Friday, July 15, 2011

The Mid-July Garden

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I love the garden this time of year. The beds have filled up nicely; everything is looking lush and green yet still manageable. It will be another month or so before the tomato vines become overgrown and our early planted cucumbers succumb slowly to disease. Now is the time to stand back and appreciate the beauty of the garden.

On the other hand, it's also the time to clear out most of our spring planted veggies to make way for fall crops in the coming weeks. The pea plants have been pulled and the garlic will be harvested soon. This may sound strange but already I can feel the days getting shorter, which is why I definitely consider July to be a transitional month in the growing calendar.

In any case, here are some random pics of what's going on:

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As I mentioned, the cleanup has begun. This past weekend, I weeded the entire garden (which took forever I might add) and built another raised carrot bed (lower left). We started harvesting some of our spring-sown carrots this week and all but one were perfect. Last summer the majority of our carrots were either forked or stubby. What a difference a few extra inches of fine topsoil makes.

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The perfectly ripe wild strawberry - I popped this one in my mouth seconds after I took the picture.

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Most of the Fava beans have now been harvested but I did leave a few plants untouched, setting them aside for seed saving. While I've marked these plants with string, I'm still fighting the urge to pick the pods.

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My blogging buddy Mac gave me this English lavender plant last year. It has since grown into a fine specimen.

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The other day I was about to harvest the lavender to dry but then noticed quite a few honey bees at work on it. I ultimately decided against it as I figured they needed the flowers more than I did.

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The back garden is like a forest these days. Pretty soon it will become a great challenge to navigate.

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Since taking this picture, the tomato vines have reach the top of their trellis, which stands close to 8 feet tall. I'm really loving this trellising method. The strings easily twist around the vines and the vines themselves feel well supported.

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In addition to the weeding, I also got around to trimming off the bottom few rows of tomato leaves. Hopefully this will mitigate the spread of any blight.

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I picked this artichoke earlier this week. Already the plant is producing two more.

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I'm really impressed by how well the Hungarian Wax peppers are producing. The Poblanos on the other hand are still doing nothing.

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Lastly, I've been hand-pollinating the corn. Hopefully this will work out for me as well as it did last year.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Thomas. I found you through your comment on Tom's blog (Tall Clover Farm)
    Your garden looks wonderful!
    It is mid-winter here in New Zealand, but already we have teeny tiny tomato plants growing from seed (they are inside, out of the reach of the cats!)
    Lovely to see your blog and I look forward to keeping in touch
    Regards
    Janet NZ

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  2. Hi Thomas. I found you through your comment on Tom's blog (Tall Clover Farm)
    Your garden looks wonderful!
    It is mid-winter here in New Zealand, but already we have teeny tiny tomato plants growing from seed (they are inside, out of the reach of the cats!)
    Lovely to see your blog and I look forward to keeping in touch
    Regards
    Janet NZ

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  3. Everything looks so healthy and happy Thomas. I really like your new trellises and they seem to be working very well.

    It won't be long before our gardens turn into jungles!

    Keep up the good work!

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  4. It's all so lush and green! I'm going to have to build me some of your tomato supports - All of mine fell over in a storm last night. Do you have instructions to build them or did you wing it?

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  5. That "whole garden" shot is truly beautiful, what a productive space you have going! So glad you have honeybees, we do too but I'm hearing about so many that don't have them this year, it's sad.

    It's only 80 here today, I'm wondering if I can pack 2 weeks worth of garden cleaning-up into 8 hours, LOL?!

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  6. That trellis system looks great for a larger garden. It sure wouldn't be blowing over in the wind like some tomato supports do. And your garden photos are very nicely done.

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  7. Janet - Thanks! I've always wanted to visit New Zealand.

    Robbin - I think the jungle is here! I pick up so much tomato pollen walking down the rows that it leaves yellow film on my arms and legs.

    Hi Ribbit, I kinda just winged it but I posted a few pictures of the build. It should be under the top of gardening projects. Good luck! I REALLY like this method.

    Erin - I don't know how you deal with those high temperatures all the time. I would go insane! Then again, your growing season is longer than ours!

    Sande - We had high winds earlier this week and they held up nicely. The problem with the commercial cages (aside from the fact that they are never tall enough) is that they come top heavy. Plus, I think the plants look prettier this way. :)

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  8. Wow, that back garden is monstrous! Try not to get lost in there while tending to things...lol.

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  9. Your garden is SUCH an inspiration, Thomas. You have my fantasy garden and I'm so, so glad that you run this blog! I know I don't comment much, but I do read everyday and I really appreciate it!

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  10. Your garden is looking wonderful. I've been hand pollinating too. I hope it works.

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  11. Excellent pictures, and your garden looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Beautiful - absolutely beautiful. :D

    I always do some hand pollinating on corn. I never leave things entirely to chance if I don't have to!

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