Garden Update - July 29, 2012

So in my last garden blog I said I was going to try to keep it updated every few weeks. That was over 3 months ago. The summer has been incredibly busy, but really it's just me being lazy more than anything else. But now I'll give a mid-summer update on where the garden is at.

Garlic

The garlic was ready in late June, a bit earlier than I expected, but I had planted soft neck this year instead of hard neck, and along with the mild winter, so it wasn't too surprising. The garlic heads ended up being pretty small, as they were 2 years ago, but I got a few big heads out of the group. They're currently drying out in the basement, and I should be able to start eating the garlic in the next 2-3 weeks.

Garlic, drying out in the workshop.

Peas
The peas were hit and miss this year. I'm not sure if I planted them too early or what, but half of them didn't produce much. The other half were good, and Sage has been happily eating peas for the past few weeks. Most of the plants have died off by now, so that'll be it for the peas.

Peas...some green, some brown.

Lettuce

The 1st batch of lettuce I planted in April never really took. I think now that I just planted it too early, as my 2nd batch, while it took a long time to really sprout, over the past 3-4 weeks has been really good. I got a mix of some romaine and mixed greens. I planted baby spinach as well, but none of that grew. Strange.

Lettuce, with Old Tito watching.

Potatoes

My potatoes are just about ready to harvest. I have both Yukon and red varieties, so it'll be interesting to see if one did better than the other. I think next week or the week after I'll be digging them up to see.

Potatoes a week or so ago...since then most of the leaves have died off.

Summer Squash

One of the 2 summer squash plants has been growing a lot better than the other, but both have squash coming in on them. So far, nothing has seemed to be eating them, and we should have a few squash ready to eat in a week or 2.

Summer squash, really growing fast.

Tomatoes

The one cherry tomato plant has been growing well, and we've gotten several cherry tomatoes out of it. I do wonder if it's not producing as many as it would if it was in the garden, but at least the squirrels aren't getting to them.

Cherry tomato plant in our Topsy-Turvy.

Peppers

This year I have 3 different areas of peppers. The first group I put next to the house, in the same place I have in the past. These haven't been doing too well, but I do have 2 banana pepper plants that have produced a few peppers.

Peppers on the side of the house; the banana peppers are in the middle.

As I have done in year's past, I also put a bunch of hot peppers in our topsy-turvy. Those have been doing great, and I've harvested several jalapenos, chili, and even a habanero pepper from those.

Chili peppers in the topsy-turvy

Finally, I planted some bell peppers and 1 Fresno chili pepper plant in the big garden, which in the past hasn't produced the best peppers. But this year, those pepper plants are doing better than the rest. The main difference is that I moved my peppers to a new bed this year...so maybe it's that whole crop-rotation thing I've always heard about. I've been able to harvest 2 or 3 really big green peppers so far this year, and more are sure to come.

Green pepper plants, along with 1 chili pepper plant.

Blackberries

My favorite part of the garden this year? My blackberry bushes. I've been able to pick a pint or so of berries almost every day, and while some are kind of difficult to get to (I really shouldn't have planted them right next to the house), the scars on my arms from reaching through the thorny bushes are well worth the taste of fresh blackberries on my oatmeal.

Blackberries galore.

FYI, if you noticed in the photos, there are a couple of beach balls in the background. Those have been my secret weapons against varmints this year. I didn't plan on using beach balls, but I found one in our yard earlier in the spring. It simply said, "NATICK" on it, and I thought it would be a good toy for Old Tito to play with. In the spring, when it was windy, the ball would be in a different spot in the garden every day. We found a 2nd beach ball in the yard just a few weeks ago. Considering I haven't seen any rabbits, squirrels or chipmunks in the garden this year, my theory is that they're either scared or distracted by the beach balls that may roll around at random times. That's probably me projecting what I WANT to happen, but it seems reasonable to me.