My tomato plants have grown well over the six foot tall cages. It's looking like a jungle. Been picking tomatoes daily. My windowsill in the kitchen is full.
Cucumbers are going crazy all of a sudden, been picking 4-6 everyday. Somehow I managed to let a butternut squash grow up in the cucumber bed and now trying to keep the vine which is loaded with squash six feet up in the air running along rope. I'm sure by end of summer I'll have a complete canopy of squash overhead.
My new bed with bush yellow squash and bush zucchini plants are over run. Somehow I have cucumber vines and butternut squash that came up in the middle of it and are desperately trying to grow out to the lawn or up on anything they can grasp onto.
Hungarian sweet peppers have more peppers than leaves on the plants and loaded with new flowers.
Peas are winding down but still producing, New peas are sprouted and almost ready to go in the ground for a fall crop.
Bush beans are producing like crazy, it's an everyday pick. Pole beans are just now latching onto the fence.
Marigold plants and accidental planting of 4 o'clocks in the garden are 3 foot tall. The few Nasturtiums that I planted near the toms are just as tall as the six foot cages.
Have to move my Basil out of the garden cause it's not getting enough sun from everything else overgrowing.
This morning I was quite happy to notice that I had a couple good size tomatoes with a hint of color starting. I was thinking I'd be enjoying my first tomato by the end of the week. Then half way through the day my father in law stopped by. He noticed the chicken helping themselves to my tomato! They had been really good about not bothering the garden until the last couple days. They trampled down my bush bean plants that had been looking so nice. I guess they are going to have to stay in the coop until I either put up a fence to keep them out of the veggies or the veggies are done being harvested! I really like letting them out. I hate seeing animals in cages but what's a girl to do I would like to get some veggies too!
Meredith sorry to hear the Chickens are getting your veggies. They will need to learn to keep out. Maybe you could get some deer netting which is rather cheap and comes in 4 x 100 or 7x 100 feet. It's light weight and when up you can hardly see it. It's easy to put up with just some poles or fence stakes. Use zip ties to attach it.
My garden has gone to the wild side, also.....tomato jungle is apt......Those chickies are smart, Meredith....they know where the good food is! Picking squash, toms, cukes, beans, & kale......
Thanks to my son I now have a 12 foot wide by 9 foot tall PVC trellis built and all the squash and cucumbers are now on it headed up and not out on the lawn. I had to pull out a few bushes worth of 4 o'clocks so the tomatoes get more sun. I did move most of them to a shady spot in the upper yard.
My son counted 36 butternut squash not including the ones that are just starting to flower. Believe it or not I didn't plant butternut squash this year!
Name: Janice Hurd Thompsonville Village, Ct. (Zone 6a) "Where flowers bloom so does hope"
Good butternut karma!
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo F. Buscaglia
Picked some tomatoes and some squash and cut some basil.
My little seedling squash that I started in those veggie packs that I refilled with fresh potting soil are growing nicely and could be planted out. But it is just too hot. I will wait for the weather to get somewhat cooler in a few days.
BlackCat08 said:Rita that is a good idea. I wanted to plant my pea sprouts but this heat is brutal. Waiting also for cooler weather.
Yup, I have them to plant and I also have tiny basil seedlings I started myself that are way small and need more time. Also I planted three seeds of Zephyr Squash today.
Picked yet more tomatoes this afternoon. Put some on my counter and gave the rest away to friends.
That's what I do usually. They have a 6 x 8 pen off the actual coop. I just like letting them out to find bugs. Especially when it is really hot I feel like they can find a nice shady spot to chill. The coop is on the north side of the shed so half of the pen is always shaded but I just think it is cooler in the tree line which is where they usually hang out.
Name: Janice Hurd Thompsonville Village, Ct. (Zone 6a) "Where flowers bloom so does hope"
WOW! Beautiful! Gardening on steroids...right?
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo F. Buscaglia
