I can't believe summer is halfway through! I have been scrambling just to keep up with work, the house and working out - so I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have liked on my garden. I ended up deciding to scale back a little on my original plan, but I am still pretty happy with the results I've gotten. If nothing else, I learned what I would change for the next growing year! I thought I would give an update on the good, the bad and the ugly...well, none of it's bad or ugly but some didn't turn out how I was hoping!
The bell peppers were REALLY slow growers - I planted them at the same time as everything else and they are only around 8-10" tall (and most of that was from the last few weeks). They are supposed to be around 12-18" tall, so they are only half grown!! However, they look great and they are starting to get the little balls that form the flowers/fruit - so hopefully I will get some great peppers soon!!
I thought my tomatoes had a similar height challenge - they are only around 20-24" - but it turns out that was the height they were supposed to be! I forgot that I purposely got the ones that don't need to be staked, just to see how thye do - whew it wasn't me :) I have had a bit of a challenge keeping them happy, I think I overwatered them at first, then it got hot and I missed watering them a few times. They seem pretty happy now, there are tons of tomatoes growing!! I forgot (okay, I might have felt too guilty) to thin them, so I have 4 plants per pot and there doesn't seem to be any issues. I don't know, maybe they would have gotten fuller if there were less plants, but it doesn't seem to have slowed them down. Luckily the heat had backed off a little when they started flowering!!
The green beans are really the only "ugly" bit - I bought bush beans, but they are more like vine beans. To make matters worse, I completely dropped the ball and didn't put a pole up to support them until umm...last night...oops! It doesn't seem to have affected the plants (except for the 'bad hairdo' look it's stuck with now). I plan to go out and harvest those tasty green beans tonight for dinner!!
My zucchini plants are pretty sad too - I think it was too hot for the plants and the bees during their highest flowering season! A few weeks ago I had tons of flowers - but ended up with very few edible results. I laugh when I go out to see the zucchini hanging over the side of the pot, and the shapes they ended up being. The shape doesn't matter - they are yummy!!
The artichokes are doing well, even if I have no idea when or if I will get to eat any this year or not! They went through their second leaf shape change a few weeks ago, so maybe I will get late artichokes. I actually did try thinning them - I cut a few of them off (not wanting to disturb the roots of the other plants), and they grew back! Then I pulled them out and 2 grew back again lol - so I am just leaving them. It doesn't seem to be hurting them and I can always trim the leaves on the inside if it gets too crowded. About that second leaf change - seriously, I haven't found anyone who talks about it but the plants came up with the normal rounded 'starter' leaves, which changed to a still rounded but serrated edge (you can see them yellowing above) - and then they developed these very pointy dangerous looking leaves. I'm assuming it's normal and I didn't end up with mutant artichokes lol!
The asparagus is doing great as far as I know! They grew these great looking stalks and that's about it for now. I have two more years before I get to taste them, but I'm sure it will be worth it!
Finally, the apple tree! It looks great, and it looks like I'm gonna have to put on my big girl panties and learn how to prune it soon! Pruning is just as scary as thinning is!! The plant growing below is the nasturtiums - it looks like I planted 20 of them - but there are only 6!! I need to cut some of them back to give the scallions a little more light, but everything seems to be growing well with them. You can't tell, but there are strawberries, onions, scallions and chives growing in there as well!"
So that's the latest! I am hoping to get a winter plan in place soon so I can try growing things through the winter. I'm sure I will be posting about that soon!
Have fun - grow something!
Beth
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