Garden picks...

Today we picked green beans. Ours are later than everyone else's because we planted so late. I was surprised at the amount of beans that we got from the raised beds. The bed is only 4x8 and we picked a whole grocery bag tonight. We also picked quite a few cucumbers and some peppers. I want to can some pickled peppers. Bill really likes them.
Bill's dad gave us 8 dozen ears of corn this week and we canned creamed corn. Usually we freeze it, but thought we would try canning this year.
I will get some pics up soon....

Weed and weed

I was just reading an article in the paper today about how this summer is such a great one for flowers and gardens. However, that also makes it good for the weeds!
Everyone I have talked to that gardens is having the same problem. The weeds are trying to take over. I think they are growing overnight. We have had a lot of rain coupled with humidity and temps that are pretty reasonable. I guess what grows good flowers and veggies grows good weeds too.
My cucumbers this year are amazing! I don't think that I have ever had such good luck. The cattle panel seems to be working well as a trellis behind the raised bed. Something that I will do differently next year though is plant only one variety in each 8 ft. section. I planted 3 varieties this year and they have grown together so much, I'm not sure that I will know the difference. Live and learn. I will also not plant 2 rows of peppers in front of the cucumbers again. The cucumbers are so bushy that they are trying to overtake the back row.
The raspberries are doing well for the first year that we have picked. We have been gone so much over the weekends though that a lot of them ripened and just fell off to the ground. The funny thing is that our black raspberries were attacked by birds prior to putting up netting. The reds are not really being bothered that we can tell. I don't know why that is.
The wax and green beans are doing well and starting to flower. The farmers that have grown beans in the area have been picking and I could smell them this am when I went outside.
The zucchini and yellow squash seem to be lagging after a rough start.
The onion tops have dried and need to be pulled and the broccoli needs cut.
With all this going on, can anyone believe that I am already thinking about what I can plant for fall?? I saw a post on Skippy's Vegetable Garden that gave a link for when to plant certain crops for fall based on the last frost date for your area. Here it is: http://www.heirloomseeds.com/schedule-2.htm
Good luck!

So long without an update

I cannot believe that I have gone so long without a blog update! We have been having some internet problems, and I have not been able to get on for about a week. The other time is just me being too busy.
I will make an effort to update more often.

What is "growing on" in the garden today...

The green and wax beans are sprouting now.












This is my little bit of dill that Bill saved for me. We had such an overabundance of dill that volunteered this year. Most of it had to be removed. We kept a bit here and there.












Not a very good picture of my mini pumpkins. I was not sure if the seed would even sprout. I am trying to use up a lot of old seed this year. I cannot bear to throw away any seeds or anything green.












The cucumbers are doing pretty well. I am still waiting for them to start to climb.












Peppers on the other hand are not doing as well. Their growth seems to be stunted. Others in the area are also saying that their plants are not doing well this year. My plants are starting to get some flower buds though. Any peppers will be as big as the plants.












Two more raspberries are becoming red. They are not quite ready yet though. I sure am!












The potatoes are starting to flower. This is another plant that is not doing well. Some did not come up at all and others wilted after coming up. I lost two plants this way.
I must say that we are very pleased with the way that the raised beds are working out. Weeding seems much easier. The beds will take a couple years of compost to get a better soil, but so far, so good. It will be interesting to see over a few years how the more intensive gardening works out with harvest amounts and disease/bugs.

Today's garden work

Tonight Bill and I worked in the garden. The weather was so nice! We were able to turn the air off in the house, and the temps outside were great. There was enough breeze until sunset to keep the gnats away too.
I planted more tomatoes...yellow pear, red lightning, roma, jelly bean, and marcellino. I figured that I now have 48 plants. I figured that whatever we don't eat or can, I will take to work. There are plenty of people that are always willing to have free produce. No salmonella here!
We also planted sugar baby pumpkins that are supposed to be good for canning. Bill is hoping for canned pumpkin and pumpkin butter. We planted two plants; we'll see what happens.
The green beans, wax beans and Jack Be Little pumpkins are starting to sprout. No sign of the Baby Boo pumpkins, gourds or zucchini or squash yet. I am hoping that they will come up. I over planted the seed hoping that even though it was old seed, they would come up.
I picked the first red raspberry of the season yesterday. It was so delicious. The seeds almost melted in my mouth. I hope that the rest of them will taste as good. This will be the first year that we have picked them. Last year was the first year for them. Our wild raspberry on the fence is starting to turn red too. Earlier than the others.
The strawberries are on their way out. There are still a fair amount of berries that are almost ready but once those are done, that will be all for the season.
The fruit tree are still doing well also. Our Honeycrisp apple looks like a straight stick with no leaves. There are really no out branches. Maybe next year.
Good night and garden dreams!

Newest veggie garden pics

Here are the newest pics of the veggie garden with almost all of the raised beds in. I did not think that we would get all of them done this summer, but Bill was busy and finished them for me. I have two that need placed still and the straw placed, but the look is there.

We planted more seeds. I know that it is really late, but I thought better late than never. We planted Baby Boo pumpkins, Jack Be Little pumpkins, gourds, pic-n-pic yellow squash, zucchini, wax beans, green beans, and 16 more tomato plants (total of 32 now with more to go!!)

The flowers on the border are doing well also. I planted some more seeds hoping to fill in some of the more bare spots. I like the wild look of the volunteer plants.

We staked up the taller raspberries with old hedge poles. Bill used wire to connect them and used a technique that he used on the farm to do fencing by twisting the wire together. It gave it a really rustic look that we were hoping for. The pictures all turn out better if you click on each one to expand the view so it can be seen better. Someday I will get a nicer camera so I can take some of the great pictures that I see on other blogs.

Vegetable garden

I finally have pictures again! Here are some pictures of our garden that I referenced in the previous post with the cattle panel in the last raised bed for cucumbers. Putting the straw around made a huge difference! I hope that it keeps the weeds down. Bill has enough wood for one more box. The rest we will probably do next year.

The weather has finally warmed up and I will be planting the rest of the garden this week. I am anxious for the seedlings to pop. I still would like to plant green beans, gourds, maybe some black eyed peas and okra, beets (I know, these should have been going by now), tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, basil, garlic chives, baby pumpkins, maybe a plant of larger carving pumpkins. I could go on and on. So much to plant and so little time!