July Pictures

It is hotter than Hades out there. I believe the heat index got to 118 degrees this afternoon, so needless to say the only thing accomplished was to deeply water late this evening. I apologize for the pictures. It was too hot to take them before it got dark.

Here we have my herbs in buckets. The sage and thyme didn't make it, but the rest are doing well. In the front are cucumbers and to the right are watermelon (not in pic). In the middle are the squashes. The zucchini which started terrible, is doing fabulous now as is my carnival squash. The butternut is catching up, but the yellow has some issues. The leaves are turning yellow and the stems are pretty chewed. I'm pretty sure it's a cucumber beetle problem, but it could be squash vine borer too. I may try to replant some yellow squash this week or next. Behind that are the eggplant and peppers which are doing quite well and a basil plant that is struggling after being planted too late. At the very back are the tomatoes. The romas and sungold cherry are producing nicely. The brandywine seems to be doing good with several green tomatoes, but the Moskivich is a goner, I believe. I may not get that type again as I think I've had a problem with it before.

Here you can see that the potatoes are pretty much died back and ready to dig up. Behind that is corn that is very close to being ready as well.

In the front are little okra seedlings next to a ton of swiss chard ready to eat. In the middle are sweet potato seedlings, then leeks and carrots. There are also a few onions left, but most have been harvested and are curing on the kitchen table (away from dog who would like to play with them). This bed needs a lot of weeding as you can see.

The brassica bed is just about done for the year. In the middle are the biggest sunflowers I've ever grown, much less seen. The dill is flowering and smells lovely. There are two survivor cantelope plants among the weeds and secondary cabbage leaves in front. I fertilized them today, and maybe they will start to grow better. In the back is kale and collards that are close to bolting and lettuce that is way past bolting. This bed will need a lot of clean up once I can catch up with the current crops.

On the other side of the potato bed is the great pole bean takeover. We have harvested a bunch already, and there is more picking to be done. In the front are lima beans that are wondering where there trellis went.