Hello garden gals and guys! How’s your summer growin’ so far? I could tell you how things are growin’ here, but I’d rather show you with pictures. So come on in the garden with me.
A month in the garden makes a LOT of difference. Here’s my little backyard farm at the beginning of June:
Here’s a picture I took two weeks ago (and my babies are even taller now):
Last week I got my first cherry tomato.
It was SO good! I’m ready for some more but the rest are taking their time ripening. Here’s a little collage of my babies:
I lost a tomato plant. It wilted.
I’m not sure what happened. None of my other tomato plants were wilted and I know it wasn’t a water issue. Some research makes me think it’s a wilt fungus.
It’s odd, though, because other tomato plants growing near this one should also be affected but they aren’t. If it is the wilt fungus, I’ll need to grow cultivars resistant to the wilt virus in the future — that or not grow any tomatoes in the garden for at least two years — and that ain’t happenin’!
My cucumber plant is thriving.
I’m upset, though, because those big leaves hid a cucumber and by the time I found it, well, this:
Dangit!!
Is it still edible?
Well, cucumbers get bitter with size and once they turn yellow like this, they aren’t good for pickling. You can pickle them but even if they aren’t bitter, they won’t be crisp. Nothing worse than a mealy pickle. Blech!
If you’re growing cukes, be sure to check under those leaves! Cucumbers love to play hide and seek.
Check this out:
Yup! I’ve got broccoli!! My first time growing it. I was just about to pull the plants out because I didn’t see any heads forming. Then I saw these little babies. I’m so excited!
My peppers aren’t doing too shabby either:
I bought the plant below from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The growth is stunted for some reason but the little peppers are so pretty…and they’re purple (my favorite color)…so I’ll let it stay:
You may remember that I got swarmed by wasps last weekend. I’m doing much better and the stings don’t hurt anymore, but they itch the bejeezus out of me!
I’m so gun shy now when I see any type of wasp or bee I head for the hills.
Remember that box of Georgia peaches I bought? No? Let me refresh your memory:
We’ve been enjoying them a lot. A good portion of them were sliced and frozen to save for the winter months. I took a few of them and followed my grandma’s recipe to make a peach cobbler. It wasn’t as good as hers, but it was still delicious.
Look at that crust. I’m really proud of myself. Crust and I just do not get along but I finally made a good one!
I should have made one more because it wasn’t quite enough to cover the cobbler. But it was still good! Here’s the peaches all sliced up:
Here’s the finished cobbler. YUMMY!!
That’s all folks! How’s your garden growing? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Until next time…
Happy farming!!