Monday, August 19, 2013

There May Be Hope, After All!

It seems after thoroughly complaining about the garden last week it has now started to reap some rewards. Here are some noticeable improvements:
The first melon is developing. This is a Crenshaw Lilly F1.
The Numex Joe E Parker (Anaheim) have turned.   
This is the first time I have grown this particular   
Anaheim pepper, they seem smaller then usual.
The Dragon Tongue Beans are finally ready! I planted
them in late May....
The first Pumpkin, either a Flatso or Autumn Crown. 
I hope more set soon.
Here is the best improvment, the first tomato started
turning over the weekend and it was harvested today.
This is a Cherokee Purple.

Well I am at it, I'll group this post in with Harvest Monday. The shots below are harvests from Mid July until today:
Double Yield & Slicing Cucumbers.
Double Yield Cucumbers and Sweet Cherry Peppers.
The Peppers are not very good!
Dragon Tongue Beans, My favorite!
Numex Joe E Parker Anaheim & Ancho Peppers.  
Both will be dried for later use.
Cherokee Purple Tomatoes.
Double Yeild & Slicing Cucumbers and the first
Bellstar Tomato. They look promising, short plants,
heavy fruit set and they are good for paste and fresh eating.
Developed in Ontario too!
Tiger's Eye Beans. I harvested the first lot of them
last weekend. There is about the same amount still
on the plants now. They have done well this year.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Garden in August

 
Here is the garden at present. As usual it is a solid mass of veggies this time of year. What is not common is the garden is still not very productive. In-fact this may be the worst year on record (still no tomatoes....). Likely it is due to the weather being below seasonal since the spring. So I will just take what I can this year and hope for a better yield next year. Here goes some individual photos of each bed:
Tomato & Pepper bed. The tomatoes are all green and the plants are starting to get blight. The peppers are turning colour at least.
Melons & Cucumbers. The cucumbers have been steadily producing for a few weeks. The melons are just starting to set a couple fruit now.
Rutabaga bed. I have always wanted to grow rutabaga so this year I tried out a small bed. There are about 6 of them in there. This is the type with yellow flesh and usually comes waxed in the grocery store. 
Bean bed. This year the dry beans have done well but all the other beans have not. My dragon tongue beans are just starting to produce now and the green pole beans never took hold after three planting attempts! The beans currently on the tepee are true red cranberry and trail of tears, both are dry beans. 
Broccoli bed. The broccoli has been good this year. I recently gave them a big hair cut. In a couple weeks I should be able to start harvesting again.
Late bean bed.  After harvesting the garlic I replanted the area with more dry beans. The area is kind of shady this time of year so they may or may not produce.
Pumpkin Bed. The pumpkins are just starting to produce. On the trellis are Autumn Crown (small long island cheese) and Flatso (small, orange and flattish).