July 2019 Northern and Central Midwest –SUMMER!!!

Finally summer, but here, it was like the spigot turned OFF and the heat turned on....just like that....

Peas are gonna come out this weekend.  I watered (? Right) and fertilized with that stinky stinky fish stuff.  

Weeded and tied up maters.  Mundane things.   Waiting period...not far for garlic....and Sunburst tomatoes.  

Squash setting fruita, same with cukes.  

Strawberries are done, man were they amazing.

I've picked a few peas, and a few baby tomatoes.  Things seem late, but are progressing.

We're in full summer mode now.  Daily picking of cherry tomatoes, squash, kale, lettuce, green onions, radishes, and peppers. Harvested the beets. Some carrots are about ready to pull, and will be planting more soon. As SR said, it has turned hot & dry, but we're supposed to have rain for the next 3 days - haven't turned on the drip irrigation system yet, but watching the weather.

Agree, nrstooge, things are late but moving along.  Hopefully we get a break this fall and get some extra time before frost!  I picked my first half-dozen Sungold cherry tomatoes yesterday!  Man are those tasty and sweet!  I missed them last year.   Pulling spent peas today.  Big mistake; putting the shell peas and sugar snaps next to each other...


OG you are ahead of me by a couple weeks I think!  Enjoy this holiday weekend, chance of rain each day, still hopeful for some sunshine for poolside fun!

Doing some research on why my patty pan is dropping little baby fruits, probably a pollination issue.  Plants look healthy, will wait it out a bit because I have TONS of bees and various pollinators around?  Might just be a glitch.  Saw my first baby zucchini out there!  The plant is smaller than I imagined?  I guess it is doing OK though.  

Cherry tomatoes are wonderful.  Sungold is my absolute all time fave. Watching the garlic, it’s getting close....will let it go as long as it looks like it’s growing.  Then I have a few squares to fill.  More carrots.  (Story:  I left all my carrots out on the counter last year over night and they got limp and terrible....deprived).

I might try to put in more cukes...what else should I succession plant?  I think it’s too early for Fall.  Radishes?  Asian turnips?  (Tokyo Cross, Hakurei)

I had the same problem with my summer squash, SR, but they are on a roll now and we are picking 6 to 10 every day. The problem we had was that the plants only had female blooms, and there wasn't a single male bloom to pollinate them.  They finally straightened out and started producing male & female blooms at the same time.

If you haven't tried the Sora Radish (the summer radish), you might like to try them. They are our favorites, and we enjoy them in salads all summer long.

https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-sora-radish-a.html

Another of our favorite summer plants is the Perpetual Spinach. It doesn't bolt during the hot weather, and makes great salads.

https://www.rareseeds.com/perpetual-spinach/

OhioGardener wrote:I had the same problem with my summer squash, SR, but they are on a roll now and we are picking 6 to 10 every day. The problem we had was that the plants only had female blooms, and there wasn't a single male bloom to pollinate them.  They finally straightened out and started producing male & female blooms at the same time.

If you haven't tried the Sora Radish (the summer radish), you might like to try them. They are our favorites, and we enjoy them in salads all summer long.

https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-sora-radish-a.html

Another of our favorite summer plants is the Perpetual Spinach. It doesn't bolt during the hot weather, and makes great salads.

https://www.rareseeds.com/perpetual-spinach/

That makes me feel better about the squash situation, OG...and thanks for the ideas!  I will give them a try!  I love trying new things that you just don’t find at Krogers!

I put a 4' high by 6' wide section of cattle panel on top of the raised bed for the cucumbers to climb on, and they have pretty much taken over the entire thing. You can get an idea by the number of blooms in the pictures how many cucumbers are hiding in there.  Maybe 3 cucumber plants were too many! 

Been eating cucumbers in salads for about 2 weeks, and last evening we had the first refrigerator pickled cucumber & onion salad. Delicious!

Wow!  Your cukes are amazing!  I love them, canned my first dills and bread and butters last year, very fun and delicious.  

I ordered the suggested Sora radishes and Perpetual Spinach!  They are on the way to fill my voids, along with extra carrots.  Can’t wait!

Wow!

Those leaves are huge, OG, what variety do you grow?

SR, those are my old standby Straight Eight cucumbers. Always great producers.

OhioGardener wrote:SR, those are my old standby Straight Eight cucumbers. Always great producers.

I have grown those before, too!  My new fave which I ran out of seed this spring is Beit Alpha.  I have 3 new to me varieties out there right now....

Just pulled the garlic; disappointed.  Only 4 decent bulbs.  It has been so wet, and I waited too long.  3 of them just broke off when I jacked them, bulb is now compost.     Also got a bunch of cherry maters.  And I DO have a jalapeño plant out there!  YEA!!!!

Squash might be ready for a stir-fry this weekend!  And I saw some life on the melons.

First picking of green beans for this year. These are Blue Lake Bush beans. Planted 9 squares with 9 plants per square, and they produced just under 9 pounds of beans on the first picking.  Some for dinner this evening, and the rest will go into the freezer for this winter.

Nice haul, OG!  I didn’t plant any beans this year...I didn’t eat them last year.  I will probably miss ‘em and plant them next year...the cycle!

Got my first Sora radish seeds today.  Will scheme and plant this weekend!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Got my first Sora radish seeds today.  Will scheme and plant this weekend!

Where did you find them? Baker Creek doesn't have any.

countrynaturals wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Got my first Sora radish seeds today.  Will scheme and plant this weekend!

Where did you find them? Baker Creek doesn't have any.

High Mowing Seeds!  OG hooked me up!  

https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-sora-radish-a.html

The perpetual spinach (it’s a Swiss chard) same today!  Planting weekend!!!!

Scorpio Rising wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Got my first Sora radish seeds today.  Will scheme and plant this weekend!

Where did you find them? Baker Creek doesn't have any.

High Mowing Seeds!  OG hooked me up!  

https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-sora-radish-a.html

The perpetual spinach (it’s a Swiss chard) same today!  Planting weekend!!!!

YEE-HAH! I'm on it!

Had to water my south annex (melons and squashes) yesterday.  Has been hot and sunny for a week!

Picked my first cuke yesterday, as well as my first patty pan squashes—yum!  All gone!  Supper last night.  Used my last garlic from last year in the sauté.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Had to water my south annex (melons and squashes) yesterday.  Has been hot and sunny for a week!

Picked my first cuke yesterday, as well as my first patty pan squashes—yum!  All gone!  Supper last night.  Used my last garlic from last year in the sauté.

Cukes were the first seeds I planted -- months ago -- and I'm still waiting for the first one. 

Today was a Pepper Picking Day.  Bell Peppers, Sweet Banana Peppers, and Jalapeno Peppers.  For lunch will be Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers. For dinner this evening will be Stuffed Banana Pepper Casserole, and the salad will have sliced bell peppers and fresh tomatoes in it. 

OhioGardener wrote:Sweet Banana Peppers

Hmm -- sweet banana peppers? Tell me more!

countrynaturals wrote:

OhioGardener wrote:Sweet Banana Peppers

Hmm -- sweet banana peppers? Tell me more!

Sweet Banana Peppers - some of my favorites! Eat them right out of the garden (many never make it to the house) for salads, pickle them for winter salads, stuff them with sausage and cheese for a casserole - just no end to the ways they can be served. As soon as they start changing from light green to yellow, they become sweet and are ready to eat.

These are the ones I grow: https://www.ufseeds.com/product/sweet-banana-pepper-seeds/