August 3, 2010: The Garden in August; Part 1

Since this post will be so graphics heavy, I will break it down into two separate posts. Today I'll show you how the east garden is growing.



A volunteer Juliet is trellised to the fence and loaded with tomatoes that are beginning to ripen. This is not one of my favorite tomato varieties, but they are really heavy bearers that will all be made into sauce. A double row of Top Crop bush beans, recently planted and not yet blossoming, in front of Juliet.


Next are the two shaded lettuce beds, recently planted with lettuce, spinach and carrots for fall. As the weather cools, the lattice shades can be removed. When frost arrives, the structures can be covered to extend the growing season for these cold tolerant crops.


The lettuce seedlings are growing quickly. It won't be long before a few leaves can be harvested from the Red Sails.


One of two potted eggplants. Lovely plants with lots of blossoms, no eggs.


The sweet pepper bed is lush with growth.


The lush growth is full of lush peppers, too! I'm still finding a few with the same problem the early peppers had, but most of them are growing big and healthy.


The next bed, not shown in the photo, was recently planted with Swiss Chard, which is just now germinating. The bed that is barely visible on the right contains a few carrots and newly planted lettuce seed. This bed is unprotected, so the lettuce will probably end up being bird feed. The larger bed has marigolds, cabbage, basil, parsley, bush beans that are bearing heavily, beets and a few more carrots.


A closer look at the bush beans. The photo doesn't do justice to the amount of beans on these plants! They are a baby fillet type, and I should be getting my first picking in the next day or two. Having never grown this variety before, I'm not sure just how large I should let them get before picking them.


I've harvested most of the potatoes from this bed. My yield wasn't as good as last year, so I wish I'd planted twice as many. It's been nice not having to buy potatoes this summer, as all of ours have come from this small bed. Since the potatoes have been dug from both sides, I'm trench composting my kitchen scraps here. Later in the season, with some chopped up leaves, grass clippings and composted manure, this bed will be retired for the winter.


Down the fence line, I have three determinate tomato plants, a container of pickling cucumbers climbing the fence, a few bell peppers that were moved out of the pots where they weren't doing well (they are recuperating fine now), basil, dill, alyssum, marigolds, rosemary, cabbage, 3 leftover lettuce seedlings in a plastic mesh cage for bird protection, chives, Shasta daisies, and hollyhocks that should blossom next year. Not shown is another small (2'x2') planting of bush beans. They are some of the Contender beans I planted in the spring, and they are bearing a second crop now.

On the other side of this fence are the six determinate tomatoes I planted to share with my neighbor, Pat, along with a good sized planting of Royal Burgundy beans and two hills of zucchini. Pat has picked a half dozen or so tomatoes, a big bucket of beans and one zucchini so far. She's so thrilled with "her" garden, I haven't the heart to take anything from it for myself.

16 comments:

  1. Funny you are not crazy about the Juliet tomatoes. I love them!

    I love what you are doing with the potato bed. Did you try a new variety this year or do you think it is just the weather etc. that is influencing your yields?

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  2. As always, great garden! 'Pat's' garden is looking good as well... :)

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  3. Those bean leaves are so lush and green! Thought I was looking at a Hosta bed in the first photo LOL

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  4. Your garden is just beautiful! :)
    You have such a great variety of vegetables and they all look so nice :)

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  5. I bow down to you ... seriously amazing stuff! You rock!

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  6. I really enjoy your garden tours Granny. Everything looks so happy, healthy and very tidy and organized.

    I guess that next year you will have to plant more potatoes!

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  7. I always love looking at your garden. You seem to get so much in the space you have. I think I need to rethink my beds and see if I can get more from my space. I know I want to have more variety next year and I already told my sweet husband how I want to use the bottomless buckets next year for some of my tomato plants to help tier the garden for a better yield. I am taking good notes from your blog!! (smile)

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  8. Kelly, maybe I'll like them better this year. It seems as though each year brings changes in the flavor of the plants. My neighbor likes Juliets, too.

    I think it was the variety of potato this year. Last year I planted Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac, and had a really good yield from both. It also could be because I hilled up my plants with shredded leaves instead of soil this year. I won't try that again.

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    Nartaya, thank you!

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    Erin, those lush leaves make for difficult picking. I hate picking bush beans, the old body just doesn't bend down so well any more.

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    Thank you, Seana.

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    Awww, Apple Pie Gal, you rock too!

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    Robin, I guess I should. I wonder where, though ;-) Maybe I should put the whole garden into potatoes, beans, onions and carrots. That seems to be what we like the most.

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    Debiclegg, I sometimes think I grow too much of a variety. I end up giving so much away, and run short of the stuff we really love...see my comment just above this one!

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  9. I am trying to do more of that 'growing what we like most' stuff myself for next year. It is so hard to resist wanting to grow a little bit of everything though isn't it?

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  10. I love seeing the overview photos of your garden beds. I can really picture your lovely garden space. Amazingly productive.

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  11. Kelly, it sure is. When many of the seeds are free (from other bloggers or seed company samples) I hate to let them go to waste, so I plant everything! If I only planted wht Mr. Granny and I (and the rabbit) would eat, my garden would probably fit in a 4'x12' box!

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    Thank you, Lou Murray. That's only about a third of my total garden, the rest is yet to come ;-)

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  12. Your peppers and eggplants have so many beautiful leaves. Mine look spindly in comparison. It all looks great!

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  13. Lovely tour of your very productive garden! The peppers and beans are particularly impressive. My beans are little tiny's at the moment, but I know how they grow and expect to be in bean overwhelmed mode soon. Especially since I no longer have my daughter around to help pick them.

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  14. I'm proud of you. You have a gardener convert. Next year I expect to hear about the new beds Pat has put in her yard.

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  15. Ribbit, the eggplants are pretty. I've never grown them before, so didn't know they made such a decorative potted plant. I might just grow them in the front yard next year.

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    Kitsap, you will drool over my next post. Wait until you see my first picking of the baby fillet type beans. I'm anxiously awaiting the second flush of beans from the Fortex. I hope they don't disappoint.

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    Cheryl, sadly Pat's health is not real good. She has osteoporosis that is causing her much back pain, and she has difficulty walking. She has been talking about downsizing by selling and moving into a small duplex. That place is really very large for just one person. I don't see a real garden in her future.

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  16. Dang Granny your garden always looks so nice. I especially love the pepper box. I always put my peppers in front of the tomatoes and this year they look lost in the foliage.

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