The other day I harvested more radishes than we could eat and so rather than eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I put a few bunches together and brought them to a few of our neighbors to share.
Two of our neighbors I already knew, but I summoned up the courage to introduce myself to another one of our neighbors {who has apparently lived here for a very long time} and while we were talking, learned that the property next to us had been an old apple orchard back in the 50’s or 60’s.
In fact this whole area {where we and all our neighbors live} used to be farmland back in the day {how cool is that?}.
One of our neighbors dropped off a bouquet of lavender, and another a tomato and pepper plant. Seriously, how nice was that?
In other gardening news…
The mammoth sunflowers I planted a month ago are about knee high…
And I spotted our first zucchini of the season last night. It’s only about 2 inches long… but still. We’ll be swimming in zucchini before we know it.
The lettuce is finally ready to start harvesting…
And the sugar snap peas are just another day or two away.
My second planting of green beans is up {and survived being snatched up by the birds}.
The little 1 gallon Bloomstuck hydrangeas I planted back in May are in full bloom.
And we are starting to see more and more tomatoes on the vine {I’m hoping I get enough to can salsa this year}.
And the jalapeno peppers appear to be right on schedule.
And those petunias I started from seed? They’re starting to fill out the little flower bed in the back. In time, the area will have a nice row of hydrangeas, but since the hydrangeas are still a little on the small side right now, I couldn’t resist putting the petunias there and starting a few butternut squash in the flower bed as well.
That particular spot gets SO MUCH SUN… I’m excited to see how many squash we’ll get from just that little strip of soil.
And last but not least… a view of our sweet little vegetable plot from the sky. 🙂
How’s YOUR garden doing these days? Have you already harvested your first tomato? Curious minds want to know.
Keep calm and garden on,
~Mavis
Christie says
We’ve had about a pint of Sungold tomatoes so far and last night I harvested the first Beefsteak. Tomato sandwiches for dinner tonight. I cannot wait!
Mavis Butterfield says
Sun Golds are one of our favorites!!
laura says
i keep thinking that i have such a tiny garden but with two 4′ x 8′ raised beds, two 4′ x 4′ beds and so so many grow bags my garden isn’t really that tiny!! picking a few zucchini, crook neck and patty pan squashes, cucumbers and phlox!! tomatoes are beginning to blush, can’t wait!! also strawberries!! they don’t seem to make it into the house though. . .
Katie says
This past weekend I processed 25lb of tomatoes. And we had probably processed, eaten, and given away another 15-20lb before that. I have the second wave coming in now… We inherited 3-4 plants when we bought the house! The vines are so big I can’t see down into the planter to see how many there are.
Ramona says
This year since we moved to a sub division and down sized I have a small yard. Thought I would try container gardening. So far I have had 4 zucchini, a couple handfulls of peas, 6 cherry tomatoes, a few strawberries, one cucumber, and carrots. Had lettuce but it has bolted since our temperatures have been over 100 or upper 90’s for a few weeks now here in Boise. I have planted green beans 4 times and they will not come up.
Rebecca in MD says
Hi Ramona,
You might try soaking your bean seeds overnight before planting to help with germination.
Ramona says
I tried soaking, not soaking, bought new seeds and tried both ways again. I don’t know if it is too hot to give it a try again.
Susan H. says
Picked my first hungarian sweet pepper, a couple hungarian hot peppers. Got a small second picking of sweet peas. My green beans and lemon cucumbers are beginning to bud! Sungold tomatoes are starting to ripen and my red cherry tomatoes are loaded! Such a blessing!! Love your white picket fence and garden layout…
Mavis Butterfield says
I love the Hungarian sweet peppers!! They are so flavorful.
Diane says
How are your Jimmy Nardello
peppers doing? I am so intrigued to try this one next year.
I have tried them once and I’m thinking that I didn’t pick a good spot for them, or maybe the weather wasn’t that good that year. It took forever for the peppers to turn from green to red. I had gotten the plant as a start and was beginning to think that I had gotten a mismarked plant. Anyway, I had some tree service performed and it has added more light so I’m filled with ideas for next year!
Mavis Butterfield says
The Jimmy’s are growing, but the ones we harvested last year we delicious. It is now my all time favorite sweet pepper to grow.
Rebecca in MD says
We have harvested our first pound of Maxibel French beans and a handful of Sungold tomatoes. Things should start coming on very soon…………
Susan Lemay Stanley says
Two broccoli heads, three cukes,1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash harvested.
Lots of green tomatoes still on the vine. I can’t wait for those!
Mimi says
Your garden looks gorgeous – love the aerial view.
We are still mourning the loss of all the plants that bit the dust during the freaky 116 degree heat wave. The biggest disappointment was losing the entire blueberry crop and possibly the bushes themselves. 🙁
The beans, zucchini and tomatoes survived pretty well and I’m very happy about that!
Bea says
Your hydrangeas are a beautiful color!
I just moved to a senior condo and had to leave the garden and many plants behind.
I brought the deep rose colored hydrangea with me. So far, it’s doing OK in a pot on the balcony. It barely survived the heat wave, but perked up with some TLC.
Enjoying all your updates.
Tiffany F says
Lots of peas picked; they’re done. Harvested garlic last week that I had planted in October. Lots of basil in everything. Going to start dehydrating some. Everything else is coming along slowly.
I ordered and planted petunias for the first time ever after seeing your post about planting them. They are doing great! I have one large pot and one small pot. They are my favorite! I’d love to do a border like yours next year.
Heidi P says
Love your sweet garden. You truly have a mega green thumb! So beautiful.
I’ve harvested- celery, zucchini, beets, radishes, carrots, bush beans, herbs herbs herbs, cucumbers and tons of berries (raspberries and marionberries).
Unfortunately, we have a mole in the garden. It’s the first time in 24 years of living here that one is actually in my raised beds. I lined the beds with wire but I’m sure its broken down over the years. Any ideas on how to send him/her on their way to another location? Every day more plants vanish. It’s a real bummer.
Rosaleen says
If you have another bumper crop of radishes, try making radish chips from some of the big ones. I’ve made cucumber and zucchini chips in my dehydrator and been happy with the results.
Diana says
Garden is going well.
Planted ~250 peanut seedlings this last week or so. I hope they’ll finish before frost…
Pulled out my cukes – they were diseased. Have new seeds started and hope they’ll be up and producing soon.
Planted bush bean seeds a few days ago and they’re up and going.
Harvesting Black Cherry cherry tomatoes almost every day.
Jet Star slicing tomatoes are ripening well and have been having ‘mater sammiches, lol.
Bell peppers are coming along – have several ready to harvest.
‘Nada penos’ peppers are growing. Haven’t seen any flowers yet. Hopefully soon. These are jalapeno peppers without the heat (for those of us who love taste but not the burn).
Dill and basil are ready to harvest.
Garlic harvest was pretty much a bust. Very small bulbs. I’m thinking of drying them in the oven and powdering them up.
I’m experimenting with growing spinach in the house. I’m hoping to see if I can figure optimal growing conditions and eat on it all winter.
A couple of the seed companies (Proven Winners and Baker Creek, I think) have come up with TINY tomato plants. One of them is meant to grow in 4″ pots. I’m wondering if I could keep them going all winter in the house as well…