GARDEN REPORT - end of May

by Robin

Things are going very well for the garden. I am beginning to pick and eat regularly off the food I'm gathering from there. It is a lot of fun to harvest. I think we had a pretty adequate size garden for our family of 4.

Garden #1 - being watered, primarily herbs, tomatoes, viney things


We had some changes last week when I decided to cull some weaker plants. We added 5 sweet pea plants, 2 banana pepper plants, 3 watermelon plants and started some more okra from seed. The Okra is really more an experiment to see if I could grow plants from the seeds of one of my own "produce" veggies. They should pop up soon if it is going to happen.

Garden #2 Peppers, Watermelon, Onions in corner of pic



We're up to having 88-90 deg days and the garden was showing signs of heat stress so I went ahead after taking these photos and laid a layer of hay down to act as a buffer between the sun & soil.

Garden #3, toms & hot peppers & beans These pics are older. The plants are now over the top of the cage.


In another week or two, I will have more than my share of Roma toms all ready for making salsa or canning. I'm so excited. There are dozens of them all at once.


I have another smaller crop of San Marzanos which are similar to Romas. The packet says they're suppose to be slightly meatier.


I was having a cucumber issue but I think it worked itself out with all the rain. See how they're ball shaped?


Here's a close-up. This is a water issue. We had heavy rains after a big drought. I have 3 quirky cukes but the next few babies on the vine are all normal w/ the consistent rains the last week.


This was a harvest from a couple weeks ago, minus tomatoes which never made the pic. All but the orange serrano chilis went into a veggie/fish soup. Those rusty looking beans were no good. The green serranos are great for a little heat, but use them sparingly. They're hotter than jalapenos.


This was last week's harvest. See how the cukes are working it out? Getting bigger and fuller. You're also seeing my first bell pepper of the season and my quirky, occasional curled okra. That may be a soil deficiency. I'm still building up a healthy soil. The toms are cherries and Big Boys which aren't that big. However, I'm getting quite a good decent crop of Big Boys compared to the year before. I am fertilizing more, so that may be the reason.


Here is my problem child. I have a whole row of Brandywine Heirloom tomatoes that refuse to produce fruit after dozens and dozens of blooms have yellowed & fallen off. I need to call the County Extension office to see if they have any clues. Otherwise, the plants are up to my hip and look great.


I'd love to hear from you if you have a garden. Feel free to comment.