E072009

It has been hot and dry for days. The radishes in the garden grew enormous but every time I pulled up one of the huge plants all I got was a sad little red nub. I figured they needed to grow more and left them alone. Some of them started to grow flowers out the top but still no radish. A neighbor down the street told me that it has been too hot for the plants and that I should just pull all of them and plant more seeds when it cools off. I pulled every radish plant. It’s for the better. They were starting to choke out the beets and lettuce around them.

The broccoli has also grown to a colossal size but have yet to produce florets. Only one of the cauliflowers has produced florets. Maybe it’s been to hot for them as well.



The green beans have yielded another great harvest and seem to be sprouting new pods by the minute. I thought the snap peas were finished but I picked off 2 pods today.





The beats seem to be growing steadily but I’m not sure I dug them deep enough when I first planted them. The tubers are popping far above the dirt and are still quite small. I think I may dig them up and plant them deeper.



The tomato plants had started to grow out of control. I had to tie the wayward branches to their cages using nylon because they were blocking the sun from the peppers and celery.







I have been making some amazing food from my regular harvests; fried zucchini, cucumber water, pesto, and sauces.


The Carrots


Garlic ready to be harvested.


One of the Red Beauty bell pepper plants that was stunted by the unruly tomato plants.


Two of the many cucumber sprouting from the vine.

E062009

The Garden is in full bloom now. I went to Chicago last weekend and before I left I checked the garden. There were tiny cucumbers and tiny zucchini both with large blossoms at the ends. By the time I got back, a day and half later, I had about a half dozen large cucumbers so heavy they pulled down the vine and big round zucchini that held so tight to the plant I had to use sharp kitchen shears to free them.





I noticed a few pods on the bush beans but was surprised at just how many were hiding under the leaves of the plant. I picked a large bowl full. I blanched the whole harvest and quickly shocked them in ice water. I cooked some for dinner that night and froze the rest in small batches, saving them for the winter. I couldn’t resist steaming a small bag the next morning. I dipped the beans in a soft boiled egg for breakfast. There are plenty of small pods remaining on the bush and we should have another large crop in about a week.

The lady bugs are still eating up all the aphids and I only see a little bit of chewed damage here and there. I catch sight of the lady bugs every time I am in the garden and the other day I noticed two lady bugs at work making more lady bugs.



Every tomato plant is dotted with small green fruit. Tomatoes are always a bitter sweet event as they are red and ripened in the last weeks of summer, a reminder of the end of the end of the season.