Top of the morning to you! I headed out to the garden early this morning and picked a shirt full of beans {that’s a measurement … a shirt, right?} and our very first costata romanesco zucchini.
I think I’m going to make the HH’s favorite Ritz Cracker chicken and green beans for dinner tonight and a chocolate zucchini cake for dessert. I didn’t go overboard on planting zucchinis this year but I am looking forward to make a quiche with the next one when its ready in a few days.
The pumpkin patch is coming along… no babies yet though.
And all those blue hydrangeas I planted last fall… well those are coming in pink this year. 🙂 Pink, blues and whites are my favorite colors when it comes to flowers in the garden, so I’m totally okay with it.
Here’s the latest aerial photo of our garden plot the HH took with his drone.
In the garden boxes we currently have: tomatoes, basil, peppers, beans, cilantro, dill, beets, lettuce, sorrel, eggplant, watermelon, cucumbers and another thing or two I am probably forgetting.
In the ground we have blue berry bushes, onions, raspberry plants, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus and pepper plants. I even started a few pumpkin seeds in there somewhere but they are still pretty small. I think we are getting close to cutting our first head of broccoli off the stalk though, so that’s exciting.
Round 2 of the basil is coming in nicely.
And the tomatoes are really starting to take off.
And finally, we are starting to see a few cucumber babies.
It’s been a good week in the garden. Today we’ll be out there cleaning up the hosta border in the back, but other than that we are pretty much on maintenance mode in the garden these days… which is a really, really nice place to be.
And last but not least, our current forecast.
The HH and I have been keeping track of the weather not only where we live, but a few hours north of us. Where we are right now summer temps in the 80’s are pretty much the norm… but up the coast the weather is a solid 10+ degrees cooler during the summer months.
This living in Maine thing… it takes some time to figure out. 😉
Have a great weekend everyone,
Keep Calm and Garden On.
~Mavis
Kim says
Your garden is swoon worthy. Just love, love it.
Wanted to pop in here and give you the tomato update: 572! I am thrilled and exhausted as I process them. (My husband’s 98 year old father dearly loves fresh tomatoes and it is a joy to take a basket full to him…………and others.) These 20 plants are starting to really suffer in our upper 90’s heat. Can’t blame ’em. We typically leave them in the ground, and sometimes in the fall, once the temps drop, they will bear additional fruit.
Presently, we have newly planted okra and purple hull peas coming up. Sweet potatoes have been in the ground for quite a while and we will harvest those in September. Beautiful cantaloupe with absolutely NO flavor. Bummer. My sweet peppers are so-so. I would love to have a bumper crop of those some day…………….sigh.
Suffering in the heat in TX,
Kim
Mavis Butterfield says
You are the tomato Queen this year Kim! 🙂
Kim says
As the Tomato Queen, perhaps I should be taken out to dinner this evening……..just a random thought………
Deborah says
The heat here in East Texas is in the upper 90s to 100. And it’s very humid. We didn’t plant anything this year, yet. But I am getting things set up for a co trainer garden this fall.
Mel says
It’s in the 90’s all week here in southern Maryland, so our pole beans are taking a break, but our tomatoes are coming in early. We’ve been picking cherry tomatoes intermittently for about 3 weeks, but they’re getting a bit steadier. Our first larger tomatoes (Summer Cider, our favorite) will be ready to pick today…10-15 days early. I’m feeling a little less smug about by tomato trellising system though. Some plants are already 8 feet tall, on top of the 12″ raised bed. I am 5’2″, so picking them will be a challenge!
This is also the first good year we may ever have had for peppers. Our cucumbers had lots of issues getting started, but they’re going better now. We also have a rogue butternut growing in the middle of our lawn, and I’m trying not to get my hopes up for it since we can never grow squash.
I just ordered my Fall vegetable seeds, and I’m debating adding another raised bed. But I’m super busy with work lately, so I should probably keep it simple.
Laura says
You’ll get blue hydrangeas if you add used coffee grounds to the soil. You can get some at Starbucks if you don’t drink coffee.
Michelle says
Thank you. I knew you could do something to make them blue. You saved me from googling it
Terena says
Or you can bury copper pennies/cents around the roots. It changes the ph of the soul which changes the colourof the flowers.
MEM says
I’m in the Boston area and the tomatoes have just started to turn red. My daughter planted pickling cucumbers – just one plant and it is going gangbusters – she made four large jars of refrigerator pickles with more to go. Our spaghetti squash are huge as are the green peppers. My zucchini are loaded with blooms and a few tiny fruit. My pumpkins are also loaded with blossoms – I planted baby boo and Jarrahdale. Last year only one Jarrahdale matured but it was glorious! We only have two strawberry plants – limited by living in the city where everything has to be in containers – the berries are limited in number but worth the wait.
Deborah R says
Hydrangeas color is based on soil PH, for blue flowers a soil PH needs to be fairly acidic, about 5.5.
Jim says
You are absolutely correct! 🙂
Michelle says
July in Phoenix= difficult gardening (at least for me) as I do see superstar gardeners on Instagram. After the excessive heat warnings last week I gave up. Pulled my squash earlier this week. Have some celosia growing and hopefully will bloom soon. Few pepper plants still going. This is my gardening break and will jump back in September or so.
Your garden looks beautiful. Love the drone few as well
Michelle says
Drone view.
Lori SA says
Your garden is looking really lush and lovely! I am feeling quite jealous, as mine has been pretty dismal this year. The weather has been cold and wet (BC, Canada), with temps. seldom cracking 20c (less than 70f). I finally ate my first pea today, but all my squash, brassicas, most beans rotted or were eaten by slugs, and what is left of the tomatoes are only a foot high 🙁 I don’t like it too hot out, but I would really like to hit the low 20c’s.
Barbara says
Hi Mavis…. Just a comment on the difference in the temperatures. My sister lives in the Boothbay area very close to the Ocean. My husband and I live about 17 miles from there in Wiscasset. We were surprised to see a 15 degree difference in temperature when we visited last week. It was foggy and cool in Boothbay and sunny and humid in Wiscasset. Normally the difference is about 10 degrees. We have also noticed that she gets a lot less snow then we do. The relatively warm ocean compared to our home on a forested hill makes a big difference.