First of the Month Pictures

July


August


You can see the heat really did a number on the nasturtiums but the marigolds took off so there's still pretty flowers in the garden. All of the onions and garlic have been pulled and the peppers have come up. I completely overwatered my peppers and it shows. I also didn't start them from seed soon enough this year so they never really go a chance to shine. Next year, right? The tomatoes are also continuing to grow... I never did get around to staking them. I should probably do that this weekend sometime.

July


August


This bed doesn't look much different... just bigger marigolds and the pepper and basil plants have come up a bit too. I also harvested about half the potatoes this morning. (Yukon Golds and Russet... the true blue's aren't ready yet and the potatoes planted from true seed never came to fruition). I also snipped out what's most likely the very last of the green beans. There were only a small handful left. I think next year I'd like to try some bush beans. All the cilantro went to seed... the bees sure liked it when it was flowering though.

July


August


Yeah, I wish that was dill but no, it's parsley. I've left it because the pollinators really like it. Otherwise I actually think I lost some of the tender new asparagus I planted this spring. I guess I'll find out by waiting to see what comes back up early next year. I should also go dig out the Walla Walla's I planted there too... the tops have fallen over but I've been ignoring them - I know they didn't do that well. It was a bad spot for them.

July


August


You can see the daliah's have come up and are in bloom now. From the description when I bought them I thought the lighter one's would've had a more saturated color. They're a little "blah" for me. Too bad. Maybe I'll have to dig them out and plant something else there for next year. I adore the ones in the back however, with their lovely dark foliage and sunflower colors. The thyme has also finished blooming and has settled into this spot nicely. That pot in front is the healthy pot of mint. It went bonkers and got about two feet tall, so I hacked it all back last (mid) month and now it's sending out all new and tender fresh leaves. I cut up a bit and sprinkled it into cubed watermelon. A delightful summer treat! Also I *might* have made a mojito or two. Heehee. I'll most likely harvest them all again before the first hard frost and dry them to make tea. I'll might do the same with the thyme too (for seasoning though, not tea - :;g::)

July


August


This has been a fun bed to watch progress - for me at any rate. The corn got hugenormous! It's also tasseled and the silks have started to flop over... should be ready to eat in the next week or two - I've *really* been looking forward to fresh plucked corn. Mmmm. I planted these 4/1 and I'm thinking that might be a hair too close. Some of the inner corn stalks didn't quite mature to where I would've liked to see them. I think a 1/1 spacing might be too roomy however. I'll have to work on a happy medium for next year. Also to those who suggested that my yellow crook neck squash flowers weren't getting pollinated and that's why they were rotting on the vine.... you were right! I cut back some of the larger leaves so the buggies could get where they needed to be and we've been enjoying squash ever since. Yay! You can also see that the cucumber vines also made a nice recovery (back left) and trellised themselves quite nicely. I have been a little disappointed that I haven't been able to get a large enough crop all at once to make either pickles or relish (my whole reason for growing them). We don't really eat cucumbers... so. I did pick some this morning but they're too big to make a classic pickle with... maybe I'll make some relish? My winter squash did really well in the heat and finally took off (after being smothered back there earlier this summer by the peas and radishes I let get huge)... I still have yet to see it set any fruit even with all the flowers it's putting out. (I just ran over there and checked - I have one!) Luckily the other vine is producing like crazy. The pumpkin however has put out at least one very nice gourd that I'm planning on making soup with for Thanksgiving if at all possible. It should be beautiful. Hope I don't screw it up. Heh.

July


August


Ah the blueberry bed. We've been snacking on the blueberries all month. They're still not done which I'm perfectly happy with. We're also getting our second flush of strawberries. Yay!



The sunflowers are starting to bloom. I only wish I'd planted more of them.


I've been watering the spiders too. Is that silly? Well okay, I've been misting them. It's hot and everyone needs a drink. Gotta take care of the bugs that help take care of the pests. ;^)


Here is the picture of the harvest from this morning.


Something I haven't really mentioned before are the crows. They are a menace. They have a nest in the large tree above the garden and they don't like invaders. Earlier this spring we had a lot of bluejay hanging around. I guess the crows didn't like it one bit. We'd see them dive bomb and chase after the jays. A few weeks ago we found a dismembered jay leg in the back yard. How did we know it was a jays? We found the head in the front yard. Bleh. We thankfully never found the rest of the body. Neither have we seen any jays since. Come to think of it the squirrels have been making themselves rather scarce as of late too... Maybe we've had a cat hanging out in our yard lately? Not sure.... Either way the crows are still here. Oh and speaking of dead things... I think the heat took its toll on a few critters in our back yard too. I found a dead mouse that'd made its way on to the hot gravel and flopped over and died. Also found a dead spider on the hot rocks looking very mummified and a bee dead and resting on one of the daliahs in mid pollination. I think I'm not the only one looking forward to the cooler weather...