The tiny seedlings in the fifth planting of carrots have a bit of a struggle ahead of them, as the temperature reached 99F today. They're coming up a bit spotty, but not bad at all considering the weather. It looks smaller, but this is a 1' wide by 8' long row, so there are quite a few carrots, on 2" spacing, in this planting.
I was expecting this Bush Champion variety of slicing cucumber to get as tall and sprawling as the Spacemaster I usually plant, but so far it's much more compact.
Although it's very late this year, it's finally blooming. I have no idea what is eating the blossoms, but something took a couple of good bites.
The pickling cucumbers are way behind, as the seeds I had saved from last year proved to be not viable, so I had to buy new seeds and try again. I'd better give these a dose of fish emulsion, they're looking a bit yellow.
Weeds and Bermuda grass are creeping into the garden from the neighbor's yard. I had to move all my potted cucumbers away from this fence, so that I can try to keep the weeds from completely invading my space.
I planted two yellow crookneck squash seeds in the compost pile. One has decided to sprout. There should be plenty of time for it to grow and produce. I hope.
The winter squash are maturing a bit faster than the summer squash.
This Matt's Wild Cherry tomato plant grew 11" in four days. It has a foot to go before it reaches the patio roof. It has fruit, but none near ripening.
The Sunsugar has given me two little golden globes of goodness, and a third will be consumed tomorrow. The first two were picked a bit early, as I was impatient to try them, so I'm giving this little beauty one more day, then it's mine, all mine!
Shallots drying in the shed.
The Walla Walla Sweet onions had to be scrunched together at one end of the drying line, as they were falling on the concrete floor as the tops dried. Now they can fall into a nice soft pile of compost. I've already taken nearly 8 pounds of dry ones inside in the past two days.
Quite a few remain in the garden. Many are much larger than the ones that have already been harvested, probably 10-12 ounces.......or maybe even heavier!
Besides lots of fresh green beans, onions and broccoli, beets and carrots have been prepared for dinner this week. These were cut in bite sized pieces and pan roasted with just a bit of oil, salt and pepper. They were sweet and delicious!
The tiny seedlings in the fifth planting of carrots have a bit of a struggle ahead of them, as the temperature reached 99F today. They're coming up a bit spotty, but not bad at all considering the weather. It looks smaller, but this is a 1' wide by 8' long row, so there are quite a few carrots, on 2" spacing, in this planting.
I was expecting this Bush Champion variety of slicing cucumber to get as tall and sprawling as the Spacemaster I usually plant, but so far it's much more compact.
Although it's very late this year, it's finally blooming. I have no idea what is eating the blossoms, but something took a couple of good bites.
The pickling cucumbers are way behind, as the seeds I had saved from last year proved to be not viable, so I had to buy new seeds and try again. I'd better give these a dose of fish emulsion, they're looking a bit yellow.
Weeds and Bermuda grass are creeping into the garden from the neighbor's yard. I had to move all my potted cucumbers away from this fence, so that I can try to keep the weeds from completely invading my space.
I planted two yellow crookneck squash seeds in the compost pile. One has decided to sprout. There should be plenty of time for it to grow and produce. I hope.
The winter squash are maturing a bit faster than the summer squash.
This Matt's Wild Cherry tomato plant grew 11" in four days. It has a foot to go before it reaches the patio roof. It has fruit, but none near ripening.
The Sunsugar has given me two little golden globes of goodness, and a third will be consumed tomorrow. The first two were picked a bit early, as I was impatient to try them, so I'm giving this little beauty one more day, then it's mine, all mine!
Shallots drying in the shed.
The Walla Walla Sweet onions had to be scrunched together at one end of the drying line, as they were falling on the concrete floor as the tops dried. Now they can fall into a nice soft pile of compost. I've already taken nearly 8 pounds of dry ones inside in the past two days.
Quite a few remain in the garden. Many are much larger than the ones that have already been harvested, probably 10-12 ounces.......or maybe even heavier!
Besides lots of fresh green beans, onions and broccoli, beets and carrots have been prepared for dinner this week. These were cut in bite sized pieces and pan roasted with just a bit of oil, salt and pepper. They were sweet and delicious!
Oh, that Bermuda grass gives me the shivers. Nasty, nasty stuff. Everything else looks fantastic! I'm extremely impressed with your carrots. Maybe I should make more seed papers.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, as much as I hate Roundup, I'm afraid it's going to become a necessity. I've not had a Bermuda grass problem in that garden, and I don't want it to start now. Her weeds are all going to seed, too. Guess which way the wind is blowing :-(
ReplyDeleteI have to find another spot for planting carrot seed mats. I can never have too many.
Just love the onions drying on the line. Nothing beats a good harvest for feeling like all is right with the world.
ReplyDeleteMy carrot germination this year has been TERRIBLE. I grow Mokums. No idea if I got a bad batch of seeds or what. I love em too, and am not getting nearly enough to keep us happy.
:(
You know I love those photos of onions and shallots! And my nemesis the Bermuda Grass, ugh! I can't believe there are people who consider that stuff desirable and plant it, they can come dig up my lawn and have it LOL! I admit I've given up on carrots here, but I love seeing yours!
ReplyDeleteGoats. Buy goats and let them have at it. They're cute, too.
ReplyDeleteLook at those wonderful Walla Walla onions...all mine shriveled up during a cold patch a while back and not one of the 50 starts we planted lived...all our seeded onions are looking good/great though.:)
ReplyDeleteIs there any particular type of cucumber, pickling or other, that you have found produces its fruits faster than the rest?
Granny, are your onions on top of the soil? Mine are covered with soil. Do I need to remove it around them? I'm awful at growing onions, so any help would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWe found out yesterday that what I thought were wild black raspberries are actually wild blackberries. There are quite a few, so I'm looking forward to trying some if I can beat the birds. I also discovered gooseberries and lots of elderberries. I love free fruit that grows without my help or work!
Granny, those are some terrific onions..I have to test one out of the garden to see if they are ready. It's almost a new game trying to rememberf when everything was planted and should be ready :o(
ReplyDeleteSue, I've had poor germination on some of my carrot seeds. My third planting is very spotty, so I think I need to toss out some seed. The last planting was from a new packet, and looks much better.
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Erin, I wonder why you can't grow carrots? I can usually get them to germinate fairly well. I am getting a few hairy, stubby ones from the early planting, but that seems to be limited to one variety.
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Langela, I don't plant the onions very deep, but I don't remove soil from around them. I just let them do their thing. These were started from plants, the keeper onions I started from sets aren't doing well at all. They are just tiny things.
That's great about the berries. We used to go camping a lot, and would always go over to the coast during wild blackberry season. I loved all the blackberry jam, jelly and syrup I could make every year.
Mr. H., darn, I almost missed your comment!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure sorry to hear about your Walla Wallas. We're just wallowing in them right now, they don't last long around here!
I always grew Spacemaster for slicing cukes. I just happened to run out of seeds so grabbed a packet of Bush Champion from the Burpee rack at Wal-Mart this spring. With the late freeze and loss of seedlings early on, it will be difficult to compare the two varieties this year. I grew Double Yield pickling cukes last year, and was happy enough with them to save seeds. Unfortunately, the seeds weren't viable, so I grabbed another packet from the seed rack at Wal-Mart :-) I don't think this is going to be a great cucumber year for me.
Ribbit, Annie would eat the goats. Annie eats everything ;-)
ReplyDeleteGinny, I pull onions at every stage, from green onions to boiling onions to big slicing onions. The tops will flop over when they are finished growing, then you have to pull them or they'll rot.
ReplyDeleteBoy Granny, your onions are absolutely fabulous! My cucumbers were planted so late that it will be quite awhile before I have any. The pickling varieties at the plots are not germinating very well.
ReplyDeleteThose carrots and beets looke yummy! I pulled some carrots this morning since I am so craving some fresh carrots for dinner.
What a great garden. I'm embarrassed to show where my neighbor's Bermuda grass is starting to creep into my yard. Yuck. I think i will try your seed mats this fall, the look great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nartaya. Too bad we can't get our neighbors to keep their Bermuda grass in their own yards ;-)
ReplyDeleteRobin, I'm going out to pull some carrots right now, for tonight's dinner. I should pick the beans, but it's so darned hot I think I'll wait until this evening. Two weeks ago, I was complaining about the cold, so I'd better keep my mouth shut about this heat.
ReplyDeleteI need to make some seed tape to plant some more carrots. Soon I'll have a large spot for even more as the peas and garlic get pulled. I'm saving my onion spot for something you hate though. Kale.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, I was cleaning a cantaloupe the other day, and on a whim I ran out to the onion patch and planted a few seeds. I kind of hope they don't come up, 'cause the onions will soon be out and it would be a nice bed for a fall crop of whatever. Not spinach or beets, which will have to go under cover, but probably more carrots, radishes, bush beans.
ReplyDeleteStunning collection of produce. My beets were a fizzle lots of good tops not many bulbs, carrots too were a flop. Still learning....
ReplyDeleteDavid, probably half of my beets didn't form good roots, and the carrots I've pulled so far are sweet but small. They've given us some good meals, but certainly not enough to can or freeze. I need to get the brassica bed cleared out so I can get some hoops put on it. It's getting late, I need to get the fall beets planted!
ReplyDeleteStill can't get over those gorgeous onions. My cukes and summer squash are way ahead of the winter squash, and I mean WAAAY. I finally saw fruit forming yesterday when I was watering the butternut. The garden looks great, it seems the little inconsistencies are there to keep us on our toes - we wouldn't want things to get predictable out there now, would we? ;)
ReplyDeleteKelly, I can't place all the blame on bad weather. I was very late getting my summer squash planted, as I was out of room. It had to wait for the lettuce to come out of the barrel, and it was just a last minute decision to put some in the compost pile. The cucumbers can be blamed on the weather.
ReplyDeleteI see that you plant your carrots in a wide row. That is how we plant our carrots also. I love to go out and pull up fresh carrots from the garden. You can't beat the taste. People that buy their carrots from the store don't know what they are missing. I guess it is that way with all garden vegetables though. Your beets look wonderful. I'm glad that you show your dishes that you make from your garden.
ReplyDeleteBrenda, I agree about the carrots. I wish my first planting had done better though. They are still quite small, and one of the four varieties is very sub-par. I hope the later plantings do better. The beets were a disappointment too, the few I got were delicious, but that's less than half of what I planted. The others are just kind of sitting there in the garden, doing nothing. I want more!
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