Lots of rain his morning...more headed this way...hope it fizzles down some.

And I could use your rain, Wayne.

Just came in from weeding and I am soaked from the humidity. It really takes it out of you.

Big storm went through here last night, no damage thankfully and got 0.7 inches of rain. The ground moisture is pretty much back to normal now and more rain chances are in the weekly forecast (hope you get some Cindy). Weeds like the rain as do the garden veggies. The first corn should be pickable in about 3 days. The asst melon vines have really gotten a good boost from the rains, esp the watermelon vines which are setting little melons daily now.
We'll soon be picking a glut of tomatoes, they are getting Big, I scolded my hen today for pecking one of them, nyuk, plenty to spare out there.. Squashes and cukes are coming in daily and VgQn has already pickled a bunch of Bread & Butter pints. I still need to do some pear thinning, the branches are loaded down, esp high up where I can't reach them.

Whew! It's Hot Outside!

Here's a July pic of the garden plot progression...

June : The end of the Cabbages, Bush Beans, Carrots, & Beets season...

July : Replaced with Watermelon Vines, an Eggplant and Hot Pepper...

Here's Wider views, left & right of center...

vgkg - Are the orange flowers calendula?

Those are orange Cosmos Cindy, they easily re-seed themselves each year just like the Zinnias. I'll also collect the seeds from both to start in bare areas each Spring. I also have a purple Cosmos which blooms later in the Summer/Fall. More strong storms are expected here this evening, hopefully not too violent.

I also have cosmos growing that re-seeded themselves, vgkg, as well as vinca.

We're getting some pretty serious t-storms right now. We need the rain.

Those storms missed us here, glad they did. The heat & humidity was unbearable yesterday and today I'm laying low. Did a few early morning chores outside but not going back outdoors until I grill up some 4th food this evening. It must be my ageing but I sure cannot take the heat like I used to, ugh. Picked more squash and cukes and see that the watermelons are enlarging quickly. The early corn will miss joining the 4th supper tonight, it may be ready in 2 days.

Ugh, just came back inside after getting an early "cool" start on some garden chores. 10:00am seems to be the cutoff limit here as one gets soaked out there by that time. VgQn got a tick bite the other day (sees doc shortly) and wonders how I avoid the ticks? I think the ticks get on me too but eventually drown in my sweat, nyuk. Squash and Cukes are still going strong despite losing 4 squash plants to SVBs. The tomatoes are picking up too, time to make more chili. The rest of this week will be the same, hot & humid with a 50/50 or less chance for rain.

Awwww come on now folks, it's July and your gardens should be exploding with updates......and weeds, nyuk, like mine. The spring garden is officially behind me now, no more cabbages, brocs, peas, carrots, or beets. Today I composted the last of the lettuces as the recent very hot temps have bittered it up. The various melons like these hot temps but the tomatoes have shut down for now.

The fig trees are loaded down this year just like the pears. I removed several inner fig branches over the winter and it looks like it helped production. I can almost taste the corn, it's soooo close now. Rain storms are all around us today but just sprinkles here so far.

Wow, vgkg. Your tomato plants are loaded. Mine are just now flowering.

For those of you concerned about your air quality, you can always check here:

https://www.airnow.gov/?city=Reston&state=VA&country=USA

I check it multiple times a day. It "appears" that it changes every hour though it may be more often than that.

It looks like Sunday and Monday our high temps will be below 85. Hope this prediction turns out to be true.

I just posted this in the wrong thread.

My down sized garden is doing OK but not great this year. I'm getting a ton of summer squash from 2 costata romanesco and 2 yellow straightneck plants but I noticed the squash bugs have moved in recently.

I've picked a dozen or so Sungold tomatoes and some of the big beef look like they may start blushing soon. I bought a few pounds of bacon in anticipation of the first BLTs of the season.

Onions did not size up well but are usable. I got them in 3 weeks late because it was too wet in March and then I relied on rain to water them in April and May and we didn't get enough apparently. Garlic didn't get very big either. I need to try to find some new planting stock locally.

Peppers are loaded but have not ripened yet. I've picked a few jalapenos, poblanos, and Marconis for cooking.

The first cucumbers are sizing up and will be picked in a day or 3.

We've gotten a couple nice rains the past 2 Friday nights so I haven't had to water much lately. It was in the upper 90s for several days around the 4th when we were at the lake but we are in a cool spell right now before it heads back up to the upper 90s again later next week.

I got a nice shower this morning. 2nd planting of corn is pollenating...very robust Incredible.[yellow] 9th planting up. Onions are about the most growthy I have seen. I planted 2 rows of potatoes yesterday. Only ripe tomatoes are Sun Golds....off to pick green beans.

We got 0.3" of rain yesterday and go clobbered by another 1.2" today. That's enough fer now but forecast says even more tomorrow, maybe violent. Eating our 1st 2 ears of corn tonite and making a big batch of chili tomorrow with the tomatoes & peppers coming in plentiful now. The melon vines are looking much better with many sets, and the sweet potatoes are a lush good jungle. Only pests here so far are the squash bugs, SVBs (killed 60% plants), June Bugs (Fig Beetles) and Japanese Beetles. Some Stink bugs are around too. Our one Eggplant is doing well despite the Flea Beetles, but it makes for a good trap.

After warnings about strong storms here we got just a sprinkle with some distant thunder, glad about that! These extra moist & humid conditions will make it easy for fungal diseases to set in now. We'll get an 80's break tomorrow but more 90's are ahead for some time after that. I did start up 6 new tomato plants to make sure we're picking them up until late autumn, should be placing those in the garden by next week. Last's nights Ambrosia corn was ddddelicious. The 2nd batch is tassling up now.

My Ambrosia corn is just now tasseling. Looking forward to eating it soon.

Started eating Honey Select sweet corn yesterday.

Beautiful gardens, Annie. I grew up in Michigan and have always loved that state.

We ended up getting 4/10" of rain overnight with t-storms. Very much appreciated, too.

Annie - You have wonderful gardens. Everything looks so green and healthy. And thanks for the introduction to aspabroc

Great Garden Annie!.....but from the Grand looks of it maybe I should say Great Mini Farm ;-) We got our weekly dose of rain here today, 2.2" within 30 minutes. I was wanting some and got some extra, the melons will get a boost out of this soaker. Went out and picked about a dozen half ripe tomatoes just after it stopped raining, got a jump on them before they split. VgQn is busy canning and freezing them for future soups, chili, and sauces. Will be eating the last 2 ears of Ambrosia with burgers tonite, the 2nd plot will ripen up later this week. Not a bad growing season so far, but it could be a bit cooler, these hot & humid 90's is for the birds....the ones down in the Amazon.

We ended up getting one and six tenths inch(es)? of rain overnight. There were some very serious t-storms. One clap even made the house shake.

No rain here since the deluge 4 days ago, and it remains hot & humid. I went outside for about 15 minutes this morning to take some pics and got soaked, but not by rain.

Here's the latest pics, broken up into 2 posts...

The top pic is from a few weeks back, below it is today's pic showing how the watermelons have spread out to take over the vacated spring crops...

...and after...

Here's one of several melons hiding in there...

A couple of the early tomato plants...

Some in the house.....1.75 lb is my biggest so far...old sweet potatoes on the lower rack

I just popped in to say 'hi'. I'm still trying to figure out how to actually get an email change to take effect.

More pics from today....

4 late tomato plants for a fall harvest..

Corn plot #2....will be picking ears later today...

Corn plots 3 & 4....planted after the early peas were harvested...

Ambrosia cantaloupes coming along...

A Crenshaw melon too...

and The Pears...

I sure like waking up to the sound of rain when we need it so desperately, but it certainly does mess up my morning walk and bean picking!

I believe I've got my email/account switch squared away, but in the process, I've lost prior contacts and messages that I had. (sigh)

My garden is doing pretty well this summer. I'm slowly digging potatoes and I'm pleased with the size of the spuds. I haven't yet dug a Kennebec but the Red Norlands have produced well. I've got some monster onions this year. Starting to pick some tomatoes and a pepper or two. I was quite late planting zucchini and pattypan squash, but I have now picked a few of each. My Ambrosia cantaloupes are just a few days behind vgkg's. The Crimson Sweet watermelon are sizing up nicely. I'm a couple weeks out from picking any of the melons.

We had more t-storms again last night. Total accumulation 1.75". The possibility of rain yesterday was around 15%.

I should be picking my first Ambrosia sweet corn in a few days. I keep checking it and it just isn't quite there.

Beans are flowering, too. They should be ready to harvest in a week or so.

Just dug today.

It's been super hot here in the Central Valley too... without the high humidity. I have to go out each night and spray everything to cool it off and add a little moisture to the air.

The peppers and the the Okra seem to love all this heat, but the rest of the garden is taking a break; about September it will start up again when it begins to cool some.

Never have i ever had broccoli so late in the summer! Today i harvested the last little side shoots and then took a machete to the plants.

It has been an odd summer. milder than is typical. There was very early high heat at which time I rigged some shade cloth over the brocc. After that we’ve had a few breaks in the heat.

Corn plot # 2 is now at its peak and watermelons are setting daily, none are ripe yet but there's some major biggies out there. Tomatoes have been excellent in size and production, the peppers and one eggplant plant too. The Japanese Beetles have been a pest on our blueberry, sweet potato, and persimmon tree foliages. I think they miss the grapes and roses that I used to grow.
Something tried to steal a cantaloupe 2 nights ago, whatever it was it failed to haul it away thanks to my ele fence. The critter got inside the fence ok as it's easy to jump thru the wires, but while trying to drag out a melon it must have gotten a good shock. I found the almost ripe melon with a piece of vine still attached all tangled up in the wire. No sign of its return last night.

I knew a fellow, years ago, who had a garden with lots of beds maybe 12'x24' and each had an electric fence standing about an 1 1/2 inches high, nothing any higher. It was a very successful garden but I didn't like the creosoted R/R ties around each bed.

But I'm wondering how a similar electric fence would work if it was a temporary fence around a crop coming into production.

I’ve got some major overcrowding going on in my cantalouoe patch. yesterday I found these three. I may have to separate them a bit to allow them to grow to maturity. Well, actually there are four in the pic. The third is just behind the one in front. #4 is a bit smaller and off to the right.

I decided to let one of the Patterson onions which sent up a flower scape mature. It sure does make a pretty flower. The bees like it too.

John, I may need to re-think my ele wiring levels. The posts that come with the ele fence set-up are about 4' tall and have 4 clips to string up the wiring. The lowest clip is about 6" from the bottom and has about 12" between each clip so there are large gaps between each wire. Deer can easily hop over 4' so it's not much of a deterrent to them unless they touch a wire with their nose. Since the lowest wire is 6" above the ground then small critters can easily slip under that wire.

The ele shock is activated about once every other second with a brief gap in-between each ele surge so a carefully timed critter can slip through without being shocked. I like that 1.5" separation idea so maybe I can rig the lowest 2 wires at 1.5" and 3" heights above the ground. The main problem would be weeds interfering at that low level and also wire sag allowing the wire to touch the ground. Your thoughts on installing the wire just prior to crop production would keep critters from becoming too used to its presence, but many critters like rabbits & groundhogs would be happy to just munch on the early plant foliage.

vgkg - I think the weeds are the reason for the real R/R ties. They were close to a foot wide. And they kept a lot of tunnelers out of the garden; I would guess. I'd suggest 8-10 inch untreated planks

I just got out the hospital yesterday and went into hospice at home for acute CHF. I've been on Milrinone for two months and they're taking me off that on Tuesday. I'm in no pain and breathing room air which they find surprising.

I have enjoyed the discussions on this thread. I learned a lot from so many knowledgeable gardeners without any arguing and bitterness found on other boards.

John

John,

I have enjoyed your contributions here as well. Peace be with you.

Family is picking things out of the garden. mostly volunteers New Kennnbec potatoes, Fennel weed without seeds. Early Honey Crisp Apples!

Hope you recover quickly, John.