N&C Midwest July 2022

It's beautiful here tonight too! Low humidity, overcast skies and low 70's. What a relief!

Started to pick some green beans, a few cherry tomatoes, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, serrano peppers, kale, lots of parsley and some basil. Even if the yields are not huge yet, it is such a beautiful thing to know that you grew it and it tastes so yummy! Gonna make salsa with the last of the frozen tomatoes from last summer when I get home.

Prepped the garden for vacation the best I could and I am excited to see how much it grows while I am away. Just started seeing some baby cucumbers on my Space master 80 cucumber! Sprayed the kale and kohlrabi with BT, sprayed the swiss chard and basil with neem oil and deeply watered. Hopefully everything will be good!

Planning on planting another round of beets when I get back, as well as, more swiss chard, sugar snap peas and lettuce. 

ScorpioRising, this year I will have 4 squares that I was able to squeeze in 3 crops. Spinach, spring peas and fall peas. It might not be much, but it's a start!! I am learning more each year and getting the hang of things! LOL

Have fun on vacation, JAM23!

We have had an unexpectedly nice day here as well—very overcast which I dont think was anticipated.  It is hard to believe that we have to start thing=king about fall crops but I think OG is right…

All things are growing here.  Just need to make sure they have enough energy to get it done!

Last week I planted some broadbeens (6 plants), started cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, endive, mustards/mizuna, chard, celery/celriac and green onions along with a few herbs like chervil and cilantro, oh kohlrabi as well inside.  More lettuce/fall greens to follow in next week or so.  

Peas were also started indoors.  They will go in amongst the pole beans on the trellis.

Planted my eggplant (finally after 4 starts) in a container.  I feel like a bunny has discovered my cold frame (lettuces, etc.). It’s been interesting.  I don’t know but I am just going to let it ride.

This weekend was planting more crops for fall - carrots, greens, cabbage started, mizuna, brussels sprouts (might be too late for that one).  All I have left to direct sow are radish, spinach, mache and claytonia.  

hopefully this link to my instagram works as I don't know how to post pics otherwise
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfypdZsryOc/

My Mortgage Lifter succumbed to verticillium wilt.  Dang it—what a great name!!!!  No fruits on it, just not gonna make it so it’s gone.  Planted the Ping Tung eggplant.  Have a container now for something this fall—maybe another squash or carrots!    

Noticed Japanese Beetles on my corn, not a lot just a few.  Some varmint chewed off an entire stalk at bunny-eye level.  Same bunny ate a bunch of my lettuce.  Beans looking good, cukes too!

Topped off one of the beds with fresh microbes compost, and then planted another batch of winter carrots. Also planted some pole bean seeds on the open part of the arbor, which should be ready for picking about mid-September.

I picked 2 cucumbers!  I have decided to top off the vacated container and plant carrots for Fall.

Making more pesto in the morning to freeze.  So yummy in the winter!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Making more pesto in the morning to freeze.  So yummy in the winter!

This year I decided to try a new variety of Basil, called Mammoth Basil. That might have been a mistake. Each leaf is the size of a lettuce leaf. Instead of picking a dozen or so Basil leaves, just pick one Mammoth Basil leaf.   

It does have great Basil flavor, though, so it is good.

This year I decided to try a new variety of Basil, called Mammoth Basil. That might have been a mistake. Each leaf is the size of a lettuce leaf. Instead of picking a dozen or so Basil leaves, just pick one Mammoth Basil leaf.   

It does have great Basil flavor, though, so it is good.

That’s funny!  I have grown Mammoth Dill, but not basil!  I just froze 4 doses of pesto.  Honestly, I barely made a dent in the basil.  It is so fleeting before it bolts!  

Wanna look up how to dehydrate garlic and make granulated.  My kids got me a dehydrator for Christmas!

haven't been able to get to community garden for a bit and look what I found today (also squash bug eggs which I removed)  Please let me know if the link to my photos worked.  TIA. Previous post had my patio garden (containers/all using SFG principles)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgFBT1yLF9e/

nrstooge wrote: Please let me know if the link to my photos worked.  TIA. Previous post had my patio garden (containers/all using SFG principles)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgFBT1yLF9e/

Instagram says I must have an account to view the photos, which I don't have nor need.

You may want to just post the pictures here, using the Host an Image button above.

The Blue Lake Bush Beans are starting to come in now. Can't wait for a serving of fresh green beans with new potatoes and chopped bacon. Yum, yum, yum...

ok maybe this will work 

nrstooge wrote:ok maybe this will work

Yep, that worked perfectly.  Your patio garden looks very good.

I've been busy taking out some of the spent spring crops, and getting the fall crops planted.  Then I saw this reminder on the Urban Farmer Seed e-letter this morning:

I am back and how the garden has changed since I was away!

Harvested a small bowl full of cherry tomatoes, a large bowl of bush beans, some more banana, jalapeno and serrano peppers and tons of kale.

I plan to plant some fall things (thank you for that reminder OhioGardener) but for now, I need to just get things cleaned up!!

PS-I love your patio garden nrstooge!! Looks like things are doing really well for you!

Picked today! A small branch of cherry tomatoes was broken so I brought them in to ripen. Plus, today marked 70 days for Cosmic carrots so I pulled one. It looks pretty good but could be longer in length. Can I just let them grow a little longer?

JAM23 wrote: today marked 70 days for Cosmic carrots so I pulled one. It looks pretty good but could be longer in length. Can I just let them grow a little longer?

I would let them grow for a couple more weeks, just to fill out. They are perfectly good to eat right now, but they'll get a little bigger with a little more time.

Just beautiful!

Got lots of rain yesterday, and supposed to get more today.  Yesterday we got almost 3.75" of rain.

We have had quite a bit of rain here as well…over the weekend probably about 4 inches total.  

I just picked my first patty pan Sunburst and Tiger zucchini.  Dinner!  Not sure about the garden itself—very wet and dewy out there!  I will get out there tonight and hopefully pick some Dragon Tongue beans to accompany the squash.  

My potatoes are getting done but want to wait until it dries out a bit before lifting them.

Oh man! You guys need to share some of that rain! We don't have any significant amount of rain in the forecast and it's supposed to be in the 90's all week/weekend! I want to get some fall crops in but it's just too dang hot!

I picked 4 Beit Alpha cucumbers last night.  Beans blooming but no veggies yet!  Hot here today…

Nice! I picked my first cucumber of the summer, a Spacemaster 80 and my first medium sized tomato, an Early Girl. Can't wait to eat them dinner tonight! Blanched and froze a batch of kale. 

Took advantage of the "cooler" temperature this afternoon (85 degrees and quite breezy) and sowed 4 squares of beets and 2 squares of swiss chard. My first planting of swiss chard is slowly making a comeback from my earwig invasion so hopefully they will continue to grow strong!

Starting to feel like this is a full time job!! LOL

Hope you had a great day!