Garden update. July 06

Here's a garden update for July. Things are doing okay, although i'm still feeling very behind.
We are so dependent on rain, that i can't do any weeding or planting until it rains again. It's been around two weeks without rain, and there is not much chance of it this week. making me feel even farther behind.
i pulled most of my cold crops, leaving a empty space in the middle of my main garden. i've been planning to put in more beans and cucumbers, but need that rain!!

Despite the lack of water, blueberries are doing great! i've frozen around 5 quarts and still have tons to pick. Frozen blueberries are such a treat for us when it's super hot out. We just started getting blackberries, but they are big and sweet and the canes are completely loaded. i'll definitely be making blackberry jam this week.


We are finally getting zucchini, i've picked two so far. It won't long before we have more than we know what to do with. My plantings are very staggered this year, somewhat unintentionally...so i'm hoping i'll have a good season.


Yellow squash are catching up. They had a very slow start, but recently really sprouted and i'll be able to pick these in just another day.


i have green tomatoes big enough to pick! My tomato plants look incredibly good this year. We usually get hit with blight really early on. This year, i have really good healthy looking plants. i'm just starting to see a few signs of blight, but i'm really encouraged by how well they are doing compared to past year. We've already enjoyed fried green tomatoes a few times this year, thanks to our local farm market. i haven't decided on whether to pick these guys green or let them ripen.


Here's a tiny peek at my main garden. i'm not especially proud of it this year. ha ha. However, the flowers this year do make up for it! What your looking at is two rows of soy beans, a row of purple beans and a row of yellow beans. In the far back i have scarlet runners and cucumbers on bamboo tripods. To the left of the beans (not picture) is the huge empty space where my peas were. To the left of that (also not pictured) is red lettuce, carrots and Swiss chard that the goats decimated one afternoon. lol. There are also tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers behind all of that.


We are starting to get yellow beans, despite the Mexican bean beetles attempt to destroy them. We deal with these every year, have tried soapy water, neem oil and DE. i'm currntly out there every evening picking them off and destroying all the eggs and larva. Anyone have any tips on getting rid of them for good?


Most of my peppers plants look really full and healthy. This one doesn't, yet it's the only one with nice sized peppers on it. :) Funny how that works. All my peppers are full of blossoms, so we should be seeing lots of pretty peppers soon.


These border the front of my main garden. The flowers are really looking amazing this year, and definitely makes up for my vegetable garden not looking it's best. i'll post another garden update after we get a good rain, and things fill in a bit more. i've been taking lots of flower and butterfly pictures too, so you can expect a post on that soon!