July 2012, New England

So, I finally have moved all of my tomatoes and peppers from my nursery bed into their permanent positions. I know we had an early Spring time and is seems as if everything is growing about 2 weeks ahead of normal, but my Gilbertie tomatoes were simply uncooperative. I had quite poor germination the first planting so I ended up sowing more seed quite late... thus the need for the nursery bed. This morning I finally put up the rigging for the overhead trellis and everything is ready to grow!
Photos tomorrow.
How does your garden grow in New England?

July 1st pics. Somehow I have fallen behind with this gardening thing.
Tomatoes finally in their bed.


Eggplants that I bought as starts.


Potatoes, I think they look pretty good.


Lettuces, I bought these as starts, the lettuce I sowed crapped out


Cabbages and BS.


This bed was waiting for summer beans but I plunked a bunch of chard in that I had thinned from another bed......Might have to switch up the bush bean plan.


The compost pile is getting smaller and smaller. New compost started on the left, there was evidently a visitor, as the wire hoop has been bent.


Slow start with the squash. I hate squash bugs and cucumber beetles. Trying to foil them with tulle.


A friend brought me a garden sculpture. I love it! It stands near 30" tall.


I didn't do much gardening today, but I did some bee work.


I dropped a frame and this popped out. Thankfully I salvaged it.

Wow, your bee biz is expanding. That pictures reminds me of the "chewing gum" I chewed as a kid. Honey comb.

Kay

camprn wrote:
I dropped a frame and this popped out. Thankfully I salvaged it.

Honey comb! I want one!

I would probably do honeybees in my yard despite being allergic. But some idiot in this town would find a reason to sue I am sure! Seems like this town is good at that.

Camp, your gardens look fab! I hope mine look like that when I grow out of the newbie-stage.

I've been trying to replace my romaine as I use it with seed but they don't want to sprout, even under burlap. *shrug* I guess it's too hot now. I bought some heat tolerant lettuce seeds but they don't seem to want to sprout either. And something ate my newly sprouted radish leaves.

But right now the swiss chard, kale, loose leaf lettuces, beets, carrots, daikon, cabbage, zucchini and tomatoes seem to be doing well and are keeping us fed and juiced. My bush beans, pole beans, spaghetti squash and cucumbers are growing very slowly - the beans and cucs having just today grabbed onto their trellis. The melons have only recently sprouted even tho I see baby melons already on another thread.



And we had 13 drops of rain this week, so I water once or twice a day. That's how it's going on Cape Cod so far.

CC

CC, I like your garden! How did you get those hoops bent like that?

Those are made of bamboo and they came that way. We bought them at Job Lot. Looks like a covered wagon, right?

I use bamboo stakes all over the place and this year I planted some bamboo in a container so I wouldn't have to buy it anymore, but so far there are only 2 bamboo plants sticking up.

Waaaay past my bedtime....nite nite, all...

CC

I got home from 2 weeks away yesterday and found these waiting for me. It's also funny to see that I planted zuchinni where pumpkin should go and now my pumpkin plants are going ballistic around my tomato containers. Can I crop the plants and get them to stop? We are going to have pumpkins for the whole neighborhood at this rate.

@hruten......I've never tried it, but I've read from good gardener sources that if you cut off the vine after it forms blossoms within the first 4-5 feet or so, that the fruits will mature faster because they can expend all their growing energy to those few. You don't really need a long vine unless you are going for high production. So, yes, you can prune back your vines and still get fruit.

I was worried about them getting too big... but now my hubby says,"Let 'em grow!"

I guess I will just have to make sure they stay away from the other vegetables. Thanks for the post *Bea! Here's to a productive Summer, my first at that

July Garden Chores and Tips For the North East from A Way to Garden

I have some empty squares. Is anyone planting any seeds right now? If so, what?

CC

I'm getting ready to plant some bush beans. You could plant more beets, carrots. Look at your first frost date and count back the weeks/days to determine what you can plant. Also check your GDD and see if there is going to be enough heat for the plant to get to harvest.

Today is 7/7 and I'm going to prep my open squares for fall, probably sow broccolli, cabbage and maybe carrots. Its time to sow the seeds directly in the beds in my area, zone 5a.

My tomatoes are gaining ground.

My Green Zebras are coming along the earliest. I was having spotted leaves and yellowing, so I cut off the affected leaves and branches and sprayed all the plants with water and baking soda 2 days ago hoping to fend off any blight or other health problems. I'll let you know if that works.

Above: My dwarf Red Haven Peach tree, planted last year, has about a dozen lovely peaches growing.

My Millionaire eggplant has its first blossoms. No blossoms on my Fairy Tale, Long Purple, and Casper eggplants.
I harvested Marvel bush peas, sugar snaps, snow peas, the last 4 Purple Top turnips, and a Golden Acres cabbage. The sugar snaps sown 5/12 for a later crop are blossoming now.


This is the 2nd crop. The first ones are about finished.

Watered my Dunja zucchini (it has 3 small zukes) and about 40 or more dark squash bugs started evacuating from its center. I was hard-pressed to squash them all. I think a few got away.
I'm quite happy with my garden's progress for the moment.

Bea, those peaches are adorable!!!

I have a question: Mels book on pg 259 shows planting seeds for fall crops for broccoli & such indoor first. When you plant your seeds for broccoli, etc, directly into the garden, do you shade them?

CC

Camp, what's a GDD?

I ended up planting more bush beans, btw, along with more pole beans, radishes, carrots, beets and some collard transplants, as well as transplanting a couple of surprise romaines.

I also bought some more vermiculite and peat to make MM as I have 1 and a half boxes with only unfinished compost in them and most of my other boxes have sunk and need topping off. Too hot today so I'll do it tomorrow.

CC

camprn that honeycomb looks delish. I'm not counting on getting any honey from my hive since it's their 1st year, but I would LOVe to be pleasantly surprised.

@CC your garden sounds just like mine. The heatwave lettuce seeds have done squat & my mesclun mix has already bolted despite being covered. I guess it's just too hot.The lettuce I started inside is doing wonderful so I'm just going to keep doing that. I thought I had read that lettuce doesn't sprout above 70-75*.

I plan on starting my broccoli inside in about a week. My spring plants only gave me a pinky finger sized head. Oh well. I'm hoping fall is better.

My peas are done. I'll plant more in a few weeks for a fall crop. I'm still not having great luck with my chard even though I bought new seeds. Cukes are piddly diddly thanks to the slugs eating them all & me having to replant them all under a row cover. Not sure what that harvest will be like. Tomatoes are doing amazing, but once again I have WAY too many plants (30 total) A few are in pots because I found that I had end rot last year. Now I'll only put 2 tomatoes per bed.

Wish I could figure out how to post pictures

A Way to Garden BLog

She includes a list of what we could be preparing to plant in the near future.
CC GDD Are growing degree days, This thread has a good explanation.

QB, nice peaches! I would like some fruit trees, but alas I am reluctant to cut down my shade trees.

So I have progress in my garden, the wicked slow tomatoes are coming along nicely.
I sprayed copper fungicide on the tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants today, after finding a few suspicious lesions on the potatoes...
The peas are spent and I am sprouting new seed for replanting later this week.


Shallots nearly ready.


New boxes added this year. On the right are aubergine and peppers, on the left in the drive, just planted bush beans. Two small boxes with a tomato plant in each. Finally have my first tomato growing, a Cherokee purple.


A baby aubergine, Thank Heavens, I love aubergine!!!


Less than desirable germination on the cukes, but they are coming along. Next year I am so not planting them next to the Brussels sprouts.


Took of a large sucker.

I also picked up copper fungicide yesterday. I had three small pepper plants that were showing some lesions and my roma had some black speckling which I assume was blight. So I dusted everything. I really hope my Roma makes it. It has a tomato the size of my fist on it. I've never seen a roma that big!! You can see it kind of hidden in the back. The ones in front are not SMALL either

I got lucky with putting my stuff out early this year. We have had fresh produce from the garden every night. Pickling/eating cukes, zuchinni, chard, kale, lettuce, carrots. I've even got my hubby into asking," Is this from the garden?"

@camprn.....I put my dwarf fruit trees along the driveway. Its a good place for them.

I've been harvesting sugar peas for a couple weeks now and my Marvel bush peas. The Swiss chard and lettuces are ongoing. So far my Romaine and Buttercrunch varieties have been doing well even in the heat, with some shade. I've shaded the cabbage and have harvested a couple and have some in the garden.

Here's a couple of cabbages under cheesecloth.

above: The ealier sugar peas are about done but these sown on May 12th are just ripening.

above: Two zukes harvested on July 9 from a plant whose seed was sown outdoors on May 6.

As you can see, above, my iceberg type and romaine lettuces are still good.

I've got purple blossoms on one of my Millionaire eggplants transplanted outdoors on June 9th.

above: a couple squares of my cukes, Mini Whites and Sikkim, just starting their growth. I've got to add the strings for them to vine upwards. Its a new method I'm trying this year, like I string my tomatoes, with which I have great luck.

My tomatoes are still green but these are my husk cherry tomatoes, Goldies, in pots. I've never grown them before so I was curious to try a couple.
I've sprayed my tomatoes with a mixture of baking soda and water to defray early blight. We'll see how that works for me.
So far, I'm quite happy this year.

So, I just got back from my small squash patch, jack knife in hand. I did't see much frass, but I was highly suspicious of nearly every plant. I found about 10 small (3mm-5mm) borers. They had done minimal damage, thank goodness. I will be checking all the squash plants again daily for the next week to make sure I get all the wee devils.

WHATS EVERYONE PLANTING NOW IN N.E.? (sorry for the caps but I was calling out to get everyones' attention and had to type loudly)

@Bea - Great photos. My remaining lettuces are starting to bolt so I'm chowing down but I snuck a romaine seed under some bush beans a few weeks ago and it's doing great!

I can't believe your peas went on so long. Mine were over weeks ago and I planted pole beans in their place. I'd love to see some photos of your cucs strung up.


CC

Ok, Now I feel like an official SFGer. I built a real, honest to goodness, 4x4 box and filled it with MM yesterday. The kids and I planted 2 broccoli, 2 cauliflower, 2 red and 2 green cabbages, 2 squares carrots, 1 sq radish, 1.5 sq pak choi, 2.5 sq red and romaine lettuces, and 1 sq grn onions. I did have one casualty pak choic this morning from a chipmunk, but put floating cover on it this morning.

I am so excited! we will be eating fresh ripe tomatoes tonight. A few of my sweet 100s and one Romaine are fully ripe! Like the song says," The only 2 things that money can't buy, and that's true love and home grown tomatoes!"

Welcome to the club! Where did you get your transplants?