Summer/Fall Gardens 2015 Pt 5

Uh, "SIBERIAN" could give you a clue as to the viability of your Kale seeds in our current, 95°+ heat, LOL!

And, that is the CUTEST melon I've ever seen growing!

Hugs!

well it also doesnt help that the seed is a couple of years old now, when i first got them i had near 100% germ. even when sowing at this time of year.

Rain! Lovely Rain!

Found some Hoary Mountain Mint on my walk with the dog today, just couldnt resist..... i had to uproot a plant or two and bring it home, lol. Clipped off the flowers to bring inside, and potted the plants up just until they get settled and showing signs of growth again, then they will be transplanted to my garden bed.

Better pick that melon. Picnic bugs will be in it shortly!

Hoary Mountain Mint is high in thymol and is a great expectorant when you are phlegmy. It's also an antiseptic (see Listerine). I wouldn't call it pleasant tasting, but I love the plant's frosty white glaze at midsummer, and bees like it, too.

well i suppose i will have to try again with my seed trays, a hard rain came last night and it was so heavy that it hollowed out just about every cell....seedlings all pulverized. The beets that were direct sown came out mostly unscathed though

Gymgirl,
I grow the carrots in a raised bed, 8" deep. At first I filled it with Miracle grow potting MIX and some extra perlite. You want a very loose soil for carrots. I add some compost and shredded leaves every fall and try to remember to do a PH test. I try to keep the PH from 6-7.

Thanks, Tommyr2006!

Finally got that canteloupe! I was showing mom, and she picked it up to try to smell it and *POP*...the stem end came right off of the melon, uh, yeah, its ripe! lol!

I bet it smells heavenly, too! Congrats!

thought i would share the flowers that i often see on my walking route with the dog.

Im assuming the yellow flower is some kind of wild coreopsis, and then there is the mountain mint, and a butterfly showed up just after i took the first shot. And then there is a cluster of really huge pink Jo pye weed.

There is also a white jo pye weed on the walking route, and a chicory plant (which i snatched a side shoot off of, lol!)

something is definitely wrong with the strawberries i plucked from my plants and froze over most of the summer, they always tasted great straight from the plants, but these that i have frozen taste like im biting into a rock of pure sulfur....BLEAH!

Did you try some of the strawberries before freezing them?
Did they taste the same?

What a pretty walk you have! I think Chicory flowers are so pretty.

on a brighter note, the peppermint i got in a DG trade is jumping back to life

Picked strawberries this morning. This is about half of what we picked.
First picture, these will be jam. Second picture, these will be froze whole.
A couple tomatoes. Yellow one is Sweet Ozark Orange from Sam Worrmack, (Ozark).
He developed this tomato & sends seeds to DGers.
Red one is Giant Belgium.
According to radar, should be raining here soon. We sure do need

The Missouri yellow watermelons are ready. They didnt get as big as i was expecting, but the flavor sure makes up for it, i think!

wow ... that is a beauty.

Small garden , large Tomato , Standard size for beefsteak type, I have to be careful reading this thread , Ii start dreaming about Food
Cucumbers are starting to distort , not bad ,not perfect ,

jmc1987 I do get some that are weird looking , like you
most are like these
White wonder , one an egg the other half green , cross pollination going's on

decided to direct seed some of the lettuce, kale, and perpetual spinach and im seeing them popping up today.

Also my experimental mustard plants are coming along nicely.

I had to dig out my 5 in 1 dwarf apple tree from the bottom of the yard yesterday and move it into a jumbo sized container, the deer were on a mission and were not going to stop until it was as dead as a door nail, they kept chewing the branches shorter and shorter. Its probably only a 3 in 1 apple tree now, lol. It rained yesterday, so the ground was plenty soft, and i actually managed to get it up with almost all of the root system intact, hopefully it will pull through this fall and winter, i plan on top dressing some compost in today.

August 3rd, August 9tf ad August 13th.
Finally my Long Beans are starting to produce. It is just so hot here.
I still harvesting tomatoes and the okra is starting to produce too. I just have a few small plants this year.
I did plant my okra under the "determinate" varieties of tomatoes ... but I still have 2 large tomato plants that are shading the okra and still producing lots of tomatoes.
PRINCIPE BORGHESE is definitely NOT a determinate tomato plant. This is the variety that is still producing in this crazy weather. I definitely must have in my garden.
Most of my sweet pepper fruits are getting sun scald. Off course the spicy ones I don't like are producing no matter what !

Speaking of long beans - Yesterday was my first harvest for the yard longs this year. I have several pole type beans and I was able to harvest from all of them, so I ended up with about a half a bushel. That was a TREAT! My saved seed okra is doing great when I remember to pick it. Today I harvested a bushel of elderberries - just trying to stay one step ahead of the birds. I also planted 63 cents worth of winter onions in a whiskey barrel close to the back door. If the winter onions do as well as the onions I planted from seed - in a whiskey barrel, I should have more tasty onions one of these days. Still have not got around to planting my lettuce & turnips.

last of the cucumbers, the plants are just too worn out to keep going. Carrots were planted in their place today.

I just pulled out my cucumbers and worked up the ground to plant my turnips and some lettuce. I am holding off on planting until this eve when I plan to lightly till one more time, then plant. We had fresh green beans for lunch - what a treat.

There, lined all of the walking paths in the garden bed with a layer of mulch. No more muddy shoes! All the blank places either have autumn crops seeded in, or planned to.

the turnips, beets, and kale are really taking off now, will have to do some thinning soon.

Friday I planted turnips, a few cabbage seed and some leaf lettuce. JMC - I hope my turnips come up as quickly as yours did. Your mulched garden area sure looks nice.

i do think that the darker color of the mulched walkways helps to highlight the colors from the flowers. Although next year i think i will try dwarf cornflowers instead of the standard tall types, those flop over every time we have rain, lol.

One of my fun ways to grow gourds - this years crop. Photo's 1, 2, & 3.

We have more elderberries this year than any other!! They must have really enjoyed the record rains in June and July around here.

carrot sprouts popping up.

apparently ive been picking the black colored bell peppers too early all summer long. Found a few that got away from me and they are actually starting to size up a bit. Apparently even though they color up at a small size (from green to black), they still continue to grow larger. Boy do i feel goofy now, lol. well at least i will be able to try again next year and do it RIGHT!

How do they taste?

taste is pretty good, i would say pretty much like the average bell pepper, lol.

it is cooling down here ... maybe just a little bit !
My peppers are also turning colors and I am forecasting a huge fall harvest ! The plants are so tall this year !

Then what I am going to do with all of those peppers ... hummm

I am harvesting tons of Long beans now and the tomatoes are done!