Current Gardening Notes - July

Much of the garden is suffering in the horrible sun. It's getting up into the mid 90's every day and the sun hurts! The tomato vines are covered with small to medium sized fruit. I put wood ash in all the tomato plantings this week and sprinkled it around the rest. I need to generate more for this next year and make sure it gets into the soil before the plants. 

The cucumbers are still doing well but the squash are all but gone. Picked a BIG batch of green beans yesterday and they were oh so good. I am sold on this yard long variety but at 2 foot long, they are their best. So good and cook up quick.

I am starting to clear out the turnip, cauliflower, broccoli and kohlrabi beds for planting things that can tolerate the shade and heat. Want to give Eggplant a try and do have the seeds handy. Most of the work now is weeding and patching leaking water hoses. I looked this morning to see a giant geyser digging a deep hole instead of the expected gentle sprinkle from the water ring. As it was, all I needed was to take off the one section that had all the bad spots in it. That was the easiest thing I did all day. It was bathe puppies day and I got Sammy finished but did not get Beau before the went to hide under the Shop. I'll leave the stuff out today and try again in the morning if necessary. Sammy has a bad looking spot on his head that needs doctoring. A minute of searching turned up the medicine we'd bought long ago for Max.  

I seemed to have missed logging any June notes at all. It has been so very busy that I was actually considering going to a monthly newsletter. That wouldn't help a lot, there would still be the same work to accomplish.

The grasshoppers are everywhere and eating everything they want. Thankfully, they do not have a taste this year for tomatoes or cucumbers. There is a little grey bug that is trying to eliminate the squash and doing a pretty good job of it. I have them down to where I can hand pick what I see every day. Half the plants are entirely gone. 

Do you know what happens to broccoli, cauliflower and kohlrabi when the temps get in to the upper 90's and finally hit 100 or better? They shrivel up and turn brown. The broccoli produced a purple inedible, um, head. Same with the Brussel Sprouts. I'll never again try to grow them except in the fall and winter. Just a waste of time otherwise.

The cucumbers are doing well but look to be suffering. No squash bugs but the bottom leaves are turning yellow.

The tomato plants in the greenhouse were making fruit with blossom end rot. Instead of adding wood ashes like I suggested, he set them all out of the greenhouse and gave them up as lost. So, my project today and tomorrow will be to find them a little space in the sunny fenced garden. There won't be much space for them or what is already there but it is the last of the protected garden.

The melon garden is looking well and even has a few baby melons to boast of. I have loads of photos of the first ever Trumpet Vine blooms and they will go into my notes in the Homesteading Section. Enjoy!