I haven’t given an update on our garden since early May. So, without further ado…

We harvested and preserved our shell peas this week (see post!). There were 4 rows, very close to one another and this morning I replaced the peas with two rows of carrots and a 3/4 row of butternut squash. The last 1/4 will probably be another vine plant. Maybe watermelon!

Our potatoes seem to be very healthy and have been hilled and mulched with straw. We have 3 rows of those and I am encouraged by how well they seem to be doing.

Our tomatoes are thriving and I couldn’t be more pleased! We have 13 plants (one being Cherokee Purple and the remaining 12 are Roma) that I began from seed! It is such a proud moment when you see thriving plants that began as a tiny seed in your basement. The single is an indeterminate variety (above) and may get very tall and bushy. The others are all determinate and will hopefully stay put. We plant them and put small protectors around them. My mother-in-law has always done this and I have found it very helpful. We reuse the cages every year and in the the fall, the cages protect our baby fruit trees.

Marigolds are a beneficial flower to tomatoes. We also planted basil (2 plants) and peppers in this row. Some of the banana peppers aren’t as healthy looking as I’d like. My pepper seedlings did not live and so we had to purchase some at a local greenhouse. I planted 3 banana pepper plants and one red bell pepper plant. We mulched with straw and shredded paper.

Here are the cucumber and nasturtiums growing together (another beneficial flower/veggie partnership). I am thrilled that cukes are actually growing- the past several years have produced almost nothing! We are using an old hog panel put in at an angle for a trellis.

Our brassicas (we are growing red cabbage and cauliflower) seem to be doing well overall. The volunteer broccoli plant did not produce and ended up flowering so I took it out. Our pole beans look very healthy and prolific. They are beginning to flower now. The kids hope the beans cover the trellising arch this year! Our cat likes to climb up on top.

Our onions are falling over already, I am not sure why. The rosemary hasn’t grown a lot but is healthy. And our flowers have started showing signs of buds! We have had to weed and use the walking hoe quite a bit, but overall our garden appears to be healthy and thriving. We only use a fish emulsion fertilizer on occasion for our organic style gardening, but otherwise, we water when there isn’t rain, weed as needed, and mulch! No other powders or sprays etc.

The raised of carrots has finally taken off and I’ve stayed on top of weeding and thinning. Our raised bed of zucchini has already produced three small fruits! We will eat those this weekend!
What garden tips and tricks can you offer me?? I am all ears!