Ta-daaa! The first ripe tomato of the season, Rozovyi Myod, 13.4 oz. None of the other tomatoes are anywhere near this size and none have begun to change colour yet. This one was an overachiever. I'll be saving seeds from it, for sure.
The first zucchini of the season were harvested today, too.
Can you see it? A teeny, tiny volunteer pansy growing in the lawn. Small but mighty.
A Sweet Meat squash set in the middle of a tomato plant (Cosmonaut Volkov). Things might get a little tight in there!
The first Rozovyi Myod gets pinker by the day.
A dwarf sunflower
Another little volunteer poppy, this one in the south garden.
'Early Charm' asters
Though the deer visiting our yard ate the cabbage in our raised beds, the few I planted in the garden remain untouched, thanks to some floating row cover.
This is the first cabbage of the season, harvested this morning. Copenhagen Market, 6 lbs.
A year or so ago, a friend kindly sent me some 'Pink Blush' lavatera seeds as a gift. I finally planted them this summer and am so glad I did! It is a compact dwarf variety that is loaded with blooms. This picture doesn't do the pale pink centres of the flowers justice. Even the shape they take as they unfurl from their buds seems magical.
A volunteer poppy in the North garden. These kinds of surprises are so fun.
Kitty contentedly lounging in the pea patch while I check on the Ropreco tomato plants nearby.
The first Anaheim of the season. Peppers don't always do well for me, so I am happy to have this one.
The zucchini are coming along. Relish is in my future!
I returned to BC after spending a month or so in Halifax. What a change in the garden! It's a jungle compared to what I left in June (and I mean that in the best possible way).
R. tells me that the wildfire smoke hasn't been as bad as it was last year or in 2022. We were exposed to so much of it last summer that any amount feels like too much now. The very smell of it brings on a headache and mild nausea for me.
He also filled me in on the crow family that has been regularly visiting the garden this summer. Sure enough, I spotted them the day after I got back: 3 youngsters and 2 adults. The young ones occasionally like to pull out marigold petals for their own amusement and they all seem to really enjoy the bird bath.
Deer visited several times while I was away and heartily sampled the peas, sunflowers, lettuce, and cabbage (mostly Copenhagen) in the raised beds along the driveway. R. covered the cabbage with floating row cover and put up more twine and scare tape around the pea patch to try to deter them.
On to the pictures, taken July 20th. Click to enlarge.
The North garden
Gold Harvest dry peas in the north garden. A wonderfully productive variety. Surrounded by mesh netting to give it some support and to prevent the deer from snacking on it.
Sunflowers in the north garden...
...that were nibbled on by a little deer the next morning!
Pepper tent that R. made beside the south garden.
Our first year using a lettuce and herb tower. It has stackable layers and is fairly sturdy. A good buy from the Dollar Tree in town.
Raised beds along the driveway.
Dry bush beans along the fence.
Tomatoes and potatoes along the fence.
Burpee's Butterbush plants. These always seem to grow slowly and then come into their own in mid-August.
A few of the cabbage casualties from earlier this month. Deer really love tender cabbage heads!
Tomatoes and potatoes in containers...
...and a few more container potatoes (near the north fence).
One of my furry helpers, looking for belly-tickles.
The strawberry bed, surrounded by pots of calendula, asters, tomatoes, and peppers. Bamboo stakes, twine, and scare-tape in place in an attempt to keep both the birds and deer away from the strawberries.
Aster ("Early Charm")
Alyssum, calendula, strawberries, and pansies.
The Pink Blush lavatera (a dwarf variety) began to bloom July 18th. This is my first year growing it, but I don't think it will be my last. These flowers are delicate and pretty and the plants compact.
Volunteer potatoes and sunflower in the compost bin.
Dwarf Sensation Mix cosmos among the sunflowers, tomatoes, and zucchini plants (North garden).
Alyssum and Bon Bon calendula (a dwarf variety).
Herbs (peppermint, oregano, thyme, woolly thyme), lettuce, and Siberian Dwarf kale.
Assorted lettuce (it seems to like this partially shady spot behind the house).
The garlic patch is a bit of a mishmash this year. Flowers, potatoes, and herbs were planted in the spots where garlic cloves had frozen during the winter.
The cucumber bed. Two Dwarf Firebird Sweet tomatoes are at the back end and a covered-up cabbage is at the front.
Dahlias on the front step.
Bachelor Buttons and dry bush bean plants.
Dahlietta ("Unwin's Mix")
There are a number of early varieties in the garden that have already begun to set fruit (e.g., Rozovyi Myod, Dwarf Roza Vetrov, Ropreco, Scotia, Manitoba, Linda, Velmozha). Other varieties (e.g., Guido, Mrs. Bot's Italian Giant) are putting out flowers but don't yet have a single tomato on them.
General tomato update, pictures taken July 20th and 21st. Click to enlarge.
Indeterminate
Rozovyi Myod (also called, "Pink Honey")
Velmozha
Reinhard's Chocolate Heart
Cosmonaut Volkov
Guido
Striped German
Japanese Black Trifele
Mrs. Bot's Italian Giant
Determinate and Dwarf
Gold Dust
Manitoba
Ropreco
Scotia
Linda (Dwarf)
Dwarf Roza Vetrov
Dwarf Firebird Sweet
Dwarf Speckled Heart
(The few seeds I had of this variety came from two different sources. It's interesting to see how different the "heart" shape is on different plants - some are rounded/blunt, while some are pointy hearts.)
Dwarf Audrey's Love
(I only have one of these plants in the garden. Fingers crossed that it does well!)
