By early July, the Shishito peppers were looking happy and healthy. The irrigation system was doing its job well, without too much fuss or tweaking. You can see one of our drip lines in the background of this photo.
Eggplants were regularly impressing us with their displays of color and budding blossoms.
Cucumbers and mystery-squash blossoms were everywhere. We were happy that a rogue cucumber might be joining our cause after the damping-off had caused so many baby cukes to die in their pots. We could use the extra cukes, we figured.
Green Zebras were sizing up and showing their trademark stripes.
Soon, our mystery plant was looking less like a cucumber and not really like a zuchini either. Was it some kind of gourd seed from the neighborhood that had been turned into the compost we were using? I put out the call on Instagram. A fellow yogi in Canada told me she had the same problem—it was some cross-pollinated plant, a result of a squash mixing with a gourd, perhaps… but the fruit would not be good, she said. She was right… these yellow fruit soon turned brown and rotted on the vine. We pulled the plants down, disappointed that we weren’t getting something for nothing.
Mid-July, when the garden approaches prime time. Everything is climbing, happy and in bloom. Barbecues propagate like morning glories.
At last, harvests were starting to look like more than a pinch of rosemary and a few chives. Besides the pickling-sized cucumbers we have Shishitos, purple pole beans and basil.
The beets were looking green in the leaf and burgundy in the stem, and spreading out nicely this year. They seem to be very picky about their position. A slightly sunnier or wetter spot seems to make the difference between a beet which gives a nice round root, and one that never gives out more than a few leaves.
Shishitos in mid-July were becoming a common sight.
Little cucumbers were popping up everywhere, a welcome sign after earlier setbacks that our second annual Picklepalooza might be safe after all.
Baby eggplants were starting to pop.
Sightings of maturing purple pole beans were also becoming more frequent.
Some beans began finding their way into new arrangements in the garden. Although we planted them at the recommended spacing, it may be that we need to open that up a bit in the future so that they can devote their energy to more fruit and less leaf.
An evening harvest in late July brought in some of our first Brandywines and Green Zebras.
Corn cobs were shaping up to look like they might even be the real deal this year.
By late July we were already fighting over how to prepare our first eggplant. OK, maybe not fighting… let’s call it… brainstorming?
My lovely partner found a way to melt my heart with the most beautiful harvest photo of the season. What’s her secret?
