Garden Update

Way back when I dug that cubic yard of compost into my garden, I promised an update on the state of the garden.  And here it is.
This past week, I pulled these carrots (and one white beet) out of the garden:

My root veggie section was overrun by weeds that I didn't get pulled because of a sudden lack of time, and I didn't pluck these until they were past their prime, so they weren't particularly tasty.  But I was impressed that they actually grew, considering all the problems I have had growing root vegetables in my garden.  It's a good start, but I'm thinking I won't try root vegetables again for a couple of years.  Too much work and too much space for vegetables I can buy locally that will taste sweeter.

Then, of course, there is my tomato jungle:

These tomato plants (and there are likely too many of them) are as tall as me (I'm 5'8) and are producing little green tomatoes by the dozens.  I can't wait for them to turn red/yellow.

 Yellow pear tomatoes, which I certainly hope to try in preserves...

And Rutgers tomatoes, which I look forward to canning.
I also have quite a showing of currant tomatoes (the picture was a bit blurry), on which I'm happily anticipating snacking.
They are all so beautiful and smell so good.

You may notice some slender corn stalks in the background.  On a whim I decided to plant some kernals of mandan bride corn from the Wheatberry CSA I participated in last year.  All the stalks are coming up and some are even showing ears.  I certainly hope they produce, because I love that corn!

I have some very enthusiastic basil and cocozelle; this humid & wet weather, however, have been causing the cocozelle to rot on the vine.  However, I have been working on some solutions, and if they work I will share them with you.  The cocozelle are lovely, and I hope I finally get some squash I can eat:

The tendergreen beans are plentiful, though not really straight....  I picked the first harvest today and am excited to eat them.  I also have some Boston pickling cucumbers blossoming and climbing the trellis; I would be totally thrilled to get enough to actually pickle.

Snap pea season is long past, but we had so many we couldn't quite eat them all; the brussels sprouts are having some problems (probably bugs and weather), but a few plants are still growing.  The lettuce was beautiful until the second major heat wave when it all bolted.  None of the melons survived -- most of the seeds didn't even sprout, as far as I could tell.

Perhaps the most fun thing in the garden, though, is the little toad I keep seeing and all his friends.  I'm more than happy to have them there, enjoying the shade of tomato jungle canopy and eating the bothersome little insects.

So, all in all, it's been a very educational and interesting gardening season, and I'm just in the middle of it (I've discovered that the season is a bit delayed in my yard compared to others).  I'm looking forward to seeing what everything is like in another month.  (I'm already planning next year's garden....)