Backyard Garden Update : Late July

As the Carr Fire burns to the north of me, the garden seems no worse for wear from the heat and ashfall we're getting.

Climbing the cypress tree and working it's way around to the fence is the Red Kuri with it's huge freaking leaves.

The oddly endearing/slightly frustrating thing about it is the proclivity to send off runners at every leaf juncture on the vine. I've grown pumpkins before, but they were never this vigorous. It's a productive plant. And it does draw in the hummingbirds with it's flowers (especially when trellised, so the flowers are further away from cats).

It's also known as the Hokkaido pumpkin. It's a gorgeous plant, with huge golden flowers.

I've got two vines; one by the cypress, and the other along a fence which it has claimed for its very own. It has much smaller leaves (I started this one in a pot, the one by the cypress was a direct sowing) which I attribute to it being started in a pot with two others (which died) but at least it's not stopping it from producing it's teardrop shaped fruit.

Lemon cucumbers have filled the trellis nicely; there's handfuls of ripe ones every other day.

It's worth growing just for the amount of bees it draws.

Then there's the okra. It seems to be growing at a rate of two inches a day. There's a wading pool right by the patch for the dog to cool off in; we pour it off into the okra. They seem to like it. There's four plants there. Left side is Clemson spineless. Right side is Hill Country Red. It has GORGEOUS pinkish flowers, similar to it's cousin, hibiscus.

After rigging some shade, my peppers are finally producing (huzzah!) Now both plants have multiple wee fruits.

My cantaloupes share trellis space next to the cukes. And they're finally flowering and has set fruit (about damn time), so hopefully, there'll be melons sooner than later, and here's hoping we don't lose one this year to the damn buck-tooth rodent thieves that raided my perfectly ripe melon last year. I'm growing them in a half-barrel because I had direct-sown the melons three times, and all three times they were destroyed by pests unknown. I started these in a quart pot then transplanted them. After a good sprinkling of composted chicken manure, they got a running start up the trellis and are now covered in blooms -- and right behind the trellis is the black lab. Where his eye would be is a set melon (huzzah!)

Speaking of melons, I gots baby watermelon set! Happy dance! this is my first year growing watermelon, and so far, so good... here's hoping it stays good until harvest. It's sprawled all over it's space, up a tomato cage/cat hammock, and is climbing a rose bush.

But hey, baby watermelon!

And finally, there's the hummingbird feeder. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching these birds, well, they are territorial little bastards and will chase other hummers off because that's just what they do.

Tried getting a picture of one. Sat in a chair three feet away from the feeder, and just waited. They're fast and my camera is slow, but boom, there it is, unafraid of me and digging it's nectar why the main bully chased a different hummer off into the trees.

The skies are grey here, the sun an eerie neon orange that one can actually look at with blinding themselves because the smoke has darkened the sky just that much. But as long as its light can reach through the smoke, the garden will grow.