Photo Heavy Early July Garden Update

I've gotten behind in my posts again. Partially because I have been busy. Partially because I have been tired and very pregnant. But mostly because I feel like a broken record in every post just updating on things. I looked back at the pictures from the last couple of posts and am amazed at how much things have grown! If nothing else, it will help me in the future to see how things progressed at this part of the year in the past.

Elliot was helping to show off my beautiful little Rose of Sharon bush. It was a twig when I planted it a couple of years ago and now it is so big and covered in flowers. It sets outside my front living room window and the bright blooms still surprise me every time I glance that direction. I even saw a little hummingbird eating from one the other day.

No walkabout would be complete without my boys circling at my feet.

I finally got my serenity garden weedeated and mulched! Every time I mow I get through there, but I have put off weedeating all summer because my battery life is at a premium and usually reserved for the veggie gardens. This was a 4th of July project while Brad bush hogged the outer property. Everything looks so nice now! We celebrated by watching fireworks that evening at the park with Brad's family, which is a tradition that I love! This photo was taken several days after I mulched and surprisingly most of it was still where I put it. I sprinkled an entire canister of cayenne pepper on top of it after I watered it down to deter the chickens and turkey hens from scratching it all back up. Apparently it worked!

The fig trees have little figs on them. I'm still new to figs and not sure what to do with them once they ripen. I will have to remedy that before these two trees get much bigger and start producing enough fruit to need to be worried about. Right now there are probably 15 on each tree, most of which the birds will probably get to before me.

The rooster coop is starting to empty out. Only because I have had no choice but to release all of them except the two white bullies and the three silkies that can hold their own. The other roos are roaming the property for the time being. Processing will happen very soon. I have never had such an aggressive batch of roosters! And the agressive ones are easter eggers! They are usually so nice! Those two white ones are nasty fellas though. I won't miss them one bit.

While checking out the chicken coop the sun started shining through the clouds onto my little front yard. So pretty! I was checking out Tabby, the bourbon turkey hen that was nesting in the bottom of the run. Something stole her eggs one by one until a few days ago she had none left and is back with the flock. Tallow, my slate hen that made a nest in the wild about a month ago, has not been seen since. I think it is about time to assume the worst. Poor Yellow has no ladies left and is the lone blue turkey.

My garden is really starting to fill out. I wish I could get pictures of the whole thing that really did it justice.

The pepper plants are getting huge. They must be 3.5ft tall. I have harvested a few jalapenos but no bell or pepperoncini peppers yet. Soon though. There are little baby peppers growing all over! There are also volunteer watermelon vines growing under them at intervals.

I can't believe how much the cucumber row has filled out! I replanted that row three times and was worried that I would have no cucumbers. They are taking over now! Every day when I walk through the garden I turn each of the vines trying to grow into the walkways around to grow back toward the middle. They are still escaping their rows.

I have been harvesting about 2 a day for the last week. There are so many flowers and little cucumbers everywhere! If things don't change drastically in the immediate future I should be able to make pickles soon! I'm afraid to get too hopeful quite yet because it is amazing how fast things can change in the garden.

The background in this picture is a good example. That is where my broccoli plants were up until a few days ago. They were getting big and pretty and then the other evening when I went in there they were being completely swarmed by writhing caterpillars. The leaves were destroyed and the only way to keep them from moving on to the rest of my tasty garden was to remove them. Keegan was my hero and cut them all immediately and disposed of them. On a happier note, in the foreground is the other end of my cucumber row where my watermelon vines are also happily  spreading and flowering.

My beautiful little Egg Yolk tomatoes have been ripening, a few at a time, for a little over a week. They are so little, but so full of flavor! I have been making a nightly cucumber and tomato salad with these little guys.

The bottoms of some of the tomato plants are starting to look a bit sickly. Hopefully I get a lot of tomatoes before they really succumb to anything too severe. Look at the size of these amish paste tomatoes! Last years were small even on the roma side of tomato sizes. These are softball sized and not even ready to ripen yet. Baker Creek seeds are amazing. These guys are on the end of the row which has the worst soil too. The vines are over 7 feet tall and are starting to fall over the opposite side of the rows. Impressive.

The first Cherokee purple tomatoes to start showing some color! I promptly picked these after taking this picture. They are on my table ripening.

This is what happens if I don't get to the low lying ones in time. Naughty naughty chickens! They take bites out of every tomato they can reach and they jump to reach higher ones. Brad has been unable to fix my fence charger. On the positive side, I haven't seen nearly as many insects on the plants as I would have expected. I mainly credit the guineas for that though. They patrol my garden without scratching up mulch or eating plants. They just grab every bug they see and move on. It makes me nervous to even state that my tomatoes are doing well for risk of them being smited. Please spare my tomatoes!

My sunflowers are looking very happy! Well... this side of the row. The other side must really have terrible soil even after amending. I will have to really make more of an effort to fertilize that area this fall. This side of the row already has flower buds appearing. The plants are around 4 ft tall and I am hoping they continue growing! They are supposed to reach around 12 feet.

The Indian corn is getting tall too. The pumpkins haven't spread as much as I had hoped, but the ones that are still up are looking healthy.

I was trying to capture how tall that pear tree in the center has gotten. It is easy to see in person but my sad broken camera just can't seem to do it. The tallest branch is at least 18 feet tall! And I may be under guessing that figure just to be safe.

Here are my beautiful bean/squash arbors! I am in love with them. The little beds that they are growing in are still mostly unplanted and being neglected. The logs are starting to rot away and I still haven't replaced them. That may be a project for next spring.

This bed is an exception. This is the arch that was most recently assembled and put in the bed. The beans were a later planting and are just barely visible in the picture. What I am most proud of here are the huge zucchini plants! The plants are bigger than I have ever grown them. They have some flowers on them, but no fruit yet. I will be happy if I get just a few zucchini before they succumb to squash vine borers like they always do. I love zucchini!

I can't wait until all of the arches are covered. I think it will be so pretty.

This Rattlesnake Pole Bean arch is already covered. It is so pretty to stand under. Always shady, even in the heat of the day. All of the little beans hang through to top and are so easy to pick. This actually makes picking beans an enjoyable experience. Not usually the case, in my opinion.

The beans really seem to be enjoying climbing the arch. Very little encouragement on my part was needed. I just wrapped the little vines around the first layer of wire to get them started. That was primarily because the arch was placed after the vines had grown that tall. I imagine that if they seeds were planted under the arch to begin with they would have found their way up from the very beginning.

The butternuts are doing amazing as well! They require a bit more training, but not much. Every day when I go out I just poke any vines that have grown through to the other side of the wire, back and forth each time they grow a few inches. It just takes a couple if minutes. Some of the vines have reached the top of the arch and there are at least 8 good sized squash growing.

 This is a single volunteer gourd vine that found its way to this bed. It is taking over despite my effort. I keep pulling it down from the sides of the fencing and throwing it back on top of itself. If it doesn't stop crowding my beans I may have to pull it up completely. Who would have thought that a gourd could be invasive?!

The peaches look, and smell, amazing! There aren't nearly as many left as there were. The fire ants keep climbing the tree and boring into the unripe fruit.

 I did manage to find a perfectly ripened peach. I ate it on the spot. Heaven. Since then I have managed to find another. I need to go check them today and see if I can scavenge any more before the stupid ants get to them.

My haul wrapped around my big pregnant belly. This is average for what I have been bringing in every other day. Loving it!