I’m getting a handful of snap peas everyday. My wax beans are blooming prolifically and I picked my first beans today. I have zucchinis almost big enough to pick–will be ready by Sunday-Monday. I’m growing my squash in a mesh netting pop up this year to see if I can avoid the terrible squash bug infestations I always get. So far so good! --though I do need to pollinate by hand.
I bought several pepper plants from the local Lowes. Two were labelled as Anaheims, but the plants are covered with peppers–and they’re definitely NOT Anaheims. They look like they might be habernos. My Big Jims are ready to pick, grill and make green chile cheeseburgers. (Ah! The delights of summer!)
No ripe tomatoes yet. Lots of lots of green tomatoes, but not a hint of a blush on any of them yet. If I was’t so anxious for ripe tomatoes, I’d pick some to make fried green tomatoes.
The only things that aren’t doing well are eggplants and carrots. (Actually the carrots are doing fine, but germination was very sparse so I only have about 6 growing. I may plant more as soon as I get more seeds.) The eggplants just aren’t thriving–the plants are small and yellow. I tried fertilizing but that didn’t help.
I planted chard and one Sun Gold cherry tomato in pots on the porch, but the damned deer keep browsing the plants.–along with my planters of flowers. Deer are ignoring the big pots of basil and potatoes so far. (Yeah, I know potato leaves & stem are poisonous, but I keep hoping the deer will graze one, get a bellyache and never come back…)
@WayOutWestMom - Tell me more about your zucchini netting. I ate my first one tonight and have 2 more inside waiting. But we have a history of squash bugs. I’m just hoping I get most of them before they do.
I have picked two cucumbers already and everything else looks good. On the bad news side, Japanese beetles have made their dreaded appearance. I hate them.
My lilies are finally starting to bloom as well as my hydrangeas. The zucchini plants are filled with blossoms and the tomato plant also looks promising.
Bunnies are eating my shrubs though and the squirrels have dug up my begonias. Not thrilled about that but at overall the garden looks good this year.
My second year trying to grow tomato plants in a container and I am having such better luck this year.
The two I planted in mid-May have really taken off and have tons of tomatoes growing on them - I count 40 on the cherry tomato plant alone!
And the one I replanted earlier this month to replace the one I inadvertently killed (by not watering enough, then super overwatering) is coming along nicely. Thanks to all the input I got here, I did drill holes in that container and that seems to have helped a lot.
My kids are very amused at how much attention those plants are getting while I am WFH. I do not have a green thumb so am getting a lot of joy out of those plants. Keeping my fingers crossed that they keep doing well,
I am making a sigh for our terrace garden that says “Gardening is WAR!” Yup. The robins are already checking out my blueberry bushes… netting will go on tomorrow. ?
I am mad at the topsoils place. The garden mix they’ve sold us is a nitrogen sink!! They must have chopped a ton of woody material into it and not enough compost!! ? I had to dump a lot of nitrogen fertilizer on my zucchini plants. So much I am afraid any zucchini coming out of there could be used as explosive devices! ??
I planted a whole bunch of perennials in the front and back yard because it really needed some color. Hope they live. I tried to transplant some lilies that had been overrun by the azalea bushes but I couldn’t dig down far enough to get the roots. I stuck what I got in the dirt but expect they i’ll not make it.
The tomatoes are a mixed bag this year. The ones called patio plants are getting tomatoes on them and a few of the cherry tomatoes are starting, but the others are growing tall and spindly but not seeing many flowers.
@BunsenBurner - how did you know the nitrogen levels were off in your topsoil?
Are squirrels drawn to begonias? Because two of my beautiful ones have been damaged - I think they have been jumping off patio furniture to get to the pots - so I moved the pots a little further away. Ugh.
Did I mention something completely ate my boxwood basil? I’m still so bummed since it’s my favorite herb. I’m sure it was a little tiny menace bug. This pot was away from my other herbs - they all seem ok.
Going to tend my community garden today - I know I’m late picking my scapes. We always donate 10% of our gardens to the local food bank but this year I’m donating at least 50% of my garden - the need is so great.
I’m using one of these–[Tall Pest Control Pop-Ups](https://www.gardeners.com/buy/tall-pest-control-pop-ups/8587859RS.html). Parks Seed has something similar but 2 feet tall instead of 4. I have one of each, but 2 feet is too short to accommodate zucchini. The 2 foot high works great for lettuce, chard, spinach etc, though.
I originally bought them a couple of years ago to ward off the deer in the garden. They really don’t work for deer. (I now have 7 ft high deer fence for that.) But for keeping the squash bugs out–they work great.
@jym626 - that was very easy To diagnose. I planted cucumbers and zucchini plants in that soil. I also had a couple of leftover plants that I planted in MiracleGro. The ones in the bed shriveled and yellowed while the ones in MiracleGro are thriving. I poured some nitrogen-rich vegetable food on the sickly plants, and they perked up a little. Woody material sucks up all nitrogen from soil because the bacteria that digests it needs nitrogen for the process…
Apparently squirrels do not actually eat the potted plants. They just dig everything up because the soft soil is easier for them to bury their nuts and such. Same outcome though - dead flowers. GRRRRR.
Once when squirrels were driving me crazy, digging up newly planted tomatoes, I stuck a bunch of plastic forks in the soil, fork side up, around each plant. It worked!
I later moved on to putting a few small rocks around each newly planted plant and that worked too. I think the rocks are an extra bonus in early spring because they will retain the warmth of the sun at night and warm up that little space.
Just past the peak of raspberry season, when I pick 2+ quarts a day. We had a cool spring and the season started a little later than usual. Big crop and fewer pests this year for whatever reason. I use nets, but the birds still get a few… Just a few more days of picking. Making the first batch of jam today!
