July Garden Update {Almost Time to Transition!}
Hey guys! I'm excited to once again jump in on the fun Garden Journal Challenge with @simplymike and the crew! From a quick peek around, I think we might be in a bit of the same boat as some other summer folks in that our garden has been hit pretty hard by the heat this past month. Though that is really no surprise living in the southern part of the United States! Luckily we had a pretty decent season, and now we're trying to get on top of starting to transition to getting things ready for the Fall!
We actually had some glorious weather this past week, so I enjoyed getting out for a run early the other morning before coming back to snap some shots for my garden update. These flowers aren't technically in the garden, but they looked too pretty not to share! It is rare to get a morning in July where the mosquitoes are still, however the bees seemed to be quite pleased to be out in the garden. I only had my phone with me outside, so unfortunately my photos aren't too great. You should be able to still see a little bee butt peeking out from the flower and the other one on the stick. 🐝
A lot of the plants started getting hit by worms and just wilted in the relentless heat, so @dksart recently started pulling up the ones that looked pretty rough to clear out some room for the next planting. Some of the squash seems to be bouncing back a bit, though. A few of the plants might have gotten a little out of control...
...but it must not be doing too badly as there is another butternut squash growing on the end!
The cucumbers and squash were definitely the best growers of the season. We got a few little butternuts and spaghetti squash, a decent haul of acorn squash, and more cucumbers than I could count. Oh, and two lone zucchini. One of these days @dksart will share the quick pickle video he made using some of the bounty. The cucumbers are pretty much done, but besides the butternut, there are a few other acorn and spaghetti squashes popping up again so hopefully the worms will leave them alone!
The cherry tomatoes have done alright. We still have some of those growing. The only problem with those is that you end up getting a few at a time, not many all at once to really make a meal out of. Good thing they make a great snack. The larger tomatoes have done just ok, but never seem to ripen on the vine for us. A few of them have ripened up after plucking them once I set them next to the bananas for a couple of days, and if not we have put the green ones in some different dishes.
We did finally pull back some of the maniac mint that was taking over one side of the garden. So far I have made blended up mint ice cubes to use in smoothies and we are drying a whole big bunch of it for tea. I also like grinding up some of the dried mint to use in salad dressings or other recipes, as well. It can definitely take a while to work through it all, but it's worth it to try to utilize as much of it as we can. This photo was only halfway through the process, but he has since cleared out the whole rest of the pavers.
The oregano is still holding up well, but the dill and parsley ran its course. The basil and cilantro (coriander) that we tried planting never took, so it's about time to try a new round of herbs. We have some new seedlings started in potting soil and recycled beer cans. @dksart was smart this time and took a photo of what he planted, though he hasn't shared it with me yet so I couldn't tell you! He's outside right now working away some more while I type this up. 😉
At least in the garden lull the farmers market is still going full force! Many of the farmers are starting to transition their plants, as well, but they still have plenty of the summer goodness. The melons are really coming in, so we grabbed another one today. I also got a basket of fresh figs! I'm excited to have my next nutrition event coming up a week from today to talk once again about seasonal, plant-based eating. It makes it even more fun to share about the more I learn about growing food and appreciate how much work goes into it!
UPDATE: We just found 4-5 melons growing in our own garden! Wahoo! Glad he called me out there to see. Though I'm too close to finishing this post to take more pictures, plus they are pretty small so far. Fingers crossed we get a few that actually grow enough to enjoy!
Happy growing my gardening friends!
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Your garden is lovely, @plantstoplanks! It's tough to keep the critters out. I have a small vegetable garden and the squirrels are eating all of my tomatoes, and they even pull the green ones off before they have a chance to ripen, so I'm going to have to put up some fencing.
Darn squirrels! We have been pretty lucky with the bigger critters, but the little ones like the bugs and worms can be quite pesky. I saw another local gardener who started putting mesh bags on her tomatoes because hers were getting eaten, too. Though I think the rascals still figured out how to pull of the bags until she really reinforced them!
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I see you are having lots of bounty coming up in your garden Katie! Not only you are getting amazing veggies from Local Farmers, but now you have even your own! I look forward to planting with my daughter few things next year too. She moved at the beginning of July from apartment to a house with a lots of space to grow veggies and a big cherry tree. This year is too late to plant, except some flowers, but we are brain storming, lol. 🍓😍🍅
We're definitely nowhere near self-sustaining, but at least we've gotten some good stuff this year to supplement my market visits. :) That's exciting that she'll have more space for next year! Gives you something to look forward to during that long Canadian winter!
Oh boy, it would take a lot to be self sustaining, but it's nice to have at least something. And yes, we will be definitely planning during the winter 😊
Looks like the squash tried to take over. Glad to see everything has been going great. I hope those next round of seeds come in strong. I have not even started to think about the fall weather yet.
Haha, yeah the squash went pretty nuts, and for a while it was just so brutal outside we just didn't even try to keep up with it. We're definitely a while away from any cooler weather, but in the past we've waiting way too long to try to grow anything for the Fall. Hopefully by starting a little earlier we won't miss out on all the good weather to come in a few months!
Whooaaa... what an amazing garden you have Katie Dear😉 no wonder you can create amazing recipes to share anytime😉 all the plants love you😍
Hey stranger! Thanks for stopping by! We're definitely doing our best. Hopefully each season we will continue to get better. Makes my grocery bills that much cheaper, haha!
😂😂😂 grocery bills... have you make it to the International market?
Ahh, I did make one quick trip to the international market about a month ago, but I didn't have time to take pictures! I will try to make another visit soon. One of my friends bought a huge jackfruit from there just yesterday, so if I can get together with her I might take some of it off of her hands!
Whooaa... that'll be enough to make everything .. LOL. I forgot to taje a picture from my picnic to sukabumi, west java,last week. I saw few huge jackfruits too.. as big as a goat!😲 been for so long not seeing that big one. Im in the car.. everyone is sleeping but the driver and I couldn't asked him to stop. I really want to buy one.
Haha, oh gosh, hers definitely isn't that big! How do you even carry one that is the size of a goat?? 🤣🤣🤣
I have no idea.. but I think the seller will lets me buy a quarter of the whole fruits😆 who will eat the whole fruit.. while there's only my hubby and I at home 😁
@plantstoplanks - wonderful garden journal! My mint has gone hog wild as well. I don't have room for a garden, but my lone blackberry bush is yielding nicely right now.
Yay for the blackberries! The mint really does get pretty crazy, though, doesn't it? We have won the battle for now, but I'm sure it will start creeping back out of it's container again in the blink of any eye. ;)
Great stuff, I wish I had the time to do garden work :)
Thanks for the tip on the steempeak lists that has been going around. I got it from peter who got it from jaynie who got it from you if I'm not mistaken. I guess the word is going around on this platfrom when it comes down to things like this. These list make things so much easier even though I still have to get a bit used to steempeak.
Thanks! It definitely takes a lot of effort, but it's a lot of fun to walk around and start finding little fruit popping up all over! I'm thankful that my boyfriend has had the time to really put the work in more so than I have at times.
Glad the lists are working out for you! I was really excited to start putting together mine. I still have some work to do to put together all my groups, but it has already helped with supports for some of my communities. Peter did a great job sharing how to use it, so it's awesome that we all work together to share our experiences. I've used Steempeak for a while now, so I am happy to continue to see it improve even more. Took a while to get used to at first, but now that's where I interact with the blockchain if I'm on my laptop.
You are doing great in your garden!! I love mint in yogurt to pour over whatever - veggies, potatoes... or eat with cucumber chips LOL
I have to see if I can still join the garden challenge - my steemtime has been way down...
I hope you make it in this month! I always love seeing what you have going on in your yard. In a few more weeks my Steem time might diminish a bit, too, so I'm trying to get my fix while I can. ;) Though I'll be busy with leading some corporate run groups to train for a local 5k, so perhaps at least I'll get some more Actifit posts in, haha!
Thanks for this great post and being an active member of @steemusa !tip
Thanks @tattoodjay! Hope you have enjoyed the time with the grandkids!
I hope you win the contest as your garden looks amazing, I love it!
Aww, thanks! How's your garden coming along? I don't think I've got anything on you! But I am pretty happy this year. It's definitely been the best garden that we've had in a while, so I hope it continues into the next season!