Cleaning Up With New Dirt

written by Yvonne

It's already August which means some of the Spring plantings need to get pulled to make way for Fall crops. Here you can see the cucumbers have been eaten alive and are ready to pull. We got a nice amount of cucumbers from these two plants this summer.

The okra will stay in for now, especially since it hasn't produced anything yet.

Just as in the last two years, we definitely have tomatoes, they are just coming in WAY later than everyone else's. And this year we even started them in pots. Nonetheless, we're getting a nice large batch of 'em.

And a few are even starting to ripen!

And this would be your standard HUGE squash plants...

and the annual squash blossom beauty shot.

As far as the herbs go, the dill is super spindly and not producing enough fronds to use. No parsley ever came up. Basil is finally here and being put to good use. And of course more oregano than even Lidia Bastianich can use.

Three very small, stunted pepper plants are hanging on...

and they do shows signs of producing peppers. If these actually turn into peppers, it may qualify for the world's smallest pepper plant.

Tom has been composting food scraps and yard waste for several years now and we decided it was time to put the compost to use. He cut back lots of vines that had grown all around and into the bins while I cut back low-hanging tree branches to make easier work of scooping out the compost. The green monster you see on the left is a squash plant growing out of one of the bins.

Tom emptied out two compost bins to spread over three of the beds. We've had eight compost bins for a while now but we really only use the front four so Tom dismantled two of and we'll concentrate on using just four from here on out.  Honey helped by running like a crazy dog around the beds.

Next you'll see the stages of what we did to each beds.  Bed #1 before.

Bed #1 with compost.

Tom picked up a load of dirt on Friday so we'd be ready to go Saturday filling the beds with new soil.

Bed #1 with new dirt.

Bed #2 before.

Bed #2 with all cow and crowder peas pulled out and compost added.

Bed #2 with dirt added.

Bed #3 with LOTS of grass, one dwarf okra plant (that's what the variety is actually called) and three dwarf pepper plants (not an actual variety, just a description).

Bed #3 with weeds pulled, compost added and topped with new dirt.

Bed #4 is chock full of tomatoes so....

we just pulled the dead cucumber plants and the Swiss chard. I got a good harvest from the chard then ditched all the bug-eaten leaves and pulled up the plants.

When pulling the cucumber plants, these two baseball-bat sized cucumbers were attached to the ends. Tom wants to cut them up and bury them to see if they'll grow. After shoveling compost and dirt for a good while, we were too tired to do any more so we thought this would do for now.

Dirt is all out of the truck. "Ok dogs, let's go for a ride back to the carport!  Olive/Honey place. Good girl Olive. Honey, Place. Place. Place"

"PLACE. HONEY, PLACE!"

Saving Seeds and Waitin' for Tomatoes

written by Yvonne

All of these photos are several weeks old now but I thought I'd post them anyway. We've been harvesting cow and crowder peas like crazy.  We haven't actually eaten any of them yet, we're just shelling them and letting them dry.

FINALLY the basil came up! Not really enough to do anything with yet but at least there is one plant.  Maybe there will be enough for one margherita pizza and one batch of pesto. Please, please let there be enough for one batch of pesto!

This is either cilantro or flat-leaf parsley. Come on little plant; grow! I'm tired of buying you at the store.

A TY Veggie Patch summer staple - squash.

And again - FINALLY tomatoes have appeared. They are all green still but they're finally here.

Everything you see here is tomatoes. These big plants better be puttin' out big quantities of tomatoes.

If memory serves, last year I was disappointed with the size and quantity of pepper plants that, but by the end of summer we had more peppers than we knew what to do with. I'm in that same place again. Only two very small plants have come up. Hopefully they'll produce a lot.

This is what, the fourth or fifth time we've attempted to plant something in this spot?  This is REALLY the last time we're attempting this. If the squash and hibiscus plants Tom planted here don't 'take', that's it for this area. Although we did just buy clover seeds to use as ground cover for the bees so maybe Tom can spread some here and see how it goes.

We're comfortable enough now with our garden knowledge and skills to start saving seeds from the produce we grow. One of the advantages of growing heirloom varieties is that you can replant the seeds year after year. We've done that with a few items but this year Tom has really committed to saving seeds from everything possible so we don't have to buy more seeds. So far this year he's saved seeds from crowder and cow peas, pole and bush beans, and cucumbers. Next will be tomatoes and peppers (assuming we get any peppers).

Unfortunately we weren't as inundated with cucumbers this year as in the past two years, but we certainly got a good amount. At the point we were picking one or two cucs every day, I remember making refrigerator pickles last year so I pulled out the recipe and made a couple of quarts. I know I said this last year but they taste JUST like Claussen's. YUM!

Everything is Green

written by Yvonne

Due to vacations and traveling, the garden has exploded with green-ness. Granted some of that green is weeds but much of it is not.

This is a mass of pole and bush beans that are just starting to flower.

The broccoli and cabbage started from seed has really taken root. Keep your fingers crossed that THIS will be the year we get broccoli to sprout.

Lots of snow and snap peas coming in. SO good in salads.

Now THIS is a lettuce bed!

The Russian kale is doing well, we just have to eat it up before it gets too hot and bolts. After having made an awesome kale salad, I decided I don't like the Russian kale as well as standard curly kale. I've noted that for future seed purchases.

The chard that Tom painstakingly uncovered is just about ready for a first harvest.

The cucumber plants are still small but as I looked under the leaves I say blossoms which means cucs aren't too far away!

Tom pulled out the Mantis Tiller to weed two small areas in beds 3 and 4. It made quick work of the job.

Once the weeds were out, he planted all of the tomato and peppers seedlings which means our summer garden is official planted!

THE RASPBERRIES ARE HERE! THE RASPBERRIES ARE HERE!

I started a lot of herbs in pots but only the dill and thyme sprouted. So I planted those two (too small to see in this picture) along with basil, cilantro, chive, and parsley seeds.  Basil has done well in the past started in pots, but it just didn't sprout this year.  Although I like getting a jump on the season, it may be best to stick to planting herbs direct. They don't want to come up until it's super hot outside anyway so it may be just as effective to wait. The large plant you see here is the oregano that came back on its own.

And of course the standard dogs-enjoying-the-shade photo.