Western Mountains and High Plains: MAY 2013, What's Up in your garden?

Hot wax peppers  


And that's about how many I got last year, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a better harvest this year!!

Corn. Squash. Cukes.

I love early mornings in the garden before work.
Patty pan squash



Calandula



Calendula, carrots, cucumbers (complete with bird poop)



Beans and a few peppers


Candy onions


Troboncino squash climbing away


Gilbertie

Looking very good. If you want to you could remove some of those calenduas to other areas of the garden and the ones you leave will get bigger.

i hope I can find someone selling pattypans, I sure do like those.

Rooster, When I grow up I want to have veggie plants like yours.  

Lol, they did get a little thick there didn't they  
Thanks sanderson! I've had lots of good teachers here on the forum  

Picked a few jalapenos, and a couple of purple cayenne peppers  

I picked three smallish zucchini yesterday.

Four or five more babies are beginning to develop. And then there's the one that's trying to win a Big Stuff award.

Beans are also starting to develop, a tomato is nearly ripe, the cukes are starting to climb the trellis, corn is brilliant green and growing, cilantro is ready, another potato square is blooming, and I still have more greens than I can eat!

Gilbertie  



The picture doesn't do much justice to the size of this thing.

Wow, that's a nice looking tomato! I am afraid to go look at mine after work, last night we got so much hail they had to plow the roads.

So I went out and checked my garden last night and all the leaves are gone off of everything, the potatoes are ready to be dug up so they should be fine, tomatoes are toast, I have a few pumpkins that survived but there are no leaves left so not sure if they will recover.

Cheyannarach,  I'm so sorry.  

Thanks Sanderson!  I guess I will be supporting my local green house now and buying tomatoes and peppers from them!  I did just go check my plant in on the deck and the tomato and peppers on there look great still so I should get a few fresh ones of my own.  I will try to post a picture of the hail, I have never seen anything like it!

What a bummer! Sorry to hear about your garden Cheyanne.

Wow! Gutted!!  

Yep Camp, it was pretty bad.  For some reason I can't pot the picture on here but here is a link, if you scroll down you can see pictures of what downtown looked like, I didn't get any pics at my house because I was late for work because the electricity went out that night too!

https://www.facebook.com/custerchronicle

Oh Cheyanne that is just awful!  That was sure a large amount of hail to require snow plows!  I can't believe such a thing could happen this time of year!  I hope some of your things will be able to make a comeback!  Thank goodness for potatoes!  If you were a pioneer, you would be looking at some starvation.

No kidding!  But I should have lots of eggs this winter  .  Chickens should start laying any day now!

That is such a fun time!  My chickens did just a few teeny eggs from the group of four and then they went laying the extra large from then on.  I have one left and she is hiding and laying eggs in a spot that I can't get to.  Luckily they are shaded and don't go bad right away.  I learned a trick to find out if an egg is fresh and you may know it already.  Fill a glass with water.  Gently drop the egg in it.  If it sinks and lays on its side it is super fresh.  If it floats some it is ok.  If it is floating at the top I throw it away.  I found out that works on hard boiled eggs also.  I guess my rotation was off and I just grabbed a big bunch of eggs.  I didn't look at them while they were boiling but when I went to check on them later, one was floating at the top.  I took it out and broke it open and whew, it stunk to high heaven!

I am debating on whether to get more.  The eggs are so amazing!  I sure love calling my last girl and she comes running!

Awe!  Love it!  Thanks for the tip!  Can't wait to try them.  I just hope the eggs are better than the chickens, I had too many roosters so hubbs and his dad decided to eat the Three Amigos (I just couldn't bring myself to be a part of it) then the chicken turned out tough, I just laughed because the Three Amigos got the last laugh!

Last night my kids and I picked two small onions, a few small carrots, and some thyme for potato soup for dinner. While at the garden the kids founds a couple of peas that are making a come back from a few days of 90 degree heat and the first of our green beans. Oh before I forget my older son found the first ripe tomato and it was in his mouth even before I could see it. Wish I had remembered the camera to take pictures. Next time...hopefully...

What a stinker!  Did you get some of the tomato?  That's what my 4 year old does with my peas!

Cheyenne, I had a good laugh at that one!  I so wouldn't have the ability (maybe if I was in great need) to kill a rooster or chicken.  That is funny they were tough!  I thought I had read somewhere a long time ago that roosters were a tough meat.  You will love your eggs, especially if they get to forage for bugs and weeds.  They do tend to dig up lawn though, then the weeds move in.  Ask me how I know!  I now have a very ugly back yard.  If I get more chickens and I let them out of their run, they will only get to be in a little bigger run and an occasional visit to the garden under my watchful eye.  I let them in the garden one year and they were happily digging in the isles between the beds.  Then one went and started eating my first zucchini of the season.

Mschaef sounds wonderful all that you got to pick, I love potato soup!  Your son is a little stinker with your first tomato!  When my nephew lived with me he would help in the garden.  I think he only helped so willingly so he could go forage the cherry tomatoes, lol!  That plant that year kept producing well so I was glad we all had plenty.  I enjoy when the family like to eat from my garden and you are training your children well!  Hopefully you will get to the next tomato first!

I am sorry to hear you got the other end of that hail storm, Cheyanne!  Some farms around me had 100% loss of crops.  My garden is on the lee of greenhouse and house so had some protection.  The zuccini right next to the greenhouse is fine, the winter squash is reduced to the vines.  Maybe we will have a long season and get a few......