It's been a busy week and I've had less time than I would have liked in the garden, so (as usual in the middle of the summer), I am falling behind on some things.  Today was a bit of a catch up day - got everything well watered and a few dying tomato plants replaced.  And Sue and I went through and picked everything that was ripe (I did find some summer squash that were well on their way to being weapons....).  Following is a bit of a review, crop by crop:


Bush Green Beans - got a good picking from the initial short row planting, and the other two rows are looking good (one is now flowering).  We got a bit of weeding done in the picked row, but need to do more.


Basil - ready for a good Pesto making session - we went through and clipped the flowers so the plants will continue to bush out.  Needs weeding badly, however!


Blueberries - one bush is about done, the other is half way there - good picking today.


Summer squash - big harvest today, all plants looking good, time to get those odd ball recipes out and stretch the imagination!


Cukes - Poona Kheera are dead from wilt, Diva are pumping out the cukes well (delicious!) and plants are healthy.


Potatoes - NEED WEEDING!  Top growth looking pretty good.  Haven't taken a peek yet to see what is developing.


Garden indeterminate tomatoes - most have caught on well, and I am replacing plants as they die....need to do a revised map tomorrow.


Garden Dwarfs - 10/12 look great, one was replaced today, another is being closely watched.  Most have buds or open blossoms, but they are behind those in the driveway.


Driveway Peppers - Looking incredible - those in the larger pots are loaded up with fruit, the experimental hots in the small pots are showing what they are about - most are in blossom or fruiting.  


Eggplant - incredible also, and just about all plants have buds, blossoms or fruit.  There is a big New York Improved begging to be turned into an eggplant parmesan this weekend!


Indeterminates in the driveway - looking better than I thought they would (early on, with all of the rain, some were looking pretty ugly!).  We are picking Mexico Midget, Sungold, Green Doctor's and Tiger Tom.  The high temps are hindering fruit set on several.


Driveway dwarfs - aside from the inevitable diseased plants here and there (I replaced a couple today), things are looking pretty good.


My next tasks - and they are really important - tie the indeterminate tomatoes and, especially, dwarfs in the grow bags to their stakes...a few are starting to flop over.  And, mix up some blue stuff (Miracle gro plant food) and give the plants in pots a good dose - especially the eggplants and peppers, as they are working so hard to set loads of fruit!


Pics or video clips to follow soon.....

So, right now it is 97 degrees, the heat index is approaching 110.  I just came in from putting the finishing touches on my main garden....imagine that, still planting on June 28!  That must be a record for me.  Out went the scraggly, Japanese Beetle-eaten, wilted Asian greens, in went the last of the indeterminate tomatoes.  Then I pounded in stakes...then tied...mulched...and watered.  


Now, recovering with a nice bowl of watermelon and cantaloupe, it's a good time to summarize what's growing "out there".  In the main garden:  Front row of Dwarf project plants (12).  Next row back - half row of basil (needing blossom cluster removal - and ready for the first Pesto batch of the year), two blueberry bushes (in the middle of harvest), and half a row of beans, where the last garlic was dug the other day.


Behind that - half row of beans that is now providing some harvest, two more blueberry bushes, and another half row of beans that germinated a week or so ago.  


Next back, nine hills of summer squash and two of cucumbers.  The two rows back from that are planted with potatoes, with healthy vines, some in blossom.  Then, finally, the last two rows have indeterminate tomatoes.


The driveway is all tomatoes (both indeterminate around the edge, and dwarfs in the center), peppers (hot and sweet), and eggplant.  With everything now planted, it is all about maintenance - tying, watering, mulching, feeding and harvesting.  And, of course, documentation - meaning videos, pictures and notes.  


Time for a nap!

Finally, I found the energy to dig holes and plant more tomatoes - these are toward the rear of the big garden, where the lettuce and beets grew early in the spring.  


Here is what was planted today:  


Back Row:


Ozark Cherry, Green Zebra Cherry, Tommy Toe, Red Zebra, Purple Haze, Reinhart's Red Heart, Malschor Isura, Kosovo, Isis, Large Lucky Red, Yellow Bell, Dr. Carolyn's Pink, Randy's Rusty, Caitlin's Lucky Stripe, odd string like foliage (a trait that pops up now and then in the Lucky Cross line), Randy's Brandy, Lillian's Yellow Heirloom


Just in front of that (it is a kind of double row)


Sungold, Yellow Pear, Caitlin's Lucky Stripe, Japanese Trifele Black, Stokes County Pink, Eva Purple Ball, White Queen, German Johnson, Striped Sweetheart, Amazon Chocolate, 1884 Purple, Green Giant, Hege German Pink, Randy's GRBL Cross, and Randy's Crimson


And a row in front of that:


Angora Orange, Reinhard's Green Heart, Portuguese Paste, Harmony Cherokee purple, Portuguese Heart, Reinhard's Chocolate Heart, Portuguese Beef, and Reinhard's Purple Heart.  Once we are done with some greens and radiccio on that row, in will go Reinhard's Yellow Heart, Meme de Beauce, Irish Pink, Brad's Black Heart, Fish Lake Oxheart, Hay's, St. Colombe.


For the most part, the tomatoes are above are either for fresh seed or evaluation (new varieties to me, quite rare - or the result of recent breeding work by others).  I am not going to be fussy with them or baby them, though I did fill the holes I dug with "good stuff" (Miracle Gro potting mix plus Composted cow manure).  After that, it is mulch, stake, tie and water...and crossed fingers that the inevitable diseases stay away until I can get some fruit from each.


Today I also mulched two grow bags of potatoes (an experiment) - a few days ago I dug the rest of the Ajo Rojo garlic and planted a double row of bush beans.  So, all in all, the garden is 90 plus % planted, and it is all about maintaining, documenting and picking.


We are now harvesting blueberries, garlic, squash, and cucumbers.  The potatoes are flowering, as are the first row of beans.  Basil is OK to pick.  The tomatoes in the driveway are setting fruit, as are the sweet and hot peppers, and eggplant are blossoming.  I've replaced a few Dwarf seedlings that didn't look happy, but all in all, a good start to the season, despite too many days in the 90s!

Hopefully my blog readers will enjoy what I'm currently doing with this site - alternating more detailed articles on some of my methods or projects with more briefgress reports and updates.  Of which this will be one!


On a day like today (low 90s, no rain for a few days), the number of containers in the driveway (and lack of drip irrigation) make regular watering a must.  And that is what I am about to do once I jot down this quick entry.


In the main garden, the back row is now cleared of beets and lettuce and ready for the indeterminate tomatoes that will go in this weekend.  The double row of potatoes, now mulched back to soil level, are thriving, with vigorous, health vines.  We are picking excellent summer squash, and the blueberries are starting to blush.  We are pleased to see that our garlic is bulbing and scaping; I hope to harvest all of the Ajo Rojo this weekend so I can plant more beans.  The front row of dwarf tomatoes are mulched, staked and caged.


In the driveway, a few tomato plants look a bit iffy (typical for each season - it is hard to bat 1.000!), but I am very pleased with how things are growing...if a bit mystified that the dwarfs in the black plastic grow bags are doing much better than those in the white grow bags.  We've got tomatoes setting on a few plants, eggplants starting to blossom, many hot peppers with open flowers, and sweet peppers showing small buds.


Finally, the water scarecrow sprinklers may be what is keeping the deer away.  For that or other reasons, they've yet to nip our driveway plants, even in the absence of any fencing.  Strange, but positive news!


On go the "garden clothes", and off to water!

The end of the growing season really sneaks up on you!  And the typically overwhelming end of season to-do list starts to form up (as the energy level and ambition goes the way of the day length and the temperature!)...

All of these "MUST DO" items - such as

Dig up or prepare plants to be saved through the winter in the garage - tender perennials (like lantana and geraniums) and herbs (like the lemon verbena and bay plants)
Toss dead plants...eggplant, tomatoes, peppers...in the driveway pots
Weed enough of the big garden to plant the garlic I just got in from Johnny's Selected Seeds (I am a garlic growing virgin), and fix the fence to keep deer out of the blueberry plants over the winter
Put some fencing around our poor little fig tree, which gets browsed heavily by the deer each winter (hence has yet to give us one fig as punishment)

That's enough to keep me out of trouble for awhile!