SUMMER TOMATOES:

The earliest I've ever been able to pick a garden ripe tomato was on July 18th.  It doesn't look like I'll beat that this year.  But here are some pictures of my green ones.

Yaqui Tomatoes (roma)

Yaqui Tomatoes 

Costoluto Genevese Tomatoes

Today I picked 4 Garden Salsa Peppers, a zucchini, a cucumber and about 3 cups of raspberries.

Yesterday, I picked my first zucchini, my first cucumber, a bowl of raspberries (my kids and husband ate more than a few, but I managed to get a picture of what was left), and a bowl of basil.

I made some pesto, put the raspberries on a homemade cheesecake, turned the zucchini into zoodles and ate it with the pesto, and the cucumber went in today's salad.  

I also laid a thin layer of grass clippings down in the garden to help hold in the moisture and keep weeds away because it is warming up fast.  I will add to it, to make it a thicker layer, but I want to build it up slowly to give the grass time to dry out.  I don't want it rotting; I just want it dry.

I have fruit on my tomatillos, romas, cherry tomatoes, and my Holy Mole peppers.  I also have flowers on all of the pepper plants, one cucumber plant and my Barq summer squash and only male flowers on my pumpkins.

Pumpkin Blossom

Another pumpkin blossom

Some of these tomato blossoms are huge

Tomato Blossoms

Tomatillo Blossoms

The weather has been over 100 degrees three times at my house this month.  Most of the time the temperatures have been in the 90's.  I see lots of flowers, so I'm not worried about production. 

My ornamental peppers are looking cute with their little peppers jutting upwards.  So far they are small and only green.  I'll have to take a pic when they are in their full color glory.

We have had one day of 100+ degree weather so far this month.  Thankfully it was only one.  Usually, where I live, it doesn't hit 100 until the end of July to early August.  However, there are more hot temperatures on the horizon next week with the possibility of more 100 degree days.  (SIGH).  The problem with high temperatures so soon, is that the plants are not encouraged to set fruit when it is hot.  I checked my plants today, and many already have lots of blossoms on them, but sadly some do not have any. 


The four tomato plants I thought I lost in the snow storm, well it turns out I only lost one of them.  The three survivors are way behind in development than the other tomato plants, but they hung in there.  I was going to rip them out and put in some store-bought plants, but I thought I would just see how they did.  Below is a picture of them.  They are tiny plants 

(the three that survived the snow)

                                       (here are the sizes of the others)

I guess in this case, size does matter.  If the ones exposed to the snow were my only tomato plants, then ripping them out and planting new ones, would have been been the best idea.  I doubt the survivors will produce much.  By the time they are ready to flower, we will be in the middle of the high heat summer.  

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My zucchini did come up, but not the Papaya Pear.  All of my pumpkins sprouted except for Hooligan.  My cucumbers are present and accounted for.  

Here is the mound of my Jack O'Lanterns

The different types of pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers are all about the same size as the above picture.  

Okay.  We did get snow for two days last week.  I covered all the plants with a tarp (4 tarps to be exact).  To my rude awakening, I wasn't expecting so much snow.  The snow was so wet and heavy on the tarp causing the tarp to settle in the path on the back side, which pulled it right off of the back row of tomatoes, leaving them exposed to the elements.

Since I had to leave for work I didn't have a lot of time to fix the problem.  I brushed off the leaves and covered the row with a plastic sheet I found in the garage, 2 rain ponchos, 1 emergency blanket (the kind that looks like a piece of tin foil) and 2 extra large garbage sacks.  My garden was 'stylin'.  It may not have won any beauty awards, me either for that matter, but it saved the plants the next day from more snow.  Thankfully I only lost 4 (all on that back row).  

I lost:
my one and only Early girl
my one and only New girl
my one and only Beef Master and
1 Delicious

I have good news though.  The plants I thought I lost in the hail storm, actually came back.  They had the whole tops chopped off, and yet they survived.  So yay.  They are much smaller since they practically started over, but they are in fact alive.

My plants are doing very well in the garden.  This week, however, it is supposed to be in the 30's with a chance of snow.  I will be covering them at night with a huge tarp, to help trap the heat of the soil in.  I don't want them to freeze.

All of my cucumbers came up.  Two varieties of pumpkins didn't come up (Hooligan & Jack-Be-Little).  The seeds were older, so maybe that is why.  I don't plan on replanting those because they also didn't come up last year.  My Summer Squash also didn't come up.  Here again, the seeds were older than most of the others.  So, I'll have to get new Barq seeds next year.  My family won't miss it at all, but I will.  I will see what variety of zucchini my local nursery has and buy one or two.



On the north side of my house, is a lot of shade.  I cleared a space that was weed ridden, and planted the following:

Ground Ivy - hiedra terrestre - variegata glechoma hederacea
Snow in Summer - cerastium (this will get some sun)
Purple Chablis - lamium maculatum
Anemome Harmony Orchid 
Columbine Swan Blue & White
Bleeding Heart Pink
Creeping Jenny 
Woodland Phlox Blue Moon - phlox divaricata
Columbine Origami Red & White

On Monday, the 8th, I planted all my tomatoes, my peppers, and my basil into the garden.  And of course, 45 minutes later, huge hail fell from the sky.  I only lost 4 plants out of 100+ (thankfully they were small plants or the damage would have been greater.)  I did feel panic when it started.  I lost an Anaheim pepper, a tomatillo, my only Big Beef tomato plant, and my only Sweet Million cherry tomato plant.  

I will take pictures of the survivors soon and get them posted for comparison.  The little plants are greening up nicely in their new space.

So far, all of my cucumbers have sprouted except for the little Mexcian Sour Gherkins.    Most of my pumpkins have also sprouted, but I'm still waiting for a few of them to show themselves.  My summer squash also has yet to emerge.  These won't go into the garden until the night temperatures are a little warmer.  

The garden is tilled.  I have two small-ish gardens.  They are about 180 sq. ft each.  Added to each garden were 8 bags of compost, 2 bags of Nutri-Mulch, leaves from last year, and composted kitchen scraps of my own making.  I also had a cubic yard of mulch/garden soil delivered that I use to make my flower beds look nice.  Whatever is not used for that, gets thrown into the garden.  

Hardening Off:  
All last week, my plants were trotted out to the deck, and left in a mostly shady spot, where parts were dappled with sunlight.  Then hauled back in  for the night.  The night temps were still quite low.  

Yesterday, my seedlings received 3 hours of direct sunlight. It was a little hard on them.  I watered them before they went into the direct sunlight, and I watered them again when I moved them to the shade.  I kept an eye on them, looking for obvious signs of distress. Healthy plants are much more forgiving than scrawny and weak ones.  

Today, they will get 4-6 hours, depending on temperature.   I'd love to get them planted on Saturday, but that might be pushing it.  I'll just keep an eye on them and see how they react to more sunlight.  Monday is probably the day for garden planting, if the weather stays nice.   

In yester-years, I've planted them sooner without spending a lot of time acclimating them to the sun.  This just causes unnecessary struggle once they go in and then they require a much longer recovery time.  I would also lose a few in that process.  However, when I properly acclimate them, the recovery time is substantially lower and they take advantage of their new found freedom and get down to business.

You can google how to properly acclimate your plants.  Everyone has their own way of doing this.  You just need to find out what works best for you and your schedule.  My husband works from home, so he is usually the one with the timer and he hauls them in and out of the house, and in and out of the sun. 

My only advice is to keep them watered, look for signs of distress, and DO NOT NEGLECT them.  They are like babies.  They need attention and care, but it is only for a little while.  Then these little darlings will start 'doing their thing' without any hovering.

Today I started my cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash indoors.  Well, they are in pots, but they are all out on the deck.  So technically, it isn't indoors.  

Cucumbers:
   Sweeter Yet
   Sweet Slice
   Sweet Success
   Barese - novelty
   Mexican Sour Gherkin - novelty

Pumpkins:
   Musque de Provence - new this year
   Naples Long - new this year
   Jill-Be-Little - new this year
   Blaze - new this year
   Long Island Cheese
   Harvest Time
   Casperita
   Baby Bear
   Hooligan
   Wee-Be-Little
   Jack-Be-Little
   Some Jacks (seeds saved from previous years)

Squash:
   Barq
   Papaya Pear (I only had one seed left.  My favorite seed companies don't sell this variety anymore.  Hopefully, my lonely little seed will come up.)