Round #2 for the squash and cucumbers

Well, it was time to harvest 3 of the sugar bowl watermelons yesterday evening, because the tendrils were dead at the end of the stem - and one of the vines was dying. They were given to my parents after being weighed, and I hope they were worthwhile. Those 3 stinkin' melons combined only weighed 8 lbs., 12 oz. Pretty lame, huh? I probably planted too many vines in the same bed....sigh. Oh well, at least there are some more out there, and they continue to grow. Probably the one thing I've really got my eye on is the lone pumpkin.....It's growing really good! Oh, and the squashbugs keep showing up there, too! Man, I sure do enjoy decapitating those things. Ha!
Although most things are doing quite well, I do have a slight problem.....Rain. Way too much rainfall in the forecast. The 5 new zucchini plants will most likely succumb to it, because of drainage issues. Yep! My main garden bed isn't deep enough for good drainage when it rains heavily, so if you're reading this Kate....
build your raised beds at least 12" deep! (above ground, of course)


Anyway.....the garden continues to produce well, and the tomatoes have got their second wind! New fruitset is all over the plants, and I'm gonna ride this crop all the way until first frost. The cowpeas have just about played out in the 4x9 box, so something needs to be planted in there - for sure! Maybe lettuce? That sounds like a good possibility!

Here's some new photos of some stuff growing right now.....


Photo below - sweet potatoes. The foliage looks really good, and I hope they produce something for me. My family really enjoys baked sweet potatoes, and it sure would be a great contribution for Thanksgiving dinner, if possible.

Photo below - Here's the recently vacated planters at the edge of the woods, with new cucumber plants in them. I honestly don't know why in the world I planted so many cucumbers sporadically throughout the garden, but it was the only thing I could think to plant at the time. Collectively, there are at least 30 new plants at various locations. Ha! Ya....apparently, I've got a fever - and the only prescription is more cucumbers...

Photo below - man....ain't them some pretty cowpeas? As you can see on the foliage below, the leaf miners like these things. Oh well, no harm done......

Next, I have some new tomato plants growing in containers. These are the suckers that were rooted a month ago, and if they only produce a few tomatoes - that will be just fine. I water them daily, because of the small containers being used. The makeshift trellis was a last minute idea I threw together with things on hand at the time. It works! This brings my tomato plant total to 18, and the weeks prior to the first frost of the year should be interesting, to say the least.

Photo below - here's the cucumber trellis all cleaned up, with new plants growing on both sides. Like I was saying earlier, I must be insane to plant so many cucumbers! At least they can be given away to friends, if we can't use them. If not, they'll make nice projectiles for the trebuchet that will eventually be built.

Photo below - This is the section where the cabbage - and then corn, was previously grown in. Three new zucchini plants (one of which isn't in the picture) should produce well if the weather will cooperate. There's even 2 more planted in another section (between the trellised plantings of beans). I bet 5 zucchini plants will produce alot! That's ok....I've got lots of friends that can use them.

Photo below - one of my crookneck plants that had a bad case of powdery mildew on the leaves, but is in good shape for another growth spurt. Removing the effected lower leaves, then applying a generous spraying of copper fungicide was exactly what the doctor oredered. This plant needs to be productive this go-around, because we didn't get many squash from it earlier.

Photo below - Here's some more zucchini plants, and also cucumber seedlings planted by each leg of the tomato cage. I've really gotta do something about this sudden cucumber-growing sickness I've recently acquired....Ha! I think granny's harvest total made me do it......

Photo below - 2 spaghetti squash located in the main box, that are turning color. Powdery mildew got all of the plant's leaves earlier, and I hope the squash still reach maturity. That big one will weigh at least 5 lbs., I bet.

Photo below - more spaghetti squash (dangit!) starting to get pretty big. Since this photo was taken, the small one to the right was removed because of BER. Netting has already been placed under the big one, and it continues to grow in size.

Lastly, here's some "surprise lilies" that just popped up out of the ground on the other side of the country road we live on. They sure are pretty, and will likely be moved onto the property soon.

In closing, i'd like to reinforce the fact that i'll be basing my total harvest for the year by lbs./sqft - and trellised things count too Granny! Nyah.......

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Melons, Pumpkins, and people that talk funny

While taking a break from my chores this past weekend, I took the opportunity to make a couple of phone calls to some gardening friends in Washington. Man....people out there sure do talk funny - well, to me at least. :-) Anyway, it was certainly good to speak with Granny and Sinfonian for a few minutes. It was a very productive weekend around the house, and I still managed to spend some quality time with family. The knee problem flared up again, though. Gotta get that checked out this fall, but only after the shed is finished.

The compost pile was turned over, too - and I managed to add some of the high-dollar grass clippings to it, and water it as well. I've got some really big plans for the composting system in the future, as you will see in a few months. I'm gonna need a bunch, because the growing medium in the sfg boxes has shrunk pretty bad, and also the beds will be taller next year. Although 6" is ok in some climates, it's not here - and I'm aiming to go deeper. Maybe 13-14"? Maybe then, my garden will produce as well as Granny's.



Me and Granny have an on-going friendly competition of who can have the highest harvest total for the year, and as you can see....she's taking me to the woodshed right now! I tell ya....I'm at quite a disadvantage, because she has like 50 more years of gardening experience, and also twice the size garden that I have. Does anyone think that the crazy engineered garden can become "the little garden that could"? I'm actually having alot of fun with it, and everytime the number increases over at granny's blog, I think to myself "dangit". Instead of cole varieties this fall, only warm season veggies will be grown. The new plantings of squash and cucumbers should be producing a harvest sometime in September, and I hope they do well for me! But seriously, Grannie's garden is producing like mad, and I'm happy for her! She should really have her own tv program.
Anyway, I took some photos of the melons and such the other day, and hope you enjoy them!


Photo below - here's a little Mountain Hoosier watermelon that was recently supported with a knee high. As stated earlier, there are two growing now, and I sure hope they grow as big as expected. An 85 lb. melon would certainly be something to see hanging from the trellis, but I really think 50 lbs. is more ideal. I guess time will tell! Strong netting will be used to support them in a few days.....

Photo below - Sugar bowl watermelon that isn't getting as big as expected. The seed packet said 20-25 lbs., but I think 10-15 is more like it. After close inspection this morning, the tendril closest to the fruit has already dried up on 3 of them. Guess they'll be picked in about a week.

Photo below - Moon and Stars watermelon. I'm really not understanding the little bumps on the outer surface, so if anyone knows this is a problem - please let me know. It'll get some netting in a few days, as well. I can't wait to try this one out later!

Photo below - Cantaloupe (left), and "Cool Green" Honeydew (on the right). I had to give them both double support, because the wind kept making them fall from their slings. These two plantings have been somewhat disappointing this year, because there hasn't been very much fruitset. Only 3-4 will make it to maturity, and i'd hoped for 8.

Photo below - another sugar bowl watermelon. I've got 4 or 5 of these growing right now.

Photo below - The first fruitset on my pumpkins. This is one of the varieties that came from my friend Medo, and the packet was marked "Big Pumpkin '07". I sure hope it's a bigun'!

In closing, I'd like to say that the garden is still doing well, and daily pickings of various veggies are still taking place. We have so many beans in the freezer right now, I kinda wish they would quit producing already. Oh well....they'll certainly be good this winter.

The first paste tomatoes were cored and frozen over the weekend, so they can be used for making sauce later. Homemade spaghetti sauce should be fun to make, and i'll get the wife to add some special ingredients to it. She's a much better cook than me, and the help will certainly be appreciated.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The gardening continues

Wow, I can't believe it's been over 3 weeks since I've blogged.....Sometimes, I become completely engulfed by the many chores, projects, and daily activities - and just have to get back to normalcy, if you could say that there's anything normal about me.....Anyway, there's still many projects that have to be completed over the next few weeks - mainly, designing the landscape for a memorial in my town, and also working on the second refrigeration unit for an exothermic generator at a local industrial plant. (Yeah...I'm completely covered up with tasks that don't include gardening). I'll only be able to blog maybe twice a week, but at least I can share my thoughts and photos with all of you once again.....It's good to be back, and I've missed all of you. The shed construction is still as it was when I last blogged about it. It'll have to wait for a while.......

BTW....this is gonna be a really long post, and if you only have time to look at the photos, i'll certainly understand. As you can imagine, alot of changes have taken place in the garden over the past 3 weeks, and i'll try to be brief with my thoughts.

First, let me tell you that the corn was harvested, and the yield was mediocre at best. Those plants that were grown in the sfg did exceptionally well, but the ones in the earthtainer scrap pieces did poorly. Oh well, now I know not to try it again! We froze all of the ears in their husks, and even grilled some last weekend. Needless to say....it was very good! After the stalks were removed from the garden, zucchini was planted in it's place. Those new plants are doing quite well, and hopefully will produce a good crop sometime during the month of september.

The cucumbers have also played out already, and the area has been replanted with more. I've completely lost track of how many quarts of pickles that have been canned, maybe 24? (Some of which, were made with cucumbers that one of my friends at work gave to me).

I only picked 5.5 gallons of blackberries this year, because most evenings were spent carrying 5 gallon buckets of water out to the garden. It was ridiculous! Good lord.....those 6 earthtainers for the tomatoes used 12 buckets of water every 3 days during the recent heat wave we've had. Toting 60 gallons of water 150 feet is for the birds. I'm really gonna have to re-think this watering thing.....

The yellow squash produced a few fruit, but the plants have really suffered from the heat, and completely shut down. As you can guess though, they have rebounded, and are starting to produce again - thanks to cooler temps.

The white potatoes did horrible, and termites used them as their new home. I couldn't believe it when they were dug up, and termites started emerging from the holes that they had tunneled into each tuber. With 2 failed plantings of potatoes this year, none will be tried in the future.

Here's some pictures that I shot recently of various items, and I wanted to show them to you - even though it looks much differently now.

Photo below - Here is the first fruit to form on the mountain hoosier watermelon vine (the big one), and there are a total of two. Both have been supported with knee-highs, until further support is necessary. This picture was taken 2 weeks ago.

Photo below - Spaghetti squash. This plant is growing in the 18 gallon swc next to the new trellis, which was supposed to be butternut. Yes......I got my seeds mixed up. Can you believe that? There's fruitset on 5 so far, and we don't even like that variety.....Thankfully, I have a friend that loves them, and has been giving me zucchini. In return, the spaghetti squash will eventually be given to him.

Photo below - powdery mildew has reared it's ugly head in abundance, due to the hot, humid environment. I didn't have time to prevent it from happening, but the new plantings have been sprayed with copper fungicide - which will keep it from forming.

Photo below - The paste tomatoes are gonna come in pretty much all at once, and that's certainly a good thing! The roma are doing much better than the opalka, and will be the only one grown next year. I'm learning that there's some varieties that can't take the heat that we have here. Mortgage Lifter is another that hasn't done well.

Photo below - The cowpeas have been doing pretty good, and are being frozen as they mature. We love these things, but shelling them can be a real pain.....I wish more had been planted, but the white potatoes were occupying 10 squares for several months.

Photo below - Here's one of the sugar bowl watermelons, that's still hangin' in there.....There's fruitset on 4, but aren't growing as big as expected. I sure do hope they'll get bigger than this, because the package said 20-25 lbs.

Photo below - Congo watermelon, which has since been supported with netting. It's much bigger now, and I can't wait to try this variety. Like most of the other melons, only a couple of them have been allowed to form.

Photo below - Look at the melon box now! The pumkins were planted on the left side of the bed, and have already grown all the way across the top to the right - then about halfway acroos the next section of trellis. I'm guessing the vine length is at least 18 feet long, with only one pumpkin formed so far.

Finally, here's a couple of Cherokee Purple tomatoes that were harvested 3 weeks ago. The taste was impressive, and more will be grown next year. Both measured 4" across, but none have been this good since.

Without a doubt, the most abundant harvest has come from the green beans - which are being frozen at least 1 or 2 times a week. I can't stand to see a green bean right now.....The okra is coming in too, but not at an accelerated rate yet. That should change in a couple of weeks, though.

In closing, i'd like to say that i'll try to keep up with everone's blogs, but may not have the time to leave comments.....I just don't have alot of spare time right now, as I hope you'll understand. I'll try to get some photos in a few days, then post them when I get a chance.

Take care, and happy gardening

EG - who is so tired right now......

Stay tuned........

I'll be putting together a really long post this weekend. Thanks everyone, for not going anywhere while I was away!

EG

The blackberry patch

Here is a video of me walking thru the entire blackberry patch, and I hope it doesn't make you dizzy!

Compost and paste tomatoes

Mad City Chickens documentary - thanks for following the blog!!!

Today, I decided to tidy up the garden a bit, by removing most of the dead foliage from the squash plants. It sure needed it, and while I was at it - most of the spaghetti squash vine was removed, too. I left the growth that currently has fruit set on it, and should get around 5 or 6 total. After that was complete, the area looked kinda naked, so I planted more summer squash. From the recent success with the interplanting of the corn with the recent cabbage, I just had to go ahead and plant some zucchini right in the middle of the corn section. In 2 weeks, it'll be harvested anyway.......I really like this interplanting thing! Anyway, here's a new video of my compost. Enjoy!



Tomorrow's post is a really long video of the blackberry patch. Yay! I haven't picked in a few days, because my knee is really bothering me again....Boo!