on them though..I think you can basically grow them until the frost kills them off????

Maybe???

I had one giant strawberry while I was checking on things..I've been busy for the last 4 or 5 days and haven't given the "dirt" due time...