July Garden Update

   June's weather, and heading into July, has been generally cool to mild, overcast, and wet.  Some crops (like brassicas, peas, garlic, and beets) enjoy this, while others (like tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash) could really use some heat and sustained sunshine.

The North garden...

North garden - garlic, cabbage and snap beans (Roma and Red Swan).

North garden - squash (Gold Nugget and 1 Table King Acorn) and dry beans (Vermont Cranberry, Tene's Beans, and Ireland Creek Annie).

Garlic scapes (the curlicues) are starting to emerge!

Tiger Eye beans

The South garden - Early Prolific summer squash, carrots (Chantenay), collards, kale (Lacinato and curly), chard, snap beans (Calima and Slenderette), and cosmos (Dwarf Sensation Mix).  Peas are on the other side, not pictured here.

Lettuce...

...and more lettuce!

Most of the beans are about this size (Mitla Black are pictured)...

...though a few are just now coming up (Flageolet).

The squash should all be about this size (Lower Salmon River, which I started indoors in May, is pictured)...

 ...but most are this size (Early Prolific summer squash pictured)...

...and one is only this size!  (Table King Acorn pictured, next to a sunflower).  I think this variety requires 85-90 DTM.  Here's hoping for a very mild September.

Black Kitty is a frequent visitor to our yard.  He usually shows up at night.  He is intact (what is it with these owners...?!?), vocal, and very skittish, but will come trotting to me when it's dark and quiet outside.

Can you spot the damselfly on the bean leaf?  (Click to enlarge)  I love damselflies, and have been seeing one or two a day lately.

Detroit Red beets, Lacinato kale, and Dukat dill.

Just some of the many volunteer pansies that came up in the garden and some of the raised beds.

Brad's Black Heart is the most sprawling and gangly of the tomato varieties I'm growing this year.

On the other end of the spectrum, Coastal Pride Orange is the most compact tomato I have ever grown.  I believe it's considered a dwarf variety.  I thought they were supposed to reach 3 feet, but they seem slow to gain height.

Purple Vienna Kohlrabi

The Bathtub:  Dazzling Blue kale, Lacinato kale, red chard, Fordhook chard, yellow pansies, Italian Flat-Leaf parsley.  Mints and pineapple sage from the greenhouse in front.

Tomatoes in the background, Beka Brown dry bush beans, and summer savoury in the foreground.

The Summer Savoury is doing well this year compared to past years.  I will definitely start it in milk jug greenhouses again!

Tomato flower (variety: Hungarian Heart).  Early Annie was the first variety to produce flowers, followed by Black Prince and Scotia.

South side of the house - tomatoes (Scotia, Hungarian Heart, Anna Russian, Work Release Paste), thyme, rosemary, and a cucumber (white pot).

South side - tomatoes (Striped German, Early Annie, Black Sea Man), nasturtiums, lettuce, and dahliettas (no blooms yet).

Potatoes (Norland)

Cabbage (Red Express and Brunswick)

A fuzzy bee enjoying the raspberry patch.

Carrots (assorted heirloom), kale, and onions.

Curly kale

Potato bins and a few tomatoes (Dwarf Roza Vetrov, Early Annie).

Summer savoury and a cucumber plant.

The East garden - sunflowers, marigolds, potatoes (Kennebec), jalapeno peppers, Romanesco cauliflower (Veronica), dry pole beans (Dolloff), green zucchini (mostly Black Beauty - I think!), cosmos (Dwarf Sensation Mix), and tomatoes (Midnight Sun, Black Prince, and Polish Linguisa).

Dolloff pole beans and sunflowers

The jalapeno peppers (in a vertical line in the picture) are still very small.

"Veronica" Romanesco cauliflower, with volunteer potatoes coming up alongside them.

A volunteer bean, growing in front of potatoes.  Looking forward to finding out what kind of bean this produces!