Yesterday I spent the morning out in the garden weeding and harvesting the last of the Spring vegetables. The Amish snap peas were pretty much finished (the recent hot spell did them in) so Damian and I harvested all that remained and ripped the plants out. I was really pleased with this variety and have ripe partly dry pods hanging up in my kitchen to save the seeds from. I have read that snap peas can be a Autumn crop but I am not sure when the plant them… Does anyone know? We harvested 12 ounces of snap peas in our final harvest yesterday, probably a little more since I had toddler help.

We also harvested almost two pounds of Forellenschuss lettuce leaving one to bolt so that we can save the seeds from that as well. I was also really pleased with this romaine variety, it faired very well with the heat. I am saving the seeds but I am not sure if I will continue to dedicate space in the raised beds to lettuce since we receive enough in our Bountiful Basket every week.

My Red Russian kale turned out to be a decent producer considering it survived being ripped out by Damian three times this Spring. It is still going but I have decided to leave it for the rest of the season (I’m a little tired of kale anyhow.) I am considering overwintering it just because I want to see how it flowers. Speaking of flowers my miniature rose is blooms. I have a tremendous soft spot for all kinds of roses and I adore this one’s cheery yellow blooms.

I ripped out all my purple top turnips, for some reason they never started to size up and it has been five months, far past their maturity date. They were my Spring failure as was Bloomsdale spinach which all died off as soon as it sprouted. I may try turnips again for Autumn planting since I really love them but I think I will try another kind of spinach.

After harvesting and ripping out the remainder of the Spring crops that only left one kale, one lettuce, a row of St Valery carrots and three PA Dutch Crookneck Squash in Bed A (the one with the trellis.) I fertilized everything that needed it in all the beds and then planted Empress Beans in most of the void space left in Bed A. I tried this bush bean last year and it didn’t do very well but I also did not expect our elm to shade the area where I planted them as much as it did, I didn’t inoculate them and I think I planted them far too densely. We will see how they do this year in a much better location with inoculant and more spacing. I hope they provide enough green beans to last us through the Winter as they are suppose to be a heavy producer. If nothing else they will work as a nitrogen fixing cover crop I guess.

I also planted a few Purple Podded Pole Beans by the trellis as Damian ripped out all the ones I planted a month ago. I might be cutting it a little close on their maturity date and the first frost but I really want to see how they look and taste. The risk is worth it.

In Bed B my tomatoes plants are amazingly huge but they have yet to set very many fruit. With as cold as the weather has been until recently I am not surprised, but now with this recent hot spell they finally seem to be doing their stuff. Lots of little one on the Beams’ Yellow Pear and a few on the Italian, but none of the Black Krim yet. I harvested about a half a cup of Genovese Basil which I have planted around the tomatoes. I made some bruschetta using Bountiful Basket tomatoes with it and tossed it with rainbow rotini, fresh corn, peas and mozzarella today. The flavors meld as we speak. Yum. I should marinate some chicken to grill with it, but I think I have filled my burn quota risk for the day. (If you follow me on Facebook you know what I am talking about, if not, don’t worry I will survive.)

My Black Beauty Zucchini is looking beautiful and starting to produce squash, I can’t wait. I am one of those sick people who can eat zucchini at every meal and not tire of it and there is always zucchini relish to be made. I planted six cucumbers in Bed B and every single one of them died, or so I though (I just have really bad luck with cucumbers it seems) but it seems I have one growing right beside my zucchini. I think Damian pinched the seed and planted it while I was planting since I don’t remember planting one there (maybe he will plant all the cukes next year.) I do not know if it is a Double Yield or a True Lemon but it is both healthy and flowering so at this point I don’t really care!

As mentioned earlier Damian ripped out all the Purple Podded Pole Beans and the cucumbers failed so I have void space in Bed B too. I sowed Empress Beans in some of it. No such thing as too many green beans and they are only a 55 day crop too. I am thinking about sowing more St Valery Carrots in that bed too, they play nicely with tomatoes.

Damian’s cucumber growing super powers apparently extend to his garden too. The Sugar Pie pumpkin vines started off slowly but seem to have quadrupled in size since the warm weather hit, no flowers yet though, and I swear the corn and beans grow six inches every night. The sunflowers are now officially taller then him. Damian loves going out every morning and watering his bed. He is also in charge of watering the raspberries I transplanted in June as well as the tipee garden. He checks the raspberry plants closely every day, I think he is waiting for them to fruit like Shannon’s are. Next summer sweetie.

That is about it for the moment. The tipee garden has rallied since I weeded and mulched it a couple weeks back. I didn’t think my Toad Lilies made it but I noticed them poking through last week, my German chamomile is going to seed and my moonflowers and morning glories are starting to climb. My pink “Double Delight” coneflowers (echinacea) have begun to bloom as have my mint and oregano. I have seen so many mason and bumblebees around that garden. Damian adores seeing the “buzzybeeeeees”, I couldn’t agree more.

Photo intensive garden update time. Enter at your own bandwidth’s risk!

Do you remember what bed A looked like just a month ago? Now look at it!

Carrots and onions and green beans, oh my! Ignore that empty square in the back left corner. My cilantro bolted while we were at the Pagan Campout (I still need to blog about that don’t I?) so I pulled it up. Never fear though, I have the new crop already sprouting in bed B (photo to the right.) But while we are on the topic of bed B…


Cucumbers and Pumpkins (and zucchini which are not pictured.) Cucumbers… well they are rallying at least. My Sugar Pie Pumpkins are doing fabulously though, as you can tell, the kid in the corner won’t be boxed in, but I’m cool with that. I’ve always had a thing for rebels. Please ignore the weeds proliferating in the pathway, I know that I am!

I adore pumpkins, they just make me so happy. Look at this blossom! And who says yellow is an ugly color? (Oh wait, I do. I love yellow in nature!) My sunflowers have several more feet to go before their giant yellow beauties open up, and I really do mean giant, they are 12 foot heirloom Titan Sunflowers. I have them in the four corners of my beds, ants have turned them into aphid prisons.

I really love insects. Look at this jewel-like fly perched on my ground cherry. I am sure it and it’s six-legged cohorts will eat my garden (or their spawn will,) but lets just appreciate how beautiful Mr Fly is, before I catch it munching on my leaf lettuce. I just sowed my second row of lettuce a couple weeks ago (the old stuff was getting a little bitter.)

I have these beautiful Creeping Bellflower all along a section of our fence and one side of our deck. Initally I thought they were the more innocent Ladybells but they are spreading quite voraciously (they are a naturalized but ecologically invasive.) I am keeping them around for those gorgeous flowers, but I plan on annihilating them once they begin to fade. Gardening is a brutal business, I’m telling ya.

Here is a flower that will never be thinned. Mmmmmm cherry roma tomatoes or are they stupice tomatoes? Well they are one of my 4 varieties of heirlooms. Basil is keeping them all company. Basil and tomatoes are just meant to go together. Can you say bruschetta?

Tomatoes are to Michael and pumpkins are to me. It looks like my Giant Valentines (one of my two varieties of hybrids) are beating my Stupice in the race to be adored by him first. Granted, I think my raspberries will be the first to bare fruit. We are both cool with that though.

In fact, we are cool with everything in the garden overwhelming us with bounty. If there is too much for us to eat fresh it will just go in the freezer, in a canning jar, in the dehydrator, to Second Harvest or shared with friends (preferable all of the above.)